Ashes Unwritten: Oblivion's Heir [Volume 1 Complete!]

Kess watched Claire lounge in one of the most ornate sofas she'd ever seen in her life, her gaze boring a hole into the wall. They sat together in one of the numerous extra rooms in the palace—mostly abandoned now—with Rowan working quietly in a corner. Kess had work of her own to do, but she'd given up due to exhaustion and her fascination with Claire's mental state.

"I can't believe it's gone," Claire said again.

"Fulminancy or—" Claire whirled on Kess, though she winced. She couldn't turn far anyway with that cast on her leg. It was a distinct advantage of an injured Claire.

"The Shadow," she hissed. "With something like that, I'd never have to walk anywhere again. I'd be a queen, Kess. A. Queen."

"So let me get this straight," Rowan said, putting down his book. He walked over to Kess, his only sign of injury a slight limp and a stiff shoulder. Rowan had gotten off the easiest, it seemed. "You jumped off a building, stabbed a giant Shadow with a Fulminancy-filled dagger, and had it carry you through the city?"

Claire held his eyes, her own earnest. "Of course. Do you find that hard to believe?" Kess tried to hide a laugh, failed, and Claire scowled at her again. "Like you can talk," she said. "If I hadn't heard it from two different sources, I'd assume you went mad."

"It's not a bad assumption to make," Rowan said, sitting down next to Kess. She shot him a look, but smiled.

"I can't believe I'm going to be stuck here for months," Claire moaned. "There's got to be a better way." Her eyes snapped to Rowan. "Weren't we supposed to get something to replace Fulminancy? Real healing, or—"

"I'm not sure how long it takes," Rowan said, frowning. "From what I've been able to dredge up, we might have tipped the balance a little too far in one direction. It might take some time for anything to come back at all, and even then, we'll have to be careful with it until we know more."

"Are there any books on controlling…creatures with that old magic?" Claire asked. Rowan just blinked.

"Of course, but—" Claire grinned.

"Excellent. I'll send Eamon for them."

"Frankly, I'd rather you relearn healing first," Kess said, wincing as she readjusted. Her wounds were healing well enough, but she was sore and tired all the time, and she found herself actually missing Claire's Fulminancy. It was a ludicrous idea.

The door slammed open, and all three of them jumped, then winced. Arlette stood there with Eamon and Rae in tow. Rae slipped past the woman, winking at Kess as she left for the back of the room to haul an ornate table too big for her small frame over her head.

"Is there any particular reason you're robbing the palace blind, or are you just bored?" Rowan asked Arlette as he eyed Rae picking through the room with the table. Kess shook her head. Rae wasn't much bigger than she was, but she certainly wasn't afraid to lift things. In fact, furniture had been disappearing from various rooms all over the palace since they'd set up shop there—and not all of it was filched by the Downhill people they'd given quarters to.

"I have debts to pay," Arlette said. "And it's not robbing—it belonged to my seven times great grandmother, which practically means it's mine." Rowan rolled his eyes as Rae plopped down the table in the marble hallway and slid it to someone who cursed at them—Maude, Kess realized.

"When I asked for a new table, I wanted my pick of the palace, not whatever you've got lying around in your sitting room," she called out.

"You'll get your pick eventually," Arlette said, waving her off as she left the door. "You should put it in the palace's new tavern."

"I am not starting a rutting tavern in the palace. I—"

Eamon cut off the voices by shutting the door as Rae perched on a stool nearby. He gave them a sheepish look.

"When I used to joke about Arlette being royalty, I didn't mean it literally," Kess finally said. Eamon laughed.

"Well, seeing how the lads in charge are dead or in a cell, she's got as much claim to it as anyone, I suppose."

"If she can hold it at all," Kess replied quietly.

"Aye lass, but that's a problem for another day."

"What will you do now, Eamon?" Kess asked, looking up at the man. She'd grown fond of him in her months at the manor. With Hillcrest in tatters and Arlette running around like a tyrant, Kess wondered what place he'd have in the future they built. He ruffled the back of his hair, looking at the ceiling, then put his hand on his sword hilt.

"I suppose I'll stay wherever the lady does," he said, jerking his head back towards the yelling in the hallway. "Assuming she'll have me, that is."

"She'd be a fool not to, Eamon," Rowan said. The bigger man smiled.

"Thanks, lad. I'm going to try and break up that fight before it gets too nasty—can't have them starting another war so soon." He slipped out the door, and Rae went to follow him, but paused, her hand on the handle.

"I'm leaving," she said, meeting Kess's eyes. "Soon." Kess frowned, getting to her feet with a wince as Rowan reached out to steady her.

"Where?"

"Arlette wants to reestablish the kingdom and reach out to others. We know next to nothing about our neighbors anymore. Hillcrest hasn't been in contact with anyone off the mountain since Fulminancy was formed. I offered to go as her ambassador," Rae said quietly. Claire cackled from her corner.

"You an ambassador? We might as well just send an assassin."

Rae smiled at Claire, but that smile didn't meet her eyes. She's serious about it, Kess realized.

"You'll find that my fighting skills are a little less impressive without Fulminancy around," Rae said. Something darkened in her gaze, but Kess caught resignation there too. She'd made a choice, and though Kess knew Fulminancy had been Rae's crutch throughout the years, she also knew that Rae wasn't a woman to second guess herself.

"We can work on those," she said, grinning at Rae. Rae eyed her bandaged shoulder and ribs.

"Maybe when you're not broken. I like my toys to be in one piece, personally." She looked out over the destroyed city, something distant in her gaze. "I want to travel now, while we still have nothing—to see what it's like without them, before something comes to replace them."

She didn't say the rest—that she was trying to remember who she really was. Rae studied her for a moment, then did something that shocked Kess—she embraced her. Kess held her and found it distinctly insane that she was embracing a woman who'd spent the better part of a year trying to kill her.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Thank you," Rae whispered into her shoulder. "Thank you for believing I could be something better than I was."

"You were always that person," Kess said back, blinking away tears. "You just needed someone to remind you." Rae squeezed her one last time, then turned, though Kess was fairly certain she saw tears in her eyes too.

"Don't forget what we talked about, Northmont," she called behind her as she left. Kess threw Rowan a questioning look, but he just shrugged. "And Claire—try not to mother them too much."

The door clicked shut, and Kess sighed, looking out the window at the faint sunlight that blossomed there, its golden hues a forgotten dream.

Kess spotted a familiar square amongst the wreckage and made her way towards it, fighting exhaustion. She'd insisted on going out today, in spite of the fact that the lack of Fulminancy meant her body was stuck healing the proper way. But she couldn't sit still any longer—not without seeking some answers.

She picked through the debris, Rowan behind her, and marveled at the sky. It wasn't sunny, exactly, but the clouds were a strange white with none of the wind, fury, or lightning that had come to call Hillcrest's skies home.

It was an odd change, but they had all the time in the world to adjust to it. With the Downhill and much of the Uphill in ruins, there would be plenty of rebuilding to do. Kess ducked a precarious beam, ignoring the pain in her side, and made her way back to the familiar bar.

It was the only untouched piece of Draven's tavern, though so much had been burned away nearly a year ago. Oddly, the floor was untouched, and Kess paused, breathing the moist air, looking for something—she just wasn't sure what.

"I don't know what I expected, to be honest," Kess said, kicking through some of the rubble. Rowan came up beside her, surveying the damage.

"All things considered, it held up better than some of its neighbors." Indeed, they'd had to skirt several large craters so deep that Kess could see the beginnings of the underground.

"I just thought there would be something here," Kess said, frowning as she hopped over another chunk of wood.

"It does seem odd that he would have given you that ring with no other explanation," Rowan said, steadying her as she wobbled on uneven ground. "How did you know it was the real locket?"

Kess paused again, looking at the bar where she'd spent so many nights chatting with Draven. Her heart ached, a hole that she figured she would have as long as she lived. Even after everything that had happened, she still missed him. She shook her head.

"I almost didn't realize it, but my locket didn't blow like the others, and Niall mentioned once that his had gone missing. It made me wonder if maybe Draven had more to do with the Council than he wanted to admit. And it just…looked like the rest of them. And Forgebrand had those odd ties to Mariel and goldsmiths." She shrugged, feeling sheepish. "It was mostly a hunch, if I'm being honest."

"I'll take hunches that save my life, if it's all the same to you." Kess smiled at him, then made her way behind the bar. She had a vague memory of a wine cellar underneath Drav's bar, though she assumed it to either be destroyed or worthless. Perhaps Arlette could sell the bottles to fund her new kingdom.

Kess hunched over the doorway and tugged. She lit the small lantern by the door as musty air hit her nose, untouched by the storm. She wished she had one of Rowan's bright, steady lights, but with Fulminancy gone, his project had been put on hold. Down several flights of stairs, the cellar was miraculously intact, though a few beams were cracked and twisted overhead. The wine bottles were still there, and Rowan whistled in appreciation as he descended the steps behind her.

"I can't believe this is still here at all," he said. Kess nodded absently. Something else had caught her eye—something she'd never noticed before, though rarely had she ventured into Drav's cellar—another door, nearly too small to fit through, its hinges off center from the storm, partially hidden behind a shelf of wine. The door fit itself to the shelf in such a way that it would be hard to realize it was back there at all if one came looking for wine.

There was a strangely shaped lock on the door, but it swung open easily with no latch, and Kess ducked inside. She wasn't ready for what hit her.

An entire goldsmith's shop yawned before her, cavernous even as the entryway was small. She approached a workbench and nearly dropped the lantern.

Lockets. Dozens of them.

"Rowan—"

But Rowan was already moving to the main workbench, set in the back of the room. It was cleared of everything but a sheaf of paper bearing Draven's seal, unopened. She passed Rowan the lantern, cracked the seal, and read. It was just like Draven to leave her with yet another mystery.

Lass, it read. I assume that you're the one reading this, as only you would be gutsy enough to dig through my wine cellar so thoroughly. If you're reading this, I'm gone and you're more than welcome to the wine, but more importantly, you're probably wondering why an old man like me has a goldsmith shop with lockets like your mother's.

Kess snorted at the wine comment. Draven would have known that Kess would help herself to it anyway. She kept reading.

I've always known what you were, lass. And like you, I inherited a Seat too—Mariel's smith. It's not an official title, I'd wager, but just as important as far as keeping Mariel's dream alive. I swapped a fake out for a real one years ago, then made the real one into that ring you're likely holding. It's an old man's paranoia, perhaps, but I don't like the idea of the Council being able to decide what to do with it if Mariel's time runs out. That decision is yours now, lass. Maybe Fulminancy will continue on, but these are odd times. Revolution in the air, your powers too much for you to handle, that missing brother of yours—whatever you decide, know that I was proud to have you in my life. Get some clouding sleep, and have a drink in my honor.

Kess finished and blinked back tears, back in the dark cellar with Rowan nearby. He held her as her tears turned into sobs, and then held her until she stopped shaking. Then, exhausted and clutching Draven's last letter in her hands, Kess wiped away her tears and took in the tavern one last time.

Later that night, Kess and Rowan sat alone in front of one of the crackling hearths in the palace. Having a queen for a friend did make life rather luxurious, even if they were technically refugees. Claire had long since retired to bed, though that was where she spent most of her time anyway these days. Kess kept nodding off and knew she wouldn't be far behind, even if Rowan stayed up longer. Still, she couldn't tear her thoughts from Mariel—from the woman's decision so many years ago.

"I never knew she had a smith," Kess said quietly, staring into the fire.

"What do you think she was thinking?" Rowan asked. Kess frowned into the fire, watching as it danced—its movements lifelike and joyful like her Fulminancy had been.

"It was her life's work," she said. "She was proud of it. And yet it all fell apart anyway." And she'd had a hand in doing it. It was what Mariel had wanted, but these days, Kess found herself wrestling with doubt and guilt as they dealt with the hole in their lives where Fulminancy had been.

"Life never works out as neatly as we think it will," Rowan said. "You did the right thing, Kess. You saved us all. Gave us a second chance. That's worth something, at least."

Kess paused, watching his face as it flickered against the lantern light. She smiled. "And what will you do with your second chance?" she asked, kissing him on the cheek. He blinked in surprise, but smiled back, his eyes thoughtful.

"I'd like to make sure that the city is fair as it rebuilds. Arlette might need some help in that department—she tends to wield leadership like a blunt weapon instead of a tool. And well, with my father and your brother out of the picture, we have a few openings."

Kess felt her face darken as she thought of her brother locked away somewhere deep below her. She didn't know what would happen to him or Rowan's father—she'd left that decision up to the tentative government Arlette had established—but she didn't like to think about it.

Rowan must have noticed her expression, because he changed the subject quickly. "What about you?"

"Start some sort of school for the old magic," Kess said. "Whenever it comes back. I don't want anyone to feel like I did when I first discovered my powers. If people learn to use them, they won't have to fear them or run from them."

"An admirable cause," Rowan said, nodding. "But we're going to need a lot more sleep than we've been getting if you want to accomplish all of that." He stood, then helped Kess to her feet gently, smiling at her.

"You're hardly an expert on getting a good night's sleep," Kess protested, putting her hand on his cheek. "Arlette threatened to cut our fuel rations again—she says you shouldn't be staying up so late reading."

"It's important to the future of the kingdom," Rowan began, then stopped short as Kess laughed. "You know," he said. "Sometimes I miss those days when you just groused at me."

"I can bring those back," Kess replied, keeping her face serious.

"I'm sure you can, but I intend to make sure you don't have the chance to." He swept Kess into his arms then, his grip strong but gentle around her wounds, and kissed her. Standing there, high above the city that she'd saved with magic she'd once feared—with a man who had loved it and loved her, no less—Kess found herself, for once, looking forward to tomorrow.

Deep inside, where that well of her Fulminancy once sat, Kess thought she felt just a spark of something. She ignored it and leaned into Rowan's warmth instead.