Kingdom of Ash

But Elide kept her chin up. Kept her eyes
upon her uncle. “Why are you here?”
“First you let the brute at me,” Vernon
drawled, nodding to Lorcan, “then you send in
the sweet-faced girl to coax answers?” A
smile toward Aelin. “A technique of yours,
Majesty?”
Aelin leaned against the stone wall, hands
sliding into her pockets. Nothing human in her
face. Though Elide marked the way her hands,
even within their confines, shifted.
Bound in irons. Battered.
Only weeks ago, it had been the queen
herself in Vernon’s place. And now it seemed
she stood here through sheer will. Stood here,
ready to pry the information from Vernon, for
Elide’s sake.
It strengthened Elide enough that she said
to her uncle, “Your breaths are limited. I
would suggest you use them wisely.”