Kingdom of Ash

One of them snapped their ghostly fingers
at Aelin. “Enough of this.”
Aelin looked up at her, at the goddess who
had spoken. She knew that voice. Deanna.
Silently, Aelin surveyed them. Found the
one like a shimmering dawn, the heart of a
flame.
Mala did not look at her. Or at Elena, her
own daughter.
Aelin turned away from the Fire-Bringer.
And said to none of them in particular, “I
should like to make a bargain with you.”
The gods stilled. Deanna hissed, “A
bargain? You dare to ask for a bargain?”
“I would hear it,” said one whose voice was
kind and loving.
The thing in her arm writhed, and Aelin
willed it to reveal what they sought.
The portal to their realm. Sunlight over a
rolling green country nearly blinded her. They