Chapter Fifty-Eight

ASH

They woke at dawn the next morning. They would have to get an early start to get across the border by the end-of-day deadline they had been given by Luca and the council.

He could make out the sound of Emily busy in the kitchen and the smell of breakfast cooking. His stomach rumbled. They had skipped dinner last night, and the smell was irresistible.

“Hungry?” he asked Keyara, who was stretching in the bed beside him. She nodded, her own growl of hunger echoing his.

They dressed quickly and entered the main room to see a veritable feast laid out waiting for them on the table, with Emily still busy cooking even more at the stove.

Keyara slipped into a chair at the table, looking around at all the food in front of her.

“Emily, it’s just the four of us.” Ash laughed. “Who all do you plan to feed?”

Rolph sat by the fire drinking a cup of tea, an amused expression on his face as he watched his wife scurry around the kitchen.

Ash gave him a knowing look, realizing Emily had probably banished him to the chair shortly after she’d started, despite his efforts to help.

Emily had always been controlling in the kitchen. Rolph returned the look before turning back to his tea.

“I just wanted to make all your favorites, one last time.” The elderly woman sniffed, spooning fried potatoes out of a large skillet and into a bowl.

Ash was touched by her emotion and put an arm gently around her shoulders in a light hug. “Thank you, Emily. It smells wonderful,” he told her.

“Sit down, sit down,” Emily said, waving him away.

He sat beside Key at the table. She took his hand and smiled up at him. Emily carried the bowl of potatoes to the table, placing it with the rest of the dishes as she took her seat.

Rolph brought over four plates and passed them out before joining them in his chair.

They passed around food, their plates quickly full with all the choices before them. They talked and laughed between bites, with Emily regaling his mate with stories from his childhood.

He groaned after she finished the story of his first crush, a kitchen maid who was much older than him and looked at the young pup as nothing more than an annoying nuisance.

He used to bring her flowers and other trinkets to impress her.

“Between you and Luca, I think Key knows every embarrassing thing I’ve ever done,” Ash said with amusement.

Keyara squeezed his hand. “I like hearing about what you were like as a child,” she told him with a smile.

“Well, you’ve certainly heard quite a bit at this point,” he replied with a laugh, standing and picking up their mostly empty plates. There were still mountains of food on the table, but he could not stomach another bite.

He took the plates to the kitchen, washing them as Keyara and Emily continued to talk about his childhood escapades. Rolph came to join him, drying the dishes and rolling his eyes at Ash with a smile.

“She will miss you,” Rolph told him softly. “She’s thinking about joining you in Levia.”

Ash looked at him, surprised. “You two would be welcome to join us if we are successful,” he assured the man. “We will have need of humans who know the truth. It will be tricky at first.”

Rolph nodded in understanding, setting the last dish on top of the pile of the other dry ones with one last wipe. “Word in the village is that Pershing is losing his grip on the kingdom even more now that his son is missing.

“Apparently, Lord Jonas took care of much of the dealings behind the scenes,” Rolph told him. “I would not think it would take much to overthrow him.”

Ash shook Rolph’s hand firmly. “Thank you for the information. You have served me well,” he told him fervently.

“You and Emily both have,” he added, raising his voice to reach her at the table. “You will forever have my gratitude.”

Emily’s eyes filled with tears, and Keyara took her hand in comfort.

“I am afraid we have to move on,” Ash said. “We must be across the border by the end of the day.”

Emily nodded, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall with the back of her hand. She stood, smoothing her apron, and began to pick up the half-full platters of the remaining breakfast.

“Let me pack up this food for you two,” she told him. “I will feel better knowing you have something to eat on the road.”

She quickly went back to work in the kitchen, and Ash smiled, knowing she needed to keep busy, as was her nature.

“Thank you, Emily. I must gather our belongings. Come, Keyara,” he said, holding out his hand to her. She stood and joined him, and he headed to the barn.

He stopped at the last stall, where his magnificent stallion stood. The horse swished his tail in greeting, chewing a mouthful of hay.

“Hey there, Storm,” Ash said in a low voice. “Ready for a trip?”

He opened the stall door, and the big black horse followed him out obediently toward the wall where all the riding gear hung.

They stopped, and he started to gather the equipment they would need for the horse to carry their provisions across the border. Keyara stood by Storm’s nose, stroking his face lightly.

“He’s a beautiful horse,” she said admiringly.

He smiled as he slipped on the bridle, buckling it into place. “He was a gift from my father, for my twentieth birthday, right before he died,” he explained, remembering how excited he had been that day.

“A bit of an extravagant gift, considering we do not have much need for horses, but he knew how much I always loved them,” he said, melancholy creeping in at the memory of his father.

“That’s lovely,” Key said, placing a hand over his.

He smiled at her, chasing away the sadness and handing her the reins. “Will you bring him out front?” he asked her. “I will bring out what we need.”

“Of course,” she replied, leading the horse out.

He watched her leave, taking one last look around the barn before following behind her.