Questions for later. Actions for now. That's what Moria would say.
"I must go," she said. "I need to find out what happened to Ronan."
"He lives," Edwyn said. "We have him."
"What? Why didn't you say so?"
"He is not well, child. The outcome is uncertain."
Ashyn struggled for breath. "He might not survive?"
"The wound should have been mortal. Only swift intervention ensured it was not immediately so. But he has lost a great deal of blood and his heart is weakened. I hesitated to tell you we had him, because I am not certain we will have him for much longer."
"I--I need to see him. Now. Please."
"You say he is a friend." Edwyn studied her again. "Is he more?"
Ashyn felt her cheeks heat, but she could say with honesty, "No, he is simply a very good friend. He came with us from Edgewood." From the Forest of the Dead, actually. Where he'd been exiled as a criminal. But she was not explaining that. "He escorted me across the Wastes. He was with me here as we sought to reunite with my sister and Prince Tyrus."
"That seems very attentive for a friend."
"Prince Tyrus hired him to accompany us."
Edwyn frowned. "A friend who takes money to escort you?"
Frustration lashed through Ashyn. It was too much to explain, and she should not have to explain at this moment, perhaps not at any moment. As naive as she might have been leaving Edgewood, she was no longer that girl, and yet she had absolutely no doubt of Ronan's loyalty.
She channeled her sister, straightening and saying, "Ronan is my friend and I wish to see him," though Moria would have said something more akin to Take me to him now, with one hand resting on her dagger hilt.
The sterner tone seemed to startle Edwyn. Then he laughed. "You are indeed your mother's daughter. I will send word to the healer, and after we've dined--"
"I will not be able to eat while a friend lies near death."
He nodded. "I understand. Come, and then we will return here to speak. You must have many questions."
Outside the cave, Ashyn found herself on a path, looking down at the forest. She gazed up at the sparsely wooded rocks rising toward the sun.
"These are the Katakana Mountains," she said.
"Yes."
"That's . . ."
"Home of the Kitsune clan. I know." Edwyn motioned for her to go ahead of him on the path. As they stepped out, two hooded figures joined them. Edwyn paid the men no mind, and they fell into the rear, as guards.
"This is not the place I'd wish to be," Edwyn said. "Not now particularly, but not at any time. I know what Alvar Kitsune has done, and I count myself in the small portion of the empire that is not the least bit surprised by any of it. Not that he survived his exile in the Forest of the Dead. And not by the rumors I've heard, of what happened to your village and your father."
Ashyn glanced back quickly.
"Yes, child, most of the empire may know nothing of what transpired in Edgewood, but my sources are excellent. Alvar Kitsune raised shadow stalkers to massacre your village. Is that correct?"
She nodded, her chest seizing with grief as she thought of it. Tova pushed at her hand, and she patted his head.
"I heard the story, and I did not doubt it for a heartbeat. I know exactly what sort of man Alvar Kitsune is. I've known for thirty summers--since he put my village to the torch."
"What?"
Edwyn motioned for her to turn on the path ahead. When she did, he continued. "Our family originally came from a town not much bigger than your Edgewood. It was called Silvershore."