Page 45 of To Fight and To Fold

Aaryn took breakfast in her rooms, refusing to subject herself to another embarrassing encounter with the Tethered, and awaited the prince.

She was not filled with the same anger, the same fury, she had been when she had propositioned him for this favor.

She was filled with more confusion than ever.

If druids were so evil, so awful—would Thea have taken such care to make sure Starspark was fed? Would she have looked so delighted when her prayers to Aaryn had worked and Starspark had taken his first bite?

She stared down at the scar on her hand. But what of the Tethered who had been slain on the battlefield? Her brand slashed through, the connection to her dragon severed?

You've never asked a single question a day in your life.

She bristled at the truth to Thea's tone and hated that the remark haunted her.

A knock interrupted her thoughts and she gasped, heart leaping with nerves. But it was not the prince who waited on the other side; it was Rose.

Aaryn tried to shut the door in her face, but Rose slapped her hand against the door and leaned in. "I know I'm, like, the last person you want to see, but please, let me apologize! I gave the other Tethered a piece of my mind this morning."

It still stung that Rose had been too afraid to stand up for her when it mattered. But Aaryn really had no one else in her corner. Was she about to turn away the one person who was?

Aaryn sighed and held the door open. Rose squeaked and ducked under her arm. By the time she closed it and faced her, Rose's hands were clasped and her roundest eyes were on display.

"I really am sorry. I was so unsure what to do. I had no idea they were all so upset. And over a fact that we all very well know, too! Please forgive me for not standing by you. I pledge myself!" Rose declared, and dropped to a knee.

Aaryn rolled her eyes, but it did work to bring a small chuckle out of her. She tugged Rose back to her feet and waved a hand. What she'd learned in the Royal Library still weighed on her. She still had questions. And Rose often had answers. "You know, if you really want to apologize…" Aaryn began.

Rose stepped back. "I'm so sorry to break this to you but I am in fact, so sadly, not attracted to you in that manner."

Aaryn rolled her eyes again. "You can tell me more about the Tethered who went missing."

"Oh! Easy. Can do!" she said, and bounced over to the bed. "Seriously, I don't know what it is, but yours is so much comfier than mine."

"Rose. The Tethered."

"Yes, yes. Okay. Where to start? So… twenty, or about twenty years ago. Her name was Astrid. According to the rumors, she disappeared with her dragon. Just… poof. No one even knew she was gone until the next morning. It wasn't nearly as dramatic as what happened with Starspark."

Aaryn stared at her.

Rose cleared her throat. "Right. Sorry. Anyway, she was missing for a while. Two years? Then, there was a battle on the back lawn," she said, and leaned forward with the admission. "They used magic."

Like Thea had. Because they were the druids. Astrid had gone with the druids.

"The Tethered was killed in the battle. The funeral was lavish. Ornate. The king had been beside himself, and that's when he cut back on public appearances. The rumor is it broke his heart more so than his own wife's death."

Aaryn tilted her head to the side. "Why was the king so distraught?"

"Oh." Rose blinked at her, and then reached over with a dry laugh. "Sorry, I forgot to mention—the Tethered Astrid was the princess!"

The next queen could have been a Tethered.

That's all Aaryn could think about as she awaited the prince, after Rose left to care for Moss.

Astrid.

The princess, sister to Jarrick, missing—or a runaway—before she'd been killed. Rose painted a romantic picture of Astrid chasing after the very first Tethered to ever go missing, Vaelen. The one whose whereabouts remained unknown.

Aaryn wasn't sure what to do with these facts, or what they were supposed to mean to her. She felt as if she was missing something, but she didn't even know where to begin.

She had taken to downright pacing before the prince came to collect her.