THE ASHEN COURT

XANDER MORTAIN

It had been twenty-four hours in this realm, and nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. No rites. No hooded figures. No “lectures” about the void prince.

I closed the door to Anika’s chambers as quietly as I could. She had finally fallen asleep after hours of silent worrying, her body curled beneath the black silk sheets.

The air in the corridor was freezing. A single blue lantern cast just enough light to outline the path ahead. I walked toward my assigned room, a shaft of bare stone walls with a thin mattress on a low wooden frame, no windows, and a door that locked...