Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) by A.D. Trosper Read Free Book Online Page A

Anevay’s shawls still lay across the back of a chair. Her brush lay next to Taela’s on the table. Kellinar crossed the sleeping chamber and opened the large wardrobe. Anevay’s dresses hung there next to Taela’s dresses and his nicer shirts. Several articles of what she had called practical clothing were still folded on the shelves, stacked neatly along with his and Taela’s.
    It was as if she had never left and the room waited for her to walk in at any moment. The only thing that felt out of place was the pack against the wall that had been on Latia’s saddle. Someone had retrieved it before Latia and Anevay were cremated.
    Kellinar reached up and grabbed a square of the lavender soap Anevay had always used. He held it beneath his nose and closed his eyes slowly, taking in the familiar and heart-wrenching scent as memories of her flooded him.
    “I thought I sensed you come back.”
    Kellinar turned to see Taela standing in the doorway, her red-rimmed eyes evidence of the sorrow he’d felt so strongly from her earlier. He looked down at the soap in his hand. “I had the stupidest hope that she would be here when I opened the door. But she wasn’t of course. Only her things and memories were here.”
    Taela crossed the room and put her arms around him, leaning her head against his shoulder. “I had the same hope when I went into the records room. She wasn’t there either. Anevay and Latia are really gone, and I don’t know if we’ll ever be whole again.” A sad sigh escaped her. “I wish I could talk to Emallya and Bardeck about it, they lost a bondmate, but now they’re gone too. Why didn’t we talk about it before with them? Why do we always think of all the things we want to say or ask after someone dies?”
    Kellinar slid an arm around her and hugged her close. “I don’t know.” His gaze wandered the room as he thought about life without Anevay and for the first time, really thought about Galdrilene without Emallya and Bardeck. Emallya had saved his life in many ways. Throughout everything that was thrown at them, Emallya was there and Bardeck too, leading with their years of knowledge and wisdom.
    Maleena and Mckale were doing their best to take up where the older couple left off, but they didn’t have any more experience than he did, or any of the other first hatchers. For the first time, Kellinar felt that Galdrilene had gone from the solid rock in his life to a drifting ship.
    “Galdrilene is just a place, Kellinar. Home, yes, but a place nonetheless,” came the sending from Shryden. “All places change. I am your rock as you are mine. Galdrilene will find the wind again and its sails will fill with air. It will just take time.”
    “Thank you, Shryden, for your wisdom. I don’t think I could have survived this without you.”
    “Of course you couldn’t have. We are one.”
    Kellinar felt a rush of love and gratitude for the dragon as he stepped away from Taela and looked at the open wardrobe. “I think it’s time we clear this out. We can take the clothes to Marda, she’ll know what to do with them. Maybe the Crafts Guild can use the fabric for something.”
    With a heavy sigh, Taela nodded. “I think you are right.” She walked over to the table and ran her fingers across Anevay’s brush, then reached for the shawl on the chair. “I think I will keep her brush and this shawl though. I don’t want to give everything of hers up.”
    He nodded and glanced at the soap in his hand before gently setting it back on the shelf. He would keep that too.
    As the sun slowly sank west of the bay and painted the fall sky in pinks and oranges, they worked to clean everything out, only keeping a few mementos as physical memories of the woman who had left such a hole in their lives.
    The rich smells of the evening meal drifted up the stairs and into the room by the time they finished. Kellinar glanced around. With the help of a few attendants, everything had been carried out. A bracelet, a