55. Scarlett

Chapter 55

Scarlett

" W hat did you give him?" Sorin asked Scarlett as she stood staring after the prince and general.

"Something to use when I am his only option left," Scarlett replied quietly.

"What will it do?"

She felt him take a few steps towards her. She couldn't turn to him. She knew what was coming. He had let her sleep when she fell asleep beside him late in the afternoon yesterday after all the dramatics of the day. She had slept through the night, not even waking for dinner. He had given her time and space and distraction, but now he had questions and was going to ask them. Was going to push for answers that she had kept so guarded these last weeks…until she had carelessly left that book in the library after her argument with Callan.

"It will summon him help," she said, rubbing her hands along her arms. It wasn't cold in here by any means, but she felt cold inside.

"What kind of help, Scarlett?" She felt him gently touch her elbow .

She took a deep breath and turned to him. "The kind only I can give."

"Tell me what that means." She could see the frustration he was trying hard to keep from his face.

"Why don't you just come out and ask it, Sorin?"

"There are so many things you are keeping hidden, I do not know what to ask first," Sorin retorted.

"Did you finally find your balls?" Scarlett drawled with a smirk.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She took a few steps away from him, putting space between them. "You've been walking on glass around me for weeks. Afraid to push me. Afraid to ask questions. You've been afraid of me."

"Yes! Yes, I have been. Because you put up walls and shut people out as easily as I do. We are one and the same, remember? And there is still a wall up. You put it back up that day we fought, and I have been unable to cross it since," he countered. "What happened to letting each other in, Scarlett? What happened to not shutting each other out?"

"I have answered your questions," she argued.

"Vaguely. You have been half present for weeks, and you have been withholding information."

"Because I haven't figured out how to deal with it all yet," she replied. "I haven't worked out all the details."

"So let me help you. You do not need to do things alone any more."

"Yes, I do! The more people I involve, the more people I endanger, Sorin. It is better this way." She turned and began to walk towards the door.

"No," he snarled. "That is not how this works between you and me." She stilled. "I call you out when you are being particularly vexing. I do not let you win just because you are my queen. You do not get to shut me out."

"Sorin, please," she whispered.

He was before her now, leaning down to look into her eyes. "Why? You have an entire Court who will literally give their lives for you. You will need to learn to trust others, Scarlett. Your Court needs to know you trust them. I need to know you trust me. Tell me why."

"Because I cannot bear the thought of any of you being put into danger because of me!" Scarlett cried. "Because I know what is coming, and I have not yet figured out how to stop it! How do I explain that to everyone without a clear plan of action?"

"You depend on your Court to help you figure it out, Scarlett. You depend on those of us who have faced such threats before. You depend on me. " He reached to stroke her cheek, but she stepped back from him.

"I have not depended on anyone so thoroughly since my sisters, and it was used against me, Sorin! It endangered everyone I love!" Sorin's eyes went wide with understanding. "People will die because of me! Some of our family may die because of my choices and orders. How do I live with that? I barely survived the loss of Juliette. I do not know that I could bear to go through that grief again. I do not think I would survive it a second time."

"Scarlett," Sorin said softly, tenderly. He gently took her hand and led her to the bench she had just sat on with Callan. "Briar did not pledge his loyalty to you simply because you are Eliné's heir. He saw that you were someone worth fighting for. My Court does not blindly serve you because I do or because you are my twin flame. They see a queen fighting for something bigger than herself. You rob them of defending their home and their people that they love by shoving them to the sidelines under the guise of keeping them safe and protected. Give them the choice and freedom to make those decisions."

"Gods," Scarlett sniffed, wiping a stray tear from her cheek, "you really are ancient, aren't you? That's the advice of a wise, ancient sage."

Sorin laughed as he brought his hand to her cheek. "If you do not give yourself permission to depend on others, your time on the throne will be lonely and will feel like the cage you so fear, my Love. Freedom lies in letting others in and letting them share the burden."

"Even though it is mine to bear?"

"Who says? I think you would love to do things your own way, while flipping off the Fates the entire time," Sorin replied with a smirk.

Scarlett snorted, leaning her brow against his, savoring the strength of him. After a long moment of silence, she stood. "Well, let's go then, Prince."

"Where to?" he asked with a raise of his brow.

"To the catacombs beneath your palace."

"The what?" His brows arched higher in surprise as he stood.

Scarlett looped her arm through his. "Really, I do not know how you lot survived without me."

Sorin reached over and flicked her nose, and she batted his hand away as she led him out the door and to the stairs. "But really, as your queen, wife, and twin flame…how old are you?"

Sorin tilted his head back and laughed. "Three hundred sixty-three years old."

Scarlett gaped. She knew he was immortal, but to hear an actual number put on it…

"You are as speechless as you were when I first met you and I told you I wanted your tongue to be my concern," Sorin mused as they descended the stairs. Scarlett muttered a vulgar name under her breath, to which Sorin only replied, "That list just keeps growing."

He pulled open the library door for her, letting her walk through first. She had never been down the secret passageway during the day. It had only been late in the night after dinner with Callan or when she snuck from their rooms, which, astonishingly, Sorin had not yet become suspicious about.

As they made their way down the dark forgotten halls, Sorin asked, "How much do I need to be preparing myself?"

Scarlett gave him a sympathetic smile. "I suppose it is a good thing we delayed our travels. It will give you time to rage over all my plans, try to talk me out of them, and then eventually accept them before we actually enact them."

"When were you planning to tell me about these plans?" he asked when they came to a stop before the ancient bookcase .

Scarlett pursed her lips, debating. "Honestly? Not until I was forced to."

"Scarlett, did we not specifically say no more secrets just last night?" he asked, rubbing his fingers across his brow.

"In all fairness, I did say no more secrets after today when we made that deal," she said, crouching before the bookcase. She pulled the trigger book and stood as the bookcase slid into the wall. She stepped onto the passage landing and turned to Sorin. "Shall we?"

He stood completely still, staring at her and the open passageway.

"Sorin?" she asked tentatively.

Without a word, he stepped to her side. She reached behind her to the lever that closed the passage entrance, sealing them in. When the bookcase was back in place, she shaped her flames into a small bird that flew before them, casting a soft glow on their path.

She had gone a few steps when she heard Sorin begin to follow. He spoke quietly, clearly dreading her answer. "When did you find this place, Scarlett?"

"The night you found me sleeping before the bookcase. I didn't come down here that night. I only had a dagger and a small torch…" she trailed off, continuing down the stairs.

Sorin was silent behind her. She summoned her shadow panther and took the book it still held in its massive maw, then sent it ahead of them, feeling for any threats. She flipped the book open, skimming pages as she went. Waiting. He had always waited for her, had always let her sort her thoughts out before speaking. She could do the same for him.

"If you did not come down here that night, then when?" he finally asked.

"The first time was the following week. After I had dinner with Callan and the others," she offered quietly.

"You came down here by yourself?"

"Yes."

"And you have been down here more than once?"

"I've come down here every night after dinner with them, but it wasn't enough, so…" She huffed a sigh. "I've been sneaking from our rooms a few nights a week."

"How?" he ground out through gritted teeth.

She continued to flip through the book as she spoke, unable to look at him. "The nights I come after dinner with Callan, I have clothes stored in a forgotten storage closet. The nights I slip from our room…" She shrugged.

"How have none of my guards seen you?"

"I watched them and studied them, along with the help. I know when the shift changes are. I know which guards are easier to traverse, which routes the help take. I am a Wraith of Death, Sorin. I know how to move about unseen and unheard," she replied.

The rest of the trek down the stairs was quiet. When they finally reached the bottom, she lit the various candles and torches she had hauled down over the past few weeks, illuminating a circular room. The entire perimeter was bookcases save for one spot where a hearth was built into the wall, and in the center of the room was a long wooden table with chairs and benches around it. It was cluttered with the books and all of her own papers she'd been taking notes on.

Scarlett went to the table and set the book Eliza had found among the others. Then she turned and sat on the bench facing Sorin. He was studying her, and she waited. She said nothing as he crossed the room and picked up one of the various books and flipped the pages quickly. She was quiet when he set the book back down and picked up her notes, skimming them and turning pages over. He set her notes down and went to the bookshelves, his hands in his pockets, as he looked at the titles. At last he turned to her and said, "None of these are in the common tongue."

"No, they are not."

"Very few are in the Old Language."

"Yes."

He turned back to the books once more before he came and sat beside her on the bench. "I do not even know where to begin. What to ask you," he admitted, his golden eyes meeting hers.

"Anything. I do trust you, Sorin. I'll share it all, and we can decide together how much to tell the others," she replied, taking his hand in hers.

"How can you read these?" he asked, motioning to the books on the table.

"Some of them I can't. I haven't found a way to translate them, but most of them are written in either this language," she said, pointing to one of the books, "or this one." She held up a second book. "This one is the one I've been able to decipher the most of and what I have spent most of my time down here learning."

"And what language is it?"

She swallowed. There was no going back. Not now. "The Avonleyan language. The other, I think, is the Maraan language, but it is much harder to translate."

"The language that you and Ashtine were talking about?"

"Yes."

"Who are the Maraan Lords?"

Scarlett stood now and walked to an open area of the room. She knelt in the dust and began drawing in it. Sorin stood and watched her as she drew their continent, marking off the various territories. "A few months ago, I thought our continent consisted of these territories," she said, pointing to the three human kingdoms and the Courts. "Then I learned of these other lands." She waved a hand over the makeshift map and various figures appeared, detailing the Shifters, Witches, and Night Children. She took a step to the left and drew another continent a ways away. "I suppose I've always known that Avonleya existed, but it seemed almost like a fairy tale," she said, rising to stand beside Sorin. "Then I learned of the Maraan Lords, but I cannot figure out where they came from. Where is their land? I know there have to be more continents beyond our own, but how did they get here?"

Sorin studied the makeshift map on the floor. "Why do you think they are here?"

"Because according to what I've been able to decipher in these books, Deimas was a Maraan King." Sorin's eyes shot to hers. "You told me no one knows where Deimas' power came from. Well, here it is. He was a completely different race and bloodline. "

"Then what were his powers?"

"I haven't been able to find that, but from what I've gathered, their power was similar to an Avonleyan in terms of strength."

"Who are the Maraan Lords?" he asked again. He hadn't moved from where he stood studying her crude map.

"They are the rulers of Maraa, I suppose, with their king gone. There are seven territories, each ruled by a Lord. I imagine they would be comparable to you and the other princes and Ashtine. They are the most powerful now that Deimas is out of play," Scarlett explained.

"And you have faced them?"

She nodded mutely.

"When? How?"

"The first one… He had just arrived here. Was fresh off a ship. I don't think he quite understood how stifled his magic would be in the human lands. He was arrogant and made the comment that he had not believed his kin that were already here."

And she launched into the story of the night when she and Nuri and Juliette had killed a man near the docks. They had suspected he was connected to the missing orphans, but when he had compromised both her and Nuri, Juliette had shoved her sword through his neck.

"How does Mikale know of that night?" Sorin asked when she was finished.

"I don't know how he knows. Some sort of connection maybe that bonds all the Lords?"

Sorin's eyes widened in disbelief. "You think that Mikale is a Maraan Lord?"

"It fits with everything, Sorin. It would explain how he knew about that night. It would explain why he wants me. Why he wants to merge our bloodlines. If I'm as powerful as you think I am, and he is a Maraan Lord, a child would be…" Her voice was barely audible as she trailed off.

The possessive snarl that came out of Sorin made the hair on her neck stand on end. "He cannot have you," he growled. "I am yours, and you are mine. "

"I do not think he will care," she replied, going back to the table and sitting once more. She pulled a book to her. The most recent one she'd been so slowly reading and translating. Sorin sat beside her, resting a hand on her thigh. "According to this, there are seven Lords. We beheaded one. I don't know who rose to take his seat, but before we killed him, he told us he was visiting kin here. I suspect there is more than one here, but it can't all be just for me."

"Do you have any idea who the others are?"

"I would venture to guess Lord Tyndell from the way he spoke that day when we left. This plan—" She paused, pushing her hair back out of her face. "They have patiently been waiting, Sorin. This had to have been enacted centuries ago, and they've just been biding their time. Waiting for all the pieces to fall into place."

"But what do they want?"

"I suspect the same thing they wanted during the Great War. Something in Avonleya, which they cannot gain entry to because of the wards so they are trying to find their work around."

"Deimas put the wards up," Sorin countered. "Do these Lords not know how to remove them?"

"That's the thing," Scarlett said. "You told me that Deimas and Esmeray didn't put the wards around the Fae lands, that the Fae did."

"Yes," Sorin said slowly. "You are thinking the Avonleyans did the same?"

"Possibly," she mused, "and if that is indeed the case, they're trying to find a way in."

With a twist of her wrist, her shadow panther appeared once more with another book in its maw. This one she had kept hidden since she found it, not even risking bringing it back to this chamber.

She handed the book to Sorin, and he visibly paled. He slowly opened it. This book had various languages. It was someone's personal spell book. Some of the spells were in the Old Language. Some in Avonleyan or Maraan. Some in languages she could not read nor decipher. But they were all ancient, powerful magic. They were all blood magic .

"It is why you have been asking so many questions about it," he said quietly.

"Yes."

"The cost of a spell that powerful, to overcome an Avonleyan ward, would be horrific," he said tightly.

"Yes. It is."

His eyes lifted from the book, coming to hers. "You found the spell?"

"I found one that would do something similar." She flipped the book to a page she had carefully marked. "It requires the blood of an innocent to be spilled. I can only imagine the spell they're using would need something equally powerful and likely magical…"

"The orphans," Sorin said in astonishment.

"You sound shocked that I figured all of this out," Scarlett said with a pointed look.

"No. I am… I think you are the only one who could figure all of this out, Love," he replied, looking over his shoulder at her notes and the books scattered about the table.

"I need to figure out who the other Lords are that are here, but first, I need you to tell me about the meeting the day I saw the Oracle," Scarlett said, gently taking the spell book from Sorin's hands. With a thought, her shadow panther had reappeared and taken it to whatever pocket between the worlds it kept it in. "I saw reports on the table after you had all come back here, and I was still with Talwyn. Ashtine reported the mortals are moving forces around."

"She did, particularly near the borders of the Western Courts," Sorin said grimly.

"How many?"

"She did not know for sure."

Scarlett grew quiet, contemplating.

"How do you plan to figure out who the other Lords are?" Sorin asked as he pored over her notes and translations.

Here we go , Scarlett thought, bracing herself for his reaction.

"I'm going to go and ask Mikale."