Lady of Shadows (Lady of Darkness #2)

Chapter 10 Callan

CHAPTER 10

CALLAN

A knock came on their suite doors. Sloan went to answer it, and a maid handed him a message. Callan was sitting on the sofa before the fire. After they had left the library three days ago, they had returned here, and he had not left since. He had taken a few books with him, and they lay scattered across the cushions beside him. He had spent the better part of the last few days poring over one in particular. If he was going to be stuck here, he was indeed going to learn as much as he could about the lands that existed alongside his own, starting with this damn Fire Court.

He had learned that Sorin had been the prince of the lands for over two hundred years. Holy gods. How old was he? But more than that, he had learned the four Courts all answered to a single queen who resided in the White Halls in the northernmost part of the continent. The queen, it appeared though, was not just the Queen of the Fae, but had influence over all the continent. If this was true, he wondered if his father had ever had contact with her? Why hadn’t he been told of this if he was to rule one day?

“It is from Sorin,” Sloan said, reading the note from the maid. “He is requesting we join them for lunch.”

“Them?” Callan asked, looking up from the text he was reading.

“He did not specify who will be there, but he wants to update you on matters,” Sloan replied gruffly.

“That is a good sign, isn’t it?” Finn asked from the armchair opposite him. “They are including us.”

“I suppose,” Sloan grunted.

Callan didn’t say anything. Would it just be Sorin and his Court, or would Scarlett be there, too? Would the Water Prince be there as well? Could he face Scarlett after what had been said between them? He still wanted to talk to her. He still needed answers. But he could have handled things differently. He had just been so relieved to see her safe and up and actually smiling. Not her playful or cunning smile, but a true, genuine smile. A smile he had only seen on her face a handful of times.

“What time is lunch?” Callan asked, rising from the sofa. He was in casual pants and a tunic. The prince had provided them with plenty of clothing options, and he had to admit he found their fashion rather comfortable.

“Someone will be by to escort us in an hour,” Sloan answered.

Shortly before noon, there was another knock on the door, and they found Eliza standing on the other side. She smirked at them and said, “Are you lot ready then?”

“Good day to you, too,” Callan said, pushing past Finn and Sloan to follow the female who led them from the guest halls.

“Did you find interesting reading material in the library?” Eliza asked smugly as they descended a set of stairs.

“I did. Fascinating history, actually,” Callan answered. “Tell me, how does the prince get along with the queen?”

Eliza stiffened slightly. “The queen is not an easy person to get along with—for anybody.”

“I think the same could be said of your prince,” Callan replied with a raised brow.

A wicked grin spread across her face. “Careful, Mortal Prince, your jealousy is showing.”

“I’m not—” but he stopped. He had not realized she had led them to the bridges…and was now crossing one. “We are meeting on the western side of the palace?”

“It would appear so,” Eliza said, turning to him and crossing her arms. “Unless you have some objection to that side? Although with the trouble you have been going through to get to the other side, I can’t imagine you do.”

“Why now?” Finn cut in from his side. “Why are we suddenly allowed on that side now?”

Eliza sighed. “One, because you are being escorted. You are not trying to cross to this side by yourselves. Two, you were sequestered to the other side because his focus was on her. He did not want to have to worry about anything else until she woke. Now come on. I’m hungry.”

She turned and began across the bridge again. Callan sighed and followed. If she was leading them to another trap, there was nothing he could do about it. He had never felt so helpless. Then again, he’d never really faced a time when he’d needed help, either.

They made it to the other side of the bridge without issue. Eliza led them down two more hallways before stopping in front of a room. She threw the double doors open and stalked in. Rayner held up a stack of papers that she snatched from him as she plopped into a seat and propped her feet up on the long table, despite the fact that it was laden with food.

“These are from Stellan?” she asked, grabbing an apple from the bowl and taking a bite.

“Yes,” Rayner replied in his cool voice. “I’d rather not stare at the bottom of your boots while we eat.” As he said it, he pushed her feet off the table, and they fell to the floor with a thump. Without missing a beat, she chucked her apple at him. He disappeared into ashes and reappeared on the other side of the table.

“Oh good, we’re already throwing food,” Cyrus said, prowling into the dining room. “Crown Prince,” he added with a slight nod. He took a seat next to Rayner and began filling his plate. “Please, by all means, help yourself.”

“We are not waiting for Prince Sorin?” Callan asked, taking a seat at the other end of the table.

“Gods, no,” Cyrus scoffed. “We’d never eat if we waited for him.”

“Oh thank Saylah we’re not waiting for him,” said a feminine voice behind Callan. “I swear he takes longer to get ready than I do.”

He turned to see Scarlett floating into the room, her shadows trailing in her wake. She was in all black wearing fitted pants with a black, long sleeve top. Daggers were at her waist, and her swagger was back. If it weren’t for the hollowness of her eyes, he would have thought she was completely back to normal.

“I am so glad you are here, Darling,” Cyrus said, handing a piece of bread up to her that he had smeared marmalade onto. She breezed by, snagging it and taking a bite.

“So the two of you can torment Sorin together?” Eliza asked. Her boots were back on the table, and she had a new apple in her hand. The previous one lay forgotten on the floor.

“I will gladly accept anyone into our family who can hand Sorin his ass in cards like she did last night,” Cyrus replied, putting a sandwich together. “What are you going to do with all that gold anyway?”

“I already spent it on chocolates and shoes,” Scarlett answered, finishing off her bread.

“All of it?” Cyrus asked, his mouth falling open.

“And books, of course,” Scarlett answered, motioning for another piece of bread.

“But you won…a lot of gold coins,” Cyrus sputtered.

“I’m surprised you even remember after the amount of alcohol you drank,” Scarlett teased. “I’ll have some chocolate sent to your rooms.”

“This is the most unorthodox Court I have ever seen,” Callan said, his mouth gaping. Sloan and Finn seemed as bewildered as he was. Council meetings with his father’s court were formal and quiet and tense. Everyone went silent and eyes slid to them, as though they’d forgotten they were there. Scarlett had perched on the table. On the table . She was swinging her legs, eating her bread and jam.

“Good day, Callan. Finn. Sloan, my dear, has your face officially become stuck in that scowl? I knew it would eventually happen,” she said with a fiendish grin.

Eliza smirked, and Cyrus barked a laugh. “You seem to be doing well, Scarlett,” Callan said slowly, studying her.

“Well, madness can certainly be deceiving, can’t it?” she replied, her grin turning feral.

“Where is his Highness anyway?” Cyrus asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“He pointed me down the hall and said he had to get something. He’ll be along shortly,” she supplied with a shrug of her shoulders.

“And what exactly is this meeting about?” Finn asked cautiously.

“It’s about Windonelle. What’s happening there, and what we can do about it,” she answered, her voice softening a little.

“Have you heard news?” Callan asked, looking up in surprise.

“Not exactly,” she answered hesitantly. Then she said, “Tell me of your father.”

“My father?” Callan asked, his brows rising.

“Yes. Do you know why he wanted a High Force to be trained?” she asked, leaning over Cyrus to take the sandwich that Rayner passed to her.

“Why don’t you ask the one who was actually training them?” Callan retorted sharply.

“I have, but he doesn’t know why your father felt the need to have a High Force.”

“Why would any kingdom want a group of elite, highly trained lethal soldiers?” Callan countered.

“To carry out secret missions,” Eliza cut in. “Our most skilled warriors are sent out when things need to be handled quickly and discreetly. Things we don’t want others to know about.”

“And you are wondering what those matters might be for my father?” Callan asked. He shifted his attention back to Scarlett. “If I knew, do you not think I would have already told you? Do you not trust that I have been trying to help you this whole time?”

“I do,” Scarlett said, “but maybe you don’t know that you know, Callan. Maybe it has absolutely nothing to do with the children disappearing.”

“Are you asking him to relay information about his kingdom that was discussed behind closed doors?” Sloan asked now, his voice hard.

“That is exactly what she is asking,” Sorin said, striding into the dining hall. He had on an elegant red tunic with gold thread throughout and charcoal gray pants. “You really could not wait an extra five minutes for me to get here before you started eating?”

“When you say we’re going to have a meeting at noon, perhaps you should be here at noon ,” Cyrus replied, grabbing another sandwich from the platter.

“Are those pears?” Scarlett asked, leaning over Cyrus's plate and practically crawling on the table to reach for them. Rayner sighed, picked one up, and, on a swirl of smoke, passed it to Scarlett. She sat back on the table, her feet swinging once more. She seemed so comfortable around them, as if she had lived with them her whole life, not merely stayed here for the past several days.

“Are those new boots?” Sorin asked, studying her swinging feet.

Cyrus barked a laugh, and a feline grin spread across Scarlett’s face. “I had some money to burn, Prince.”

“I have been with you all morning. When did you get to the city?”

“While you were bathing I paid Camilla to go to the city and fetch me a few things.”

“Boots?”

“And chocolates and books from the sound of things,” Cyrus said, amusement dancing in his golden eyes.

Callan watched as Scarlett tipped her head back in laughter, her shadows ebbing and flowing. Was this how she was when she was alone with her friends in the Black Syndicate? With Cassius and Death’s Shadow? She had said to him on so many occasions that he did not know all of her. He hadn’t wanted to believe her. He had wanted to believe that she had felt comfortable enough around him that she could be her entire self, with no pretenses, no masks.

Sorin settled into a chair beside Cyrus. Scarlett stayed perched on the table between them. Her eyes met Sorin’s, and she tilted her head to the side like she heard something. Sorin’s mouth quirked to the side.

“Well, now that we’re all here,” Eliza drawled from her seat, “maybe the mortal prince can tell us what he knows.”

All eyes shifted back to him now. “As I have already said, Sorin was the one training them. He would know more than I do. My father, it appears, had several secrets I was unaware of. It seems to be a common theme in my life as of late.”

Scarlett’s brows rose, and she spun to face him, now sitting cross-legged on the table. She met his eyes, her shadows darkening some, swirling a little faster. “I was planning to tell you so many things when we were to meet in the clearing, Callan. I know we are not on the best of terms right now, but we are on the same side.”

“Are we?” he countered.

“Why would you think we are not?” Sorin asked. He sat casually in his chair, his hand resting on the table near Scarlett.

“I have been told very little since we arrived here,” Callan said.

“And this meeting is to rectify that,” Sorin replied, sipping from his glass of water. “What do you wish to know?”

“What have you heard from Baylorin?”

“We got word that they were supposedly close to breaking through the wards Cassius put up to protect the orphans in the Black Syndicate. I am working on some spells to help strengthen them, but have yet to discover why they desire the orphans,” Sorin answered.

“You believe Mikale is working with my father?” Callan asked.

“Mikale is currently in charge of the High Force until the Crown Prince returns from his impromptu vacation to Rydeon with his guards and a suitable replacement for me can be found,” Sorin replied. “Since he implied numerous times he knew about the orphans, and in light of his ambitions for Scarlett, the fact that he was made the interim general would suggest he is indeed working with the king and whoever is seeking the children.”

“A few days ago, on the bridge, you told me of Mikale’s desire to merge his bloodline with Scarlett’s. Why?” Callan asked, looking to her now.

Sorin’s eyes flicked to her as well, then back to Callan. “We do not know for sure.”

“But you have an idea.” He narrowed his eyes at Sorin as he again glanced at Scarlett.

“We have some ideas, yes,” Sorin said.

Callan gritted his teeth at the obviousness of the secrets that were again being kept. “Is it even possible? To merge bloodlines with a…Fae?”

“Of course it’s possible,” Eliza snapped. “We have the same parts you know.”

Callan felt his cheeks heat slightly. “Well, yes, but how…?” Eliza’s eyebrows rose in amusement. “What would the offspring of such a union be?” he ground out.

“They would be children,” Rayner said, stepping in before Eliza could reply. “But with Scarlett as their mother, they would likely be powerful for demi-Fae. They would rival full-blooded Fae in power.”

“They would have magic? Even with human blood in their veins?”

“Any of the races can cross,” Rayner explained. “There are many mortals in your lands that can trace their bloodlines back to other beings before the lands were divided.”

“There are mortals with magic?” Callan asked, his brows raising.

“There are mortals with magical ancestry. Whether or not they have power, we do not know. If they do, it is likely very weak, if not completely dormant. Since magic is not readily found there, we do not have a way of knowing for sure,” Rayner replied.

Callan returned his attention to Sorin. “How could you access magic there?”

Scarlett had gone quiet with the mention and talk of Mikale, and she was staring down at the pear she held in her lap. “Magic is not readily accessible, but there are a few ways around that,” Sorin supplied. Another vague answer.

He was about to ask another question when Amaré swooped into the room through an open window. He flew right to Sorin, dropped a rolled piece of parchment into his open palm, and then swooped to Scarlett’s shoulder. Sorin read the parchment and stood. Scarlett looked at him, a question in her eyes as she stroked the bird’s head, and Sorin smiled at her. Callan knew that smile, knew what it conveyed, because that was the smile he gave to that same woman.

“I’m afraid we need to cancel our magic training today, Princess,” he said with a wicked grin.

“Why?” she asked slowly, clearly suspicious.

“I think you will find your afternoon just became completely booked.”

As he spoke, a water portal opened in the corner of the room, and Prince Briar stepped through, a silver sword strapped to his back. His icy blue eyes twinkled as they met Sorin’s gaze. He nodded once to him, then his eyes went to Scarlett and a grin spread across his face. He stepped to the side to allow someone else to come through the portal.

Cassius Redding.

His eyes swept the room, coming to land on Scarlett, who had gone completely and utterly still.

Sorin’s voice went soft and impossibly gentle for the dark prince that Callan knew him to be. “It’s real, Love. Not a dream. He is here. I know you need him right now.”

Tears appeared on Scarlett’s cheeks as she practically fell off the table, Sorin catching her in his arms and setting her on her feet. Amaré flew to the back of a chair. “Thank you,” she whispered, and then she was running to Cassius’s waiting arms.

Sorin’s eyes never left her when Cassius wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet and gripping her tightly to him. Sorin didn’t see his Inner Court exchange soft smiles, but Callan did. And again he wondered what secrets were being kept from him.