Lady of Shadows (Lady of Darkness #2)

Chapter 38 Scarlett

CHAPTER 38

SCARLETT

S carlett looked in the mirror in the room the High Witch had led her to. She was wearing a black bodysuit of some sort. It was tight and hugged her in all the right places but somehow incredibly flexible, allowing her to move with ease. Atop that, she strapped leathers on. They were different from the fighting leathers that she wore in the Fae lands. These were a thicker leather, but somehow lighter. The boots were warm on her feet and went over her knees. Shirina sat beside the entrance, her silver eyes ever watchful. Her ears perked up, and she cocked her head to the side, just as a swirl of smoke appeared in the reflection of the mirror behind her near the hearth and Rayner stepped from ashes. His eyes settled on her, relief flooding them as they scanned her for injuries.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, his low voice thick with worry.

“No,” Scarlett answered, tilting her head to the side as she watched him in the mirror. “How did you find me?”

“Sorin sent me,” Rayner answered, coming to stand beside her. He reached over and tightened a buckle at her shoulder.

“How did he know where to find me?”

Ignoring her question, Rayner asked, “Does anyone know you are here? Have you been spotted?”

But before Scarlett could answer and press about how Sorin knew how to find her, the door to the room flung open. The High Witch stalked into the room, her violet eyes glowing with ire. Her voice was cold and unforgiving as she hissed, “Do you know what we do to males who come to my lands, who enter my home, without permission, Ash Rider?” She drew the sword that was strapped to her back as she finished speaking, leveling the blade with his throat.

“Forgive me, High Witch,” Rayner replied, bowing low at the waist. Scarlett was somewhat shocked at the deep level of respect from someone just as terrifying as the High Witch. “I come on an errand of my Prince.”

“Your Prince should know better than to send males here without warning. You shall be his reminder,” she snarled as she made to step towards Rayner.

Without giving herself a chance to think about what she was doing, Scarlett stepped in front of Rayner. Her voice was authoritative, commanding, and her eyes glowed blue with flames, her shadows poised to strike. “He came at my request. He is one of mine.”

The High Witch studied her with those violet eyes for a moment, seeming to consider something. “You claim him?”

“I do. He is my family,” Scarlett answered.

“Intriguing,” the High Witch said, studying her a moment longer. “Follow me. The Oracle is expecting you.”

Shirina stood at the words and padded after the High Witch. She paused at the door, looking back over her shoulder as if beckoning Scarlett to follow. Scarlett had only taken a step when she felt Rayner grab her elbow. She slowly looked down at his fingers on her arm and dragged her eyes up to his, biting back on the snarl at that grip.

“You are going to the Oracle?” he asked darkly.

“It would appear so,” Scarlett answered. She tugged her arm, and Rayner let go at once. She again began to follow Hazel and Shirina, and Rayner fell into step beside her.

“Who does the High Witch think you are?” he whispered as they walked along a corridor. They were several feet behind the High Witch, and Scarlett wondered if a Witch’s hearing was as keen as the Fae and Night Children. Based on Juliette, if she had indeed been a Witch, she could only assume it was.

“She called me a queen. I didn’t think it wise to correct the High Witch,” Scarlett whispered back.

“The Oracle is not someone to be trifled with,” Rayner warned as they rounded a corner.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not planning on fighting her,” Scarlett drawled. “Is it a her?”

“No one knows. We assume so since it is a Witch,” Rayner replied, “but it appears differently to everyone.”

“What do you mean?” They were outside now, walking down a snow-covered dirt path to the forest that sprawled behind the High Witch’s castle.

“I mean how she appears to me, she will not appear to you. You might see an old blind woman, hunched over and walking with a cane, while I might see a great bird.”

Rayner caught her by the waist as she tripped over a fallen branch, and she threw him an appreciative glance. Once he had steadied her, a plume of smoke appeared before them and from it he drew the same sword that Eliza had summoned for her in the courtyard the day Talwyn had appeared there. “Here,” he said, handing it to Scarlett. “Eliza sent this for you.”

Scarlett gave him an appreciative nod and slid it into the sheath along the back of her leathers. They walked for at least another five miles, traversing through the trees and across babbling brooks not yet frozen over by the winter weather. The High Witch never once looked back to see if they were still behind her, but Scarlett had the feeling she could indeed hear every word they were saying.

“What is she when you see her?” she asked Rayner.

“I have never seen her.”

“Never?” Scarlett turned to him in surprise.

He shook his head. “Very few have ever seen the Oracle. So few, in fact, that some believe it is only a legend.”

Scarlett only nodded as they continued on. They had begun to climb a steep cliff-side, and Scarlett found herself even more grateful for the clothing Hazel had provided for her. The boots were excellent for gripping the rocks. Shirina was bounding ahead of them, back and forth, up the rocky slope, a shadow of night against the snow. Hazel had clearly climbed this cliff-side many times, knowing exactly where to step and grip to make quick work of the climb. Rayner had gone before Scarlett and helped her up onto a cliff edge where Hazel stood waiting beside a cave opening.

“The Oracle lives here?” Scarlett asked, peering around Rayner into the dark of the cave before her.

“You are not permitted to take weapons in with you,” Hazel replied in answer.

Scarlett glanced at Rayner, uncertain of what to say to that. He had placed himself between her and the High Witch, and he straightened to his full, towering height as he said, “You expect my Queen to enter a cave unarmed?”

“If she wishes to see the Oracle, I do,” Hazel retorted harshly.

Scarlett looked to Shirina, who was now sitting beside the cave mouth, her tail switching behind her. The panther gave a slight nod of its head, and Scarlett reached behind her, grabbing her sword. She handed it wordlessly to Rayner, then stepped around him. There was worry swirling in his gray eyes as she met his gaze, and she tried her best to give him a reassuring smile.

She stepped towards the cave mouth, but Hazel held up a hand, halting her. “You cannot bring any weapons in with you.”

“I do not have any other weapons,” Scarlett argued. “I have nothing hidden. I swear it. I came here in a nightgown, remember?”

“You have fire and ice running in your veins and shadows at your beck and call, do you not?” Hazel replied, a cunning smile on her lips.

“I can’t give you my magic,” Scarlett balked.

“Of course not,” Hazel said. She made a motion with her hand and a table appeared beside her. On the table sat a small vial, just like the vials of tonic Scarlett had taken nearly every night of her life. “This will temporarily nullify your powers. When the Oracle is finished with you, they will be released back to you.”

“Scarlett,” Rayner warned from behind her. “We should wait for Sorin.”

“You question your Queen?” Hazel asked sharply. Then she turned those violet eyes upon Scarlett. “You would wait for permission from a male?”

“No. I mean—” Scarlett started, stumbling over her words.

“Is he your keeper?” the High Witch snarled.

“I do not have a keeper,” Scarlett bit back.

“Are you someone’s subject? Someone’s property? Someone’s pet?”

“No,” Scarlett growled from between her teeth.

“Your Spirit Animal brought you here. The Oracle does not often take visitors. I cannot guarantee you another visit if you do not go now.” When Scarlett still hesitated, the High Witch stepped closer to her. Looking directly into her eyes, Hazel said in a dangerously quiet voice, “You are a Queen. You do not need permission to do anything and certainly not from a male. You make the choices that will affect you and your people, and you make them without regret. You choose, and you handle the consequences, whatever they may be. You do not look back, only forward. Now make your choice.”

Scarlett shot one last wary look to Rayner, then stepped forward and swallowed the contents of the vial in a single gulp. It tasted exactly as her daily tonic had, and she felt her magic instantly vanish. The shadows she had grown to love faded into nothing. Hazel smiled widely, gesturing to the cave. “See what awaits.”

Scarlett walked slowly forward into the cave, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. It was pitch black and without her shadows to scout the way before her, she moved cautiously, relying on her enhanced Fae senses. She had walked for nearly five minutes in total silence when finally a glow appeared ahead. Swallowing hard, she took a deep breath and stepped forward once more.

She didn’t know what she had expected to see or what the Oracle would be, but she did not expect what stood before her as the passageway opened up forming a wide circular cavern. In the center of the room stood a woman.

Stood Juliette.

She was barefoot, her feet dirty from the dirt floor of the cave, and she wore her black tunic and pants. The same clothing she wore on the nights they were dispatched to take care of the worst of the worst. Her hands were clasped lightly before her.

Not real, Scarlett told herself. She was not really standing before her. That was impossible.

But Scarlett could not take another step into the room. Her breathing grew ragged, her chest tight.

“Hello, sister,” the Oracle said, her voice soft.

“I am not your sister,” Scarlett said quietly. “Juliette is dead.”

“Am I?” she asked, with a tilt of her head.

“Yes. I stabbed you in the heart myself. I watched the life leave your eyes. It’s haunted me, whether I am sleeping or awake.”

“You merely released me from my mortal body. My essence lives on,” the Oracle said, taking a step towards her. “I came here. To wait for you. To see you.”

“How? How is that possible?” Scarlett whispered, her voice cracking.

“Blood magic,” Juliette said grimly. “Powerful, ancient blood magic.”

“You knew I would come here? How?” Scarlett asked, unable to hide the shock and surprise in her voice.

“I am a Witch, Scarlett,” Juliette answered. “I am a powerful Seer. I saw what you are to become. I had originally thought it meant you were to be a queen beside Callan. It is why I tried to push you towards such a path. But then I had more and more visions. And now…”

“And now?” Scarlett asked, swallowing thickly.

“You were made for such a time as this, sister,” Juliette said, reaching out and grasping Scarlett’s hands with her own, repeating words she’d said with her dying breaths.

“No,” Scarlett whispered, shaking her head in denial. “No. I am not a queen. I was not made for a throne.”

“Then what are you?”

“What?”

“Then what are you?” Juliette repeated, her amber eyes fixed on Scarlett’s orbs of icy blue.

“What kind of question is that?” Scarlett demanded.

“If you are not a queen, if you are not to care for those who cannot care for themselves, what are you to the realms?”

“I don’t know,” Scarlett snapped, jerking her hands from the Oracle’s. “I stopped knowing who I was the minute I drove that dagger into your heart.”

“You did not cease to exist when my heart stopped beating,” Juliette chided gently.

“But I did,” Scarlett whispered. She sank to her knees, and Juliette dropped with her, reaching for her hands once more. “I shattered the moment I drove that dagger into your heart. He destroyed me.”

There it was. She had said it. The thing she had never allowed herself to admit to anyone. Not Sorin. Not even herself. Mikale had wanted a broken pet, and he had accomplished that task the second he’d made her kill Juliette. She had been shoved into a pit. She had been forced to walk through a hell, and she didn’t recognize the person that was emerging on this side of that journey.

“Yes, but he has come for you,” Juliette answered with a soft smile.

“Mikale has come for me. Over and over. Last time, I nearly went with him. Sorin and Briar think he was entrancing me, but he wasn’t, Juliette. I was not under some Night Child spell. A part of me thought it would be easier—” Scarlet swallowed against the lump in her throat. “That maybe it would be easier just to go with him, let him finish breaking me. If it would keep those I love safe. If it would keep the orphans safe.”

Juliette reached up and brushed tears from her face. “Mikale is not of whom I speak, my friend. I speak of the one who comes for you. I speak of the one who came for you before he even knew who you were. I speak of the one who has searched for you since the dawn of time.”

“You speak as if I have a twin flame,” Scarlett scoffed.

Juliette barked a laugh. “We grew up and trained together, Scarlett. I know you are not this dense.”

“No,” Scarlett whispered. “He is not mine.”

“You know that isn’t true,” Juliette retorted. “You have screamed it at him in your most desperate moments.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Scarlett asked with a sidelong look at Juliette. She still could not believe she was sitting here, speaking with her. Maybe that potion she’d drank did more than nullify her magic…

“All powerful Seer. Remember?” Juliette said with her wicked grin as she gestured to herself.

Scarlett snorted. “Careful, sister. Your vanity is showing.”

“I’m still me,” Juliette scoffed. “Just different, I suppose. Just as you are still you, only…different.”

Scarlett didn’t say anything to that as she looked around the dark cave cavern. “You will reside here now? Forever? What of the previous Oracle?”

“Those are secrets I am not allowed to reveal, even to a queen of the realm,” Juliette replied quietly.

“I am not a queen,” Scarlett repeated, but Juliette said nothing in response. Just waited for her, as she always had. As Sorin did. Waited for her to collect her thoughts.

“I have been terrified. To let myself love him,” she whispered into the darkness of the cave. “I have been terrified that someday his twin flame would come for him, and I would lose him forever. As I have lost you.”

“He has proven himself to you. Over and over again. He will always come for you. He will always catch you.”

Scarlett swallowed, looking down at the dirt covered floor. “Does he know?”

“He has told you. In so many ways,” Juliette confirmed, her voice solemn.

Scarlett jerked her head up to meet Juliette’s eyes. “He knows? How long has he known?”

“He bears the Mark, yes?” Juliette asked, holding up her left hand, showing Scarlett the back side.

The Mark. The unfinished tattoo on his hand.

“He is— I did not know…” Scarlett trailed off.

“Of course you knew, Scarlett. There is a difference between knowing and acknowledging. Just as there is a difference in your knowing and acknowledging your purpose in this world.”

“I am not a queen,” she snarled at Juliette again, growing tired of the cage she kept trying to shove her into.

“Why? Why does the title scare you?”

“I am not the one for this, Juliette,” Scarlett cried. “I do not know the first thing about leading, about ruling.”

“You would not be alone. Others would be with you. Sorin would be with you. If you ask him,” Juliette argued.

Scarlett huffed a harsh laugh. “Being alone does not scare me.”

“No, it does not. But what of being required to depend on others? As you did when you and I and Nuri worked in tandem? What of being required to rely on others so deeply once again? Letting them in on the scheming and the planning? What of allowing someone to rescue you instead of doing the protecting? You fear letting others close. You fear loving others that deeply once more far more than you fear being alone,” Juliette said softly.

“Do you have any idea what I went through after that night? Nuri withdrew from me. You were gone. I wished he had just killed me alongside you!” Scarlett cried.

“I know, Scarlett. I know ,” Juliette said, squeezing her hands. “But it had to happen this way. For me to get here. For you to get here.” Scarlett was silent as she stared into the eyes of her friend, her sister, who stared back unblinking, her eyes glowing with challenge. “You do not back down from anything, Scarlett. I have never seen you back down from a fight or admit defeat. You think he broke you, and maybe he did. But look at what rose from those ashes. Look at the strength, at the power, at the beauty of those shadows and that darkness on your soul.”

“Give me a different task,” Scarlett begged. “Anything else. Please!”

“I am not the one who gives such assignments,” she answered with a shake of her head.

“Oh, yes. The fucking Fates,” Scarlett drawled, rolling her eyes.

Juliette smiled, amused. “You reject the Fates, sister?”

“I reject the idea that my life is to be decided for me.”

“Just because you have a destination, is it not your own choice of how to get there? Or what to do once you’ve arrived?”

“It is my choice not to go there at all,” Scarlett snapped back.

“Then you are prepared to accept the consequences of that choice and all those that choice will affect?” Juliette asked, pushing herself up to a standing position. She stood, looking down at Scarlett now.

The balance. Juliette had always been the balance between Nuri’s innate wildness and her own lethal intensity.

“Talwyn is more suited for this!” Scarlett answered, rising to her own feet. “She was raised here. She has trained for this. She is prepared for this.”

“She cannot do so alone, although she wishes she could. You and she are very similar, you know,” Juliette said, her tone turning bored as she turned and began wandering around the cavern.

“I am nothing like her,” Scarlett spat. “She is not my family. You are my sister. Nuri is my sister.”

“Talwyn is not as she appears,” Juliette replied with a knowing smile, “but, like you, she cannot complete her tasks alone. Like you, she has done what she has needed to survive. In the end though, you will need each other.”

“I need no one,” Scarlett seethed.

“No, you do not. However, wouldn’t it be nice to have someone with whom your soul can rest and you can take a breath?” Juliette replied, her knowing smile turning into a smirk. When Scarlett only glared at her, she continued. “Should you choose not to fulfill your purpose, you choose to turn your back on those who cannot defend themselves and sentence them to my same fate.”

“I cannot do this!” Scarlett screamed at her friend.

“Why?” Juliette insisted, coming right up to Scarlett’s face. “You can do anything! Overcome everything! Why does this scare you?”

“Because I do not know who I am any more!” Scarlett cried. “How can I lead an entire kingdom if I do not even know who I am? How can people be loyal to a queen who doesn’t know her own self?”

Juliette gave her a small smile, like she had been waiting for this exact moment. As if she’d known these were the words that needed to be said. She reached over and cupped Scarlett’s cheek with her hand. “I suppose, my dear sister, who you are depends on who you want to be.”

Juliette moved away from her then and strode to the center of the cavern. “My mortal death started a chain reaction you have yet to discover, but there were plans in motion long before we entered this world. What would you give to have that night play out differently?”

“Anything,” Scarlett whispered, watching Juliette carefully.

“Would you sentence others to my same fate when you have the ability to change it?” Juliette hissed the last words with so much venom Scarlett winced and sank back to her knees.

The cave plunged into darkness, and she heard Juliette whisper, her voice sounding as if it were all around her, “ Who do you desire to be?”

Scarlett felt her magic sputter to life. She felt the fire and the ice flood through her bones, her being. She raised her palms and flames of white encompassed the room. Shards of ice hovered above the fire, refracting glittering light along the walls. Then she sent her beloved shadows into them all.

Juliette appeared before her once more and clasped Scarlett’s hands in her own, whispering again, “Who are you?”

Scarlett fixed her eyes on Juliette’s, on those beautiful amber eyes. She felt the ice and flames swirling as one in her own eyes. “I am someone who has faced the darkness and found the beauty it had to offer. I am someone who can create stars in the void when the light has gone out. I am someone who cares for those the realms have forgotten. I am someone who can bring beauty from brutal ashes. I am a fucking Queen.”

“Yes. Yes, you are, your Majesty,” Juliette replied. She stood slowly and bowed low.

Scarlett swallowed hard as she took in her sister, whom she still blamed herself for losing. She pushed the ache in her heart down, down, down.

“Do not do that,” Juliette said softly. “You cannot run from grief, just as you cannot run from what is your very being.”

“I do not know what to do,” Scarlett answered quietly.

“You do not need to know all the answers right now. You only need to get up and take the first step.” Juliette’s voice brushed down her soul, and she held out a hand to Scarlett. “You were never meant to do life alone. No one is.”

One step. She could do that. She could take one step up out of this last pit. She could climb one step out of this hell that seemed unending and unyielding.

Juliette’s smile was wide as Scarlett took her hand and stood.