Lady of Shadows (Lady of Darkness #2)

Chapter 39 Scarlett

CHAPTER 39

SCARLETT

T he cave illuminated, and Scarlett blinked back at the sudden brightness. Gone were the rocky walls and dirt floor. A beautiful, ornately decorated apartment of sorts lay before her. Plush rugs were under her feet, and a large four-poster bed was along the far wall. To the right was a long glass table and atop it was a bowl of silver liquid.

There were windows all along the walls now, looking out into clouds. High above the ground, then. Not in some dirty, musty cave. Various doors led from the room to the gods knew where.

She turned unimpressed eyes onto Juliette.

“What?” her sister asked innocently. “If you honestly thought I was going to live in a dirt cave, you never really knew me at all.”

“You live in a magic cave?” Scarlett asked doubtfully.

“The cave is just an entrance,” Juliette said with a wink.

“So where are we actually, then?” Scarlett asked as she made to move to the windows.

“That is not to be revealed to you right now,” Juliette answered, striding for the glass table.

“So because you are an Oracle, you now speak in ridiculous riddles?” Scarlett scoffed, following her.

Juliette laughed, and Scarlett marveled as the familiar sound washed over her. “Wait until you meet Princess Ashtine,” Juliette replied with a smirk. She had reached the table, and she looked down into the silver pool before her.

“You are the daughter of two powerful beings who sacrificed much to save our world,” Juliette said, as if reciting a lesson. “Now a king returns to take the throne, and all the worlds hold their breath as the stage is set.”

“Wait, two powerful beings? You know who my father was?” Scarlett asked, coming to a halt beside Juliette.

“I know much, Scarlett. Things I cannot reveal to you, but I can guide you to the truth.”

“Why can you not just tell me?” Scarlett demanded. “Who is my father?”

“The question you need to be asking is who is your mother? Answer that question, and you will answer the first.”

“My mother is Eliné. That does not answer the first question. Sorin does not know who my father was as her companion was killed by Deimas and Esmeray.”

A map of the continent appeared on the table beside the bowl. “Your answers lie across the seas, sister. In a land locked away by ancient magic.”

“Avonleya?”

“Indeed. The Fae Queens hid keys. If found and used, the keys will allow the bearer to enter the land.” Juliette turned to face Scarlett once more. Her face was all business now, like it would get when they were planning missions. “You are the only one who can find the keys. It is why you were kept hidden. It is part of the reason you are considered a weapon.”

“Why me?”

“Because Eliné is the one who hid most of them. Queen Henna disguised the seven keys, and her daughter can restore them. Eliné entrusted one to each bloodline. Queen Selinya hid the other two, but you can find them.”

“Queen Selinya? Who is that?”

“Keep digging through those books you’ve found, Sister. You are close to uncovering everything,” Juliette said with another knowing smile.

“How about you just fucking tell me?” Scarlett grumbled.

“You will, of course, also need the lock.”

“The what now?” Scarlett asked, looking up.

“The keys have to unlock something, do they not?” Juliette’s eyes were twinkling as she continued. “Before you leave here, tell the High Witch that you are the one she has been waiting for.”

“What does that mean?”

“She will know.”

“Could you be any more obscure?” Scarlett sighed with a glare.

“Oracle perks, I suppose,” Juliette answered with a half smile.

“And how am I to find these keys? I do not even know what they look like,” Scarlett said as she studied the map before her.

“A child of each possesses them on a chain of wind-kissed stone,” Juliette answered.

Scarlett rolled her eyes. “Here I thought we were on the same side.”

Juliette gave a soft laugh once more. “The Oracles have long been outside of any reigning power’s jurisdiction, but they have always had a strong relationship with Eliné.”

“I can come see you? Visit you often?” Scarlett asked quietly, keeping her eyes on the map.

“I may not always be able to give you answers or counsel, but as your friend, yes. I am always with you. Always on your side,” Juliette answered. After a moment of quiet between the friends, she clapped her hands twice and said, “I will give you three gifts before you leave today. One, regarding the keys, you will find that the keys have always been trying to get home.”

“What does that mean?” Scarlett ground out from between her teeth,

“Two,” Juliette said with a smile. “An Artist must give you the twin flame Mark.”

“The Artists are from the Earth Court,” Scarlett said slowly.

“Yes. You would definitely want a highly skilled Artist for that Mark…unless you know an all-powerful Seer.” The wicked glint in her eyes sparked a star to life in Scarlett’s chest.

“You can give me the Mark?”

“If you are choosing it. If you are accepting the bond that has always existed there, yes. It would be my honor to give you the Mark, especially since it will save his life.”

“What does that mean?” Scarlett asked, her attention snapping to her friend.

“When he took that Mark without a companion Mark, he took a great risk. Because there is no companion for that offering to latch on to, it drains his own magical reserves. When those are gone, it will begin to drain his very life force. Sending the Ash Rider to you cost the Prince of Fire greatly.”

“How did he find me?”

“There is not time, Scarlett. He fades as we speak,” Juliette said, grasping her left hand. “Interesting.”

“What?” Scarlett asked, looking down at her own hand.

“He protects you. Even now. He weakens hour by hour, but he continues to protect you. He weakens to keep you safe, to keep your location a secret from them.” Juliette’s eyes met her own. “I need you to take down his enchantments, or I cannot Mark you.”

“I cannot undo something I know nothing of,” Scarlett protested.

Juliette put her hands on either temple and closed her eyes, then lowered them back down to her sides. “You must remove the shields and enchantments, Scarlett. Only your power can cleave them”

“I can’t. I did not put them there,” Scarlett cried.

“No, you did not. Your twin flame did,” Juliette replied simply. “Now remove the shields.”

“I don’t know how,” Scarlett snapped.

“Of course you do,” Juliette said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “If you do not remove them, we are done here.”

Scarlett glared at Juliette, then closed her eyes. She took a deep breath.

In and out. In and out. In and out.

She stilled, reaching for the recesses of her mind, where she reached for her magic, and she found them. She saw the flames that surrounded the edges of her being. The flames were warm and safe. The flames were home. She placed a mental hand against the flames. She felt them struggle as if someone were trying to keep them lit. I’m okay, she whispered gently to the flames. I’m safe. The flames sputtered, and she sucked them into her palms.

And then she saw it. She saw an endless abyss of power. Her power. Golden flames and ice and water and ashes swirled in it, but also glittering white flames of pure white.

And shadows. Her shadows danced and flitted among it all.

Unending.

Unrelenting.

Wild and vast and deep. The deepest recesses of her own self. Beyond herself even.

She opened her eyes to find a Mark flaring on her left hand. “The third gift…” Scarlett swallowed.

Juliette smiled. “By finally accepting who you are as a whole, the light and the dark, by not trying to cage parts of yourself, you will find your magic is a song in your very blood, sister. You will find the control you have sought for months. Now go. Save your twin flame, and then it’s time to let that wildfire burn.”

Scarlett turned towards the way she had come and found Shirina sitting by the entrance, those silver eyes glowing bright. Then, in a flash of white light, the panther was gone.

“One last thing, your Majesty.” Scarlett turned back to Juliette, who was standing near a window, looking out. “Those who can walk among the worlds brought a book with them in the beginning. You would do well to find it.”

“How am I to find such a thing?” Scarlett demanded.

“Keep down the path you have already discovered. Now go.”

“Damn Oracle with her cryptic riddles,” Scarlett muttered under her breath . She could hear Juliette’s ringing laughter as she practically ran down the passageway.

She burst out of the cave and into the daylight. The sun was high in the sky. She must have been in the cave for hours. Hazel stood exactly where Scarlett had left her and bowed low as Scarlett emerged. “Your Majesty.”

Rayner shot to his feet from the rock he had been sitting on and rushed to her side. “Are you all right?” His eyes were scanning her up and down.

“I am fine, Rayner, but Sorin is not. We need to go,” Scarlett said, taking the sword he extended to her and sheathing it to her back.

“I cannot take you with me,” Rayner said, shaking his head.

“What do you mean? How will I get home?”

“How did you get here?”

“Shirina brought me, but she is gone. She left while I was still with Jul— the Oracle,” Scarlett cried, panic entering her voice. She looked around, desperately searching for help, and her eyes settled upon Hazel.

“The Ash Rider is correct,” the High Witch said sternly. “He cannot ride with a passenger. You, however, can Travel with one, likely several.”

“But I don’t know how to Travel. I haven’t learned yet,” Scarlett said.

“You’ve never Traveled before?” Hazel asked with a raise of a brow.

“Not on purpose, no. I don’t know how.”

“Of course you do,” Hazel replied harshly. “Did the Oracle not give you back your magic? Did she not release your power for you?”

Scarlett whirled back to Rayner. “How do you Travel in the smoke? Tell me what I need to do.”

Rayner shook his head. “I do not think it is the same, Scarlett.”

Scarlett closed her eyes, reigning in her breathing. She could do this. She had to do this.

She heard Hazel clear her throat. “Be sure and take the male with you,” she said with a nod towards Rayner. “We do not look kindly upon males who are unattended in our lands.”

“Understood,” Scarlett answered. “Thank you. For everything. I will return the clothes.”

“They are yours to keep.”

As Hazel turned to leave, Scarlett remembered what Juliette had told her. “Wait!” she cried. Hazel stopped and turned back to her. Scarlett closed the few feet between them quickly. “The Oracle said to tell you that I am the one you have been waiting for.” Hazel’s violet eyes widened in surprise. “What does that mean?” Scarlett pressed.

Tears welled in the Witch’s eyes, and Scarlett stepped back, stunned. “It means,” Hazel said, her voice softer than it had been all day, “that you know my son and that it is time for him to return.”

“Your son? But Witches don’t—” she stopped herself before she finished what she was going to say. The Witches despised men. Male children were looked at as a curse, not a blessing.

“You are right,” Hazel replied, as if she could read her thoughts. “We do not. But when he was born, I could not kill him. He was my child. My son. I enlisted the help of Queen Eliné, and she helped me smuggle him to another land. Where he went, neither of us knew. We couldn’t know, to keep him safe. But the Oracle told me that one would come who would know him, and when she came, he could return.”

“I don’t know your son, though,” Scarlett said gently.

Hazel stepped closer to Scarlett. She was so close she could smell a dozen herbs at once on her. “The Oracle is never wrong. If she says you are the one, then you know him. Think, your Majesty. Your paths are intertwined. They crossed at some point. He is powerful. More powerful than any of my sisters. It was why I had to send him away.”

“But I grew up in a land with no magic. I grew up in the human lands. Magic doesn’t exist there,” Scarlett protested.

“Magic is not readily found there,” Hazel corrected. “But there are exceptions to every rule if the give is great enough. You accessed your magic there, did you not?”

“Yes, but no one else…” she trailed off. There was someone else. Someone who had created powerful wards. Someone who was being given a tonic to help him access his magic. “Cassius,” she breathed. “Your son is Cassius.”

The tears spilled from Hazel’s eyes. She took Scarlett’s hands in her own and squeezed them. “He is well?”

“He is my soulmate,” Scarlett answered, tears spilling down her own cheeks. “He saved my life, in more ways than one.”

“Go. Aid your twin flame . Then bring my son home,” Hazel said. She turned and walked down the path they had climbed up a few hours earlier.

Scarlett turned back to Rayner. “Where is Eliza? We are going to get her and then we are going to Sorin and Cyrus.”

“She awaits our return in your quarters,” Rayner answered.

Scarlett grabbed Rayner’s hand and closed her eyes. She thought back to the cellar in the Lairwood House, how Sorin had instructed her to focus so intensely on the beach, picturing every detail. On the edges of her mind, she saw the room. The room she’d been sharing with her twin flame for weeks. She could see the room as if she were looking through a smoke screen. She heard the words Sorin had whispered to her. You need to take a step. Do not think. Just do it. She sucked in a breath and took a step forward, as if creating a rip in that screen, in the world, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself looking into Eliza’s grey ones.

Eliza’s eyes were wide with shock, but Scarlett only said, “You knew?”

At the confusion that flitted over Eliza’s face, Scarlett held up her left hand. Eliza’s eyes widened more as she took in the Mark. “Who Marked you?”

“That is irrelevant. You knew. How long have you known?” She tried and failed to hide the hurt in her voice.

“We all knew,” Eliza replied. “I Marked him. The others saw the Mark when he returned.”

“When did you Mark him?” Scarlett demanded.

“Before he came for you in the mortal lands. It was how he knew where to find you in the house.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Scarlett demanded.

“It was not our place. It was between you and him. He was adamant that he did not want to make the choice for you. You needed to make it on your own. You need to speak the claiming words to start the Trials,” Eliza said as she stepped back from Scarlett.

“What?”

“The Mark is not completed until you have spoken the Claiming Rite to initiate the Trials.”

“What are they?”

Eliza told her what they were, and Scarlett’s lips formed a thin line. “I shall say them when I am damn well ready to say them. For now, we must go.”

“But he will not…recover until you speak it,” Eliza argued.

“Then we better hurry,” Scarlett purred, narrowing her eyes at the general. She grabbed Eliza’s hand and looked over at Rayner. “You will carry yourself?”

“The queen will not permit me to enter on my own. She will have wards. I do not even know if you can get in,” Rayner answered.

“She is no longer the only queen, and she will not keep me from him,” Scarlett answered, a maniacal gleam in her eyes as she grabbed Rayner’s hand in her other.

“Where are we going?” Eliza asked.

“First, we are going to get my Court. Then we are going to find some damn keys,” Scarlett answered as she peered through that screen in her mind, searching.

“And then?” Eliza asked, her voice hushed, as if she were seeing Scarlett, really seeing her darkness that she kept so locked up, for the first time.

“Then we are going to set the world on fire,” Scarlett answered.

The Mark may not have been complete, but she could still feel that bridge between their souls. The one that had been there since she first saw him in a training barracks in Baylorin. She mentally ran along that bridge now, and she saw him sitting at a giant polished oak table. Talwyn was at the head of it, her face as cool and calculating as always. To her right was a male with black hair and bronze skin, a crown of autumn leaves and vines above his head. To her left was a female with silver hair like Scarlett’s own. She was lean and gorgeous, one of the most striking people Scarlett had ever seen. The silver hawk, Nasima, sat upon her shoulder. Briar was on the side with the male, and his face was grave. She had never seen him without his flirty smile in place. A male, whom Scarlett assumed was his Second, was seated beside him and looked almost identical to him. Across from him sat Sorin with Cyrus. Sorin was pale, and the crown atop his head was dimmer than it had been this morning, but you wouldn’t know he wasn’t at his strongest. Not if you didn’t know what to look for.

Scarlett grabbed hold of that bond she’d been so adamantly ignoring, and she stepped through a rip in the world.