Lady of Shadows (Lady of Darkness #2)

Chapter 46 Sorin

CHAPTER 46

SORIN

S orin gripped Scarlett’s hand tightly as they stepped out of the air into the center of a tree grove. The skies were grey and stormy like they always were in the Witch Kingdoms. Every one of his senses was alert, and his fire crackled just below his skin. When they were alone, he had tried again to convince Scarlett they needed to wait to come back here, but she had insisted. They had instructed Rayner to send word if the summit day and time were set, and they would deliver the request to the High Witch while they were here.

He looked to his twin flame who stood beside him, bedecked in the witch-suit and witch-leathers that she had been given when she was here yesterday. How was that only yesterday? The witch-clothes seemed oddly fitting for her, though. The winds rustled and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He thought of telling Scarlett again they should go and come back at another time, but the High Witch likely already knew they were here. The enchanted trees of the realm were as beautiful as ever…and delivered messages on the winds.

“Come on,” Scarlett said grimly, starting to walk towards the castle that loomed before them.

Sorin tugged her to a stop with the hand he still gripped. “Come on where?”

She looked at him as if he were dimwitted. “To the castle, of course.”

“We are just going to walk up to the castle doors?”

“How else will we find Hazel?” Scarlett asked, annoyance in her voice.

“She will find us,” Sorin murmured, glancing around the clearing. Everything was still now. Even the winds had quieted. He strained his hearing.

“We don’t have time to wait for her to find us,” Scarlett hissed in a whisper.

“Then I apologize for keeping you waiting.”

Sorin froze at the icy voice that came from behind them. He fought the protective urge to push Scarlett behind him as he slowly turned to face the High Witch. She wasn’t alone. They were surrounded by Witches, all with black ashwood arrows aimed at their throats, as they stepped from the trees. It was the same way they were always greeted when they entered the Witch lands.

Do not shield, he warned Scarlett.

Why would I not shield against arrows?

Witches are powerful enchantresses. Those arrows will penetrate a shield easily, and they will view your shield as an attack and permission to kill.

You cannot be serious?

Sorin did not respond, and he felt Scarlett stiffen beside him, moving imperceptibly closer to him.

“Your Majesty,” the High Witch said coolly with a low bow. The Witches surrounding them did not move. “You have come here twice in two days. Both times without invitation or warning.”

The accusation and threat were clear in her tone.

He saw Scarlett raise her chin as she said, “Yesterday I was brought here by Shirina. Today I come of my own accord.”

“Is it not rude to invite yourself into someone’s home?” the High Witch asked in that ruthless, calm voice of hers.

“I apologize for the lack of propriety,” Scarlett replied, “but I come on urgent matters that could not wait.”

The High Witch was quiet, her eyes fixed on Scarlett, contemplating. Then they dragged to Sorin, who stared right back into those violet eyes, unwavering. “I see you have saved your twin flame,” she said to Scarlett, her eyes still on Sorin. Witches rarely spoke to males. Not unless there was no other option. “I will meet with you, but not with him present. Males have no place in this meeting.”

“She will not meet with you alone,” Sorin snarled, his lip curling back.

“Do not speak to her,” growled a black-haired, dark-skinned Witch to his right.

“Do not be rude, Arantxa,” the High Witch said smoothly.

“While he is my husband and twin flame, he is also my Second and must be there as well,” Scarlett interjected. “I cannot complete the task at hand without him.”

The High Witch’s eyes snapped back to Scarlett, and those violet eyes narrowed. “Stand down,” she said shortly to the Witches, and they did so immediately. “Arantxa and Jetta, accompany us to the castle. The rest of you return to your kingdoms.” There were flashes of light as the other Witches disappeared among smoke. “Come with me,” the High Witch said, brushing past them. They fell into step behind her, Arantxa and Jetta taking up the rear, arrows still strung on their bows and at the ready.

They reached a room in the castle, and before they entered, the High Witch said, “Arantxa and Jetta guard the doors. No one comes in.”

“You are going to meet with them alone? Here?” Arantxa blurted out.

“Are you questioning me?” the High Witch asked viciously.

“Of course not, Lady,” Arantxa replied, bowing her head.

Sorin and Scarlett followed the High Witch into… Well, Sorin wasn’t quite sure how to describe the room. It was unlike any other room he had ever seen in the Witch Realm. It was almost warm and inviting.

Almost.

There was a hearth on one wall with a sofa facing it. Bookshelves lined either side. On the other wall, there were a couple of comfortable looking chairs with a table between them. At the other end of the room, though, were bottles and cauldrons. Spices and ingredients lined shelves upon shelves along the back wall. It was almost as if it were a lab of some sort. The scents of rosemary and thyme and sage filled the air.

“This is your alchemy room,” he breathed before he realized he was speaking. A Witch’s alchemy room was sacred to her. It was a private area where others were rarely allowed, save for lovers. It was her sanctuary to hone and practice her craft.

“Yes,” the High Witch snapped. She had tossed her cloak along the back of a chair and was back by the cauldrons, stirring one. “Very few others have been in this room, and only two others who were not Witches.”

“My mother,” Scarlett supplied, examining the books on the bookshelves.

Sorin’s head snapped to Scarlett. “What?”

Scarlett winced at the realization that this was yet another secret Eliné had kept from him. A mixture of anger and sorrow filled him.

“Eliné was sworn to secrecy, Prince,” the High Witch said tightly from across the room. “She was bound by ancient magic to never breathe a word of what happened when she was here.”

“She was here more than once? With you? Alone?”

The High Witch cocked her head to the side, examining him. “I never understood why it bothered her so much to keep things from a male, especially a male who was not her lover. But seeing you here now, I suppose I can see it on a small scale.”

“We rarely had dealings with the Witches while Eliné was queen. How often could you have seen her?” he demanded.

A smirk spread across the High Witch’s face. “The Courts rarely had dealings with me, Prince. Eliné and I were close friends, sometimes closer than friends. She handled any affairs of the Witch Kingdoms personally.” Before Sorin had a chance to reply to that, her eyes slid to Scarlett. “You are completely off your tonic now, I assume, judging by your ease of Traveling these days?”

Scarlett was leafing through a book she had plucked from the shelf, but she looked up with a curious expression on her face. “How do you know about my tonic?”

“I was the one who created it for your mother,” the High Witch replied simply, sprinkling some sort of green powder into one of the cauldrons.

“You knew she was expecting a child?” Sorin asked incredulously. “You have known of her existence this whole time?”

Hazel studied him intensely for a long moment, as if debating if she should say anything further. “The queen was born here. I delivered her myself.”

Sorin felt like he had been punched in the gut, the air sucked from his lungs. “How long?”

“Until they departed for the human lands shortly before she turned three.”

“Three years? She lived here? While Talwyn struggled on the throne? For three years?”

“This is why I did not want you present in this meeting, Prince,” the High Witch snarled through gritted teeth.

“It is how you knew who I was when I was here yesterday?” Scarlett asked softly.

“You look just like your mother,” the High Witch said. “I nearly called you her name when I first laid eyes on you.”

“Who is the other you’ve allowed in here besides my mother?” Scarlett asked, returning to skimming the book in her hands.

“Eliné,” the High Witch answered, moving down her table to another cauldron.

Sorin was about to question such a bizarre answer when Scarlett stepped forward, gently closing the book in her hands. “Who is my father?”

“I do believe the Oracle told you the question you should be asking that will lead to the answer of that one,” the High Witch replied, stirring a cauldron clockwise.

“Indeed,” Scarlett murmured. She stepped forward again. “Hazel, please.” A soft, sorrowful smile filled Scarlett’s face. Sorin braced himself for the rage of the High Witch at being addressed by her name and not her title, but it never came. Instead, the High Witch’s features seemed to almost soften. “Sorin knows Cassius as well. They are friends. In the human lands, men are superior in every way. I will need him to help me get Cassius out.”

Those violet eyes narrowed as the High Witch said, “You fear for his safety?”

“Yes,” Scarlett answered quietly.

“If you have stopped taking the tonic, you can access your powers in any land, with or without that ring on your finger. You and your blood kin are some of the most powerful beings at this moment in time. You will not need the prince.”

“I will, Hazel. I have a history there, and it is not a pleasant one. Furthermore, I have more than the task of retrieving Cassius while I am there, although that is the most pressing. In fact, I will need more than Sorin, and that is why I am here,” Scarlett replied. Sorin resisted the urge to step to her side when she moved even nearer to the High Witch. “I would like to bring Sorin and his Inner Court with me to Baylorin, and I need them able to access their magic while there.”

The High Witch turned back to her various concoctions and stirred one, bending down to sniff it. “There is a tonic that can do it, but it is much like the one you took, Young Queen. The body will become dependent on it and go through withdrawal if it is not taken. You will need to learn to brew it, and upon returning, they will not feel well. I trust you remember the process of expelling the tonic from your body? This one will be worse. The cost of gaining power is greater than the cost to deny it.”

Scarlett glanced at Sorin with a grimace. “I understand. They will be able to choose when and how often to take it, but I am not an apothecary. Can you not make several doses to take with us?”

“Do you know precisely how long you will be gone? Exactly how many doses you shall need?” the High Witch asked, turning to the shelves of ingredients behind them. She reached up and pulled down several bottles of crushed herbs and powders.

“Of course not,” Scarlett answered.

“Then that is not possible, is it?” The High Witch turned back to face them once more. Her violet eyes settled on Sorin, and to his surprise, she addressed him directly. “How much history does she know, Prince?”

“History of her lineage or history of the Witches?” he countered.

“Are they not linked?” she replied, her lips forming a thin line. When Sorin did not respond, the High Witch sighed sharply. She waved a hand, and a book floated from the bookshelf to them. Scarlett held open her hands as the book settled into them, flipping to a specific page. Sorin looked over her shoulder at an illustration of the various territories.

“As I am sure you are aware, the Avonleyans gave the Fae their magic in exchange for being a source of power to them,” Hazel began.

“Yes, Sorin told me that much. He also told me that the Night Children are descended from the Avonleyans,” Scarlett conceded.

“That they are. The Night Children may not have magic, but they are as strong as an Avonleyan and Fae in every other way, and become even stronger when they drink from either, which is why many sided with Deimas and Esmeray in the war. But, before the Great War broke out, the Avonleyans worried about their Fae kin on this continent as the Night Children grew restless, so they provided guardians for them.”

Scarlett’s head tilted to the side in question.

“The Witches and Shifters were created after a powerful Sorceress was captured and stripped of her magic as penance for her crimes. Her magic was gifted to the Witches and Shifters. The Witches were bonded to Queen Eliné, and the Shifters were bonded to Queen Henna. To maintain their dominance, however, the Avonleyans also granted such gifts to the Fae Queens, respectively.”

Sorin’s eyes snapped up to the High Witch. “Are you saying Scarlett possesses the powers of the Witches?”

“Can Queen Talwyn not shift and transform energy and physical matter?”

“My mother was a renowned Healer in the mortal lands,” Scarlett whispered, studying the text before her.

“Eliné was very skilled in the craft,” Hazel replied.

“You knew?” she asked, lifting her eyes back to the Witch’s.

“We kept in touch. When she left here with you, two others went with her.”

Scarlett’s head cocked slightly to the side. “One has returned?”

“Yes. She is his cousin.”

A look passed between the queen and the High Witch that Sorin could not read, and he had no idea who was being referenced.

“Here’s what I do not understand,” Scarlett mused after a moment. “Why did the Avonleyans give others their power at all? How did they even do that?”

“An excellent question, your Majesty,” Hazel answered. “And one you would do well to figure out.”

“You don’t know, or you won’t tell me?” When her question was met by silence, Scarlett asked another. “Do you know what Deimas and Esmeray sought so greatly across the sea?”

“What does anyone seek that could cause such a war? That could change the course of an entire world?” Hazel countered. “Power, of course.”

“But the Avonleyans had dispersed much of their power by that point,” Scarlett argued.

“Much, yes, but not all.”

“You’re as helpful as the Oracle,” Sorin heard Scarlett mutter under her breath.

Silence fell in the alchemy room. The High Witch turned to her wall of ingredients and began pulling more bottles and pouches from it. Sorin’s eyes were on Scarlett, though. Her head still down, studying the book.

Are you all right?

She lifted her eyes to his when she felt him and gave a subdued smile. Yes? No? I don’t know. She sighed. I’m just trying to figure some things out.

Sorin moved closer to her and pulled her to him, kissing the top of her head. She settled into his side, and he breathed in her scent.

Thank you, drifted down the connection.

For what?

For insisting on coming with me.

Sorin flicked her nose playfully as he stared into those beautiful eyes of hers, getting lost in the ever-changing blues and golds. I will cross the realms for you, my Love.

There was a tinkling of vials. He had forgotten where they were, who they were with. Scarlett smiled sheepishly, a slight flush tinging her cheeks, and returned her attention to the High Witch. Hazel was studying them, a look of curiosity on her face. “I have only seen a true twin flame bond a handful of times,” she said when they strode towards her. “Who sanctified your marriage?”

“A Healer in my Court,” Sorin answered. “Beatrix.”

“Ah,” Hazel said, beginning to line up vials. “She is one of our Sages.”

“What is that?” Scarlett asked, watching the High Witch closely.

“The Sages are the oldest of the Witches. They are wise and keep our history. We go to them for advice and instruction when needed.”

“Do the Witches believe they have a twin flame?” Scarlett asked, walking to the work table.

“Some do,” the High Witch answered, organizing more supplies atop the work space.

“And you?” Scarlett pressed.

“What difference does it make?” the High Witch snapped.

Scarlett shrugged. “Hoping something beautiful exists for you seems far better than believing it doesn’t.”

“Hope is for fools,” the High Witch remarked.

“Hope is for the dreamers,” Scarlett answered, picking up one of the vials from the table to examine it. “And you must be a dreamer.”

“And why would you assume that?”

“Because you sent your son away to save him in the hope that he might have something different, something better than what you could provide him here. That sounds like a dreamer to me,” Scarlett answered, meeting the High Witch’s violet stare once more.

“I suppose it does,” Hazel answered, and Sorin could swear a smile tugged at the corner of the Witch’s thin lips.

Sorin could only watch in awe at this female beside him, conversing so casually with the High Witch of the Witch Kingdoms. The last time he had seen the High Witch, he had come with Talwyn. To say the encounter had been confrontational was an extreme understatement. They had lost two soldiers on that visit, and the High Witch had all but thrown them out of the castle. Talwyn, in true fashion, had been livid, and relations with the Witches had been strained ever since.

Silence had fallen while Hazel worked, tossing various herbs and powders into a cauldron before her. It was just beginning to boil when Scarlett said tentatively, “Hazel.”

“Yes?” the Witch replied, her voice tight, as if she were trying to be pleasant.

“If I bring Cassius here, he will not be welcome.”

The High Witch froze. “The Oracle said when you arrived, it would be safe for him to return.”

“I know what the Oracle said. She said it would be safe for him to return, but to return here, though? How will you explain him to your people?”

“That is not your concern,” Hazel snapped, and Scarlett winced.

Sorin felt her brace herself as she said, “It is my concern. I will not bring him here if he is to be ostracized because he is a male. He was an outcast on the streets and has had to prove himself over and over again. I’ll be damned if he receives such treatment here.”

Hazel dropped the vial she was holding, and it crashed to the floor, shattering everywhere. “He grew up on the street?”

“He was an orphan, Hazel. He grew up on the streets until the Assassin Lord took him in and trained him. Then Lord Tyndell discovered him and brought him up in his home alongside his children. Even now, he is treated differently because he does not have noble blood. Do not make him come to a place where he will continue to be treated as such simply because he is male,” Scarlett said gently, going around the table to pick up shattered glass.

“Did Eliné know him?” Hazel whispered.

“She did. She did not tell any of us who or what he is, but yes. She knew him and loved him as if he were her own,” Scarlett answered tenderly.

“I cannot leave him there any longer,” the High Witch said, gripping the side of the table. “Every day I think of him. Every day I wonder if he is still alive, what he looks like. Every day I wonder who he is.”

“I cannot leave him there any longer either,” Scarlett replied, standing and cupping the glass shards in her hands. She stood toe to toe with the High Witch now, and Sorin tensed at her closeness. He had been so worried about realm politics and the proper way to do things. He had never let himself consider that maybe it wasn’t the best way to do things. That just because things had been done that way for so long didn’t mean they needed to continue on that way.

“He is kind and loyal and funny, despite growing up on the streets,” Scarlett was saying to the High Witch.

“You care for him?” the High Witch said, raising her brows.

“My relationship with Cassius is one that cannot be put into words, my Lady. Our paths are intertwined. Sorin says he is my soulmate,” Scarlett said. It was the first time Sorin had heard her address Hazel with any sort of reverent title. Flames flickered to life in her palms, melting the glass shards she still cupped into nothing. “I would give my life for him, and he would give his for me. Let me bring Cassius to my home, where you are welcome to visit him anytime until he can truly come home.”

Sorin held his breath as the High Witch studied his twin flame. Fierce defiance sharpened her features, but also a longing just as powerful. “A queen would give her life for the son of a Witch?”

“Cassius is your subject and your son, and I will do as you wish, but please, Hazel,” Scarlett begged, taking the Witch’s hands in her own. “Please do not make him return to a place where he will be treated as less than. He has faced enough of that where he is now.”

The High Witch held Scarlett’s gaze a moment longer before she dropped her hands and turned back to the work table. “Do what you think is best, Child,” she said, beginning to hand Scarlett herbs and bottles. “I am beginning to suspect that Cassius is much more than just your soulmate, and if I am correct, he will desire to be by your side rather than my own anyway.”

Scarlett froze, her eyes snapping to the High Witch. “Cassius and I are not— We have never been—”

A faint smirk tilted the High Witch’s lips. “I know you are not lovers, your Majesty.” She glanced at Sorin. “If that were the case, I think your twin flame would be a much bigger threat to my son than my own people.”

Sorin gritted his teeth at the mere idea of another touching Scarlett in such a way. He knew it wasn’t logical. He knew what the relationship between Scarlett and Cassius entailed, but the newness of the twin flame bond flared through his body. He fought to keep back a snarl, and Scarlett shot him an amused look of knowing, clearly feeling his struggle.

I am finding a necessity arising, my Queen.

Scarlett’s eyes widened slightly, and her cheeks flushed. It was his turn to send her an amused smirk.

Scarlett swallowed thickly, returning her attention to the High Witch and fumbling her words. “If you believe we are not lovers, then what do you think he is to me if not my soulmate?”

“Another excellent question, your Majesty. If I am correct, your destinies are indeed intertwined in ways you cannot even begin to fathom.”

“Let me guess, you’re not going to expand on that statement?” Scarlett grumbled, tossing powder into the cauldron at the High Witch’s instruction.

If Talwyn had spoken to the High Witch like that, Sorin was fairly certain there would be bloodshed. Then again, the High Witch would have never let Talwyn into her alchemy room. Yet here was Scarlett, conversing with her as if they were long-lost friends. How bizarre the last few days had become. So many things he had thought were true and right had been tipped on their side and set alight by the mere act of a girl accepting a throne.

“If I were to expand on my statement, it could change things. The Fates would be displeased. You will know when you are meant to know,” the High Witch replied simply.

“For the love of the gods,” Scarlett muttered.

“For the love of the gods, indeed,” the High Witch answered.

It was an odd retort, and Sorin wondered what she meant by it, but before he could question it, the High Witch began snapping detailed instructions at Scarlett about how to brew this tonic and all thoughts left his head as they got to work and began to put a plan into motion.