Chapter 12 Scarlett
CHAPTER 12
SCARLETT
S carlett.”
She was wrapped in blankets in that bed she slept in with Mikale. True to his word, Alaric had made sure she was taken care of. Physically, at least. She was still chained to the wall in his dungeon study every day, but she received three small meals a day that Alaric himself fed to her. He refused to let anyone else do so, ensuring he was associated with her receiving food. Every day at varying hours, Mikale hauled her to Juliette’s old room to sleep. Sometimes it was night. Sometimes the sun was shining through the windows. The dungeon study was located near the stairwell that led to Alaric’s private wing of the Fellowship. Some were given the “honor” of having their rooms in his wing. The Wraiths and Cassius were some of those gifted such an honor. But with the dungeon study just outside his private wing, there was no one else in the hallways other than the guards Alaric had ordered to be on duty at all times. She didn’t recognize any of them, which meant they likely didn’t know who she was either. There was no one else to see that she was here. No one to recognize she was back. No one to let it slip in a passing conversation where she was. No way to get word to Cassius and Nuri. No way to tell Sorin.
But here, in the depths of sleep, she could pretend. She could pretend it was his body pressed to hers. She could pretend she was in a palace in the mountains instead of some extravagant manor in the heart of the Black Syndicate. She could pretend she wasn’t alone in the darkness. She could pretend the stars still shone in all their brilliance. She could pretend she could truly hear his voice, and this wasn’t all a dream.
But now she was beginning to wake. She was slowly coming up out of that slumber, and she clung to it with desperation. She needed to hear his voice one more time. Just one more time before she had to face another day without him.
“Scarlett.”
But her soul didn’t sigh in relief at his voice. She didn’t feel the comfort that usually came from his slight accent skittering along her bones.
“Scarlett.”
But that was his voice, and she was no longer in the depths of sleep. “Scarlett. Wake up. I am here. We need to go.”
She felt her shoulders gently being shaken, ?ngers skating down her cheek.
“Scarlett, please wake up. We need to go before we are discovered.” Her breath caught in her chest, and she slowly cracked her eyes open.
The room was dark, but in the glow of the ?re in the hearth she could make out piercing, golden eyes staring down at her. Raven black hair fell across his forehead and into his eyes that were full of urgency. She didn’t dare move. Because this? This wasn’t possible. There is no way he could have gotten into the Fellowship undetected.
“Come, Scarlett,” he whispered, reaching for her and helping her to a sitting position, her legs hanging over the side of the bed. He ran his hands down her arms, his ?ngers skimming the shirastone at her wrists before clasping her hands in his. “Are you going to say anything?”
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Because this didn’t feel right. Something was off. Something was wrong. She just couldn’t put her ?nger on what exactly.
He crouched down before her, looking up into her face. “We really do need to go, Scarlett. Prince Callan is in danger. Are you well enough to walk?” He glanced down at her bare feet.
“Where is Mikale?” she ?nally managed to ask.
His eyes came back to hers, and he reached to tuck her hair behind her ear. “He is being distracted for the moment, but not for long. We need to get back to Prince Callan.”
“Where is he?” Scarlett asked, scooting to the edge of the bed.
“Where you left him.”
Her brows pinched together in confusion. “How is he in danger if he is in the Fire Court?”
His lips pressed together, forming a thin line as though he was displeased with what she had asked. He pulled a key from his pocket and reached for the shackles on her ankles.
But Alaric was the only person with a key, so how had he gotten it? “Sorin?” she asked tentatively. He paused, looking back up at her in question. “Where did you get that key?”
His eyes dipped to the key in question. “That is not important right now. We need to go, my dear.”
Scarlett’s eyes went wide, and she jerked back from him, drawing her knees to her chest.
“How did you get that key?” she asked again, her voice nothing more than a whisper.
“Scarlett, we need to go,” he repeated, rising to his feet and reaching for her once more.
She shook her head, swallowing down the lump in her throat. This wasn’t him. He wouldn’t call her “dear.” His touch wasn’t the same. He didn’t feel the same.
“I told you this wouldn’t work.” Mikale’s voice ?oated in from somewhere beyond.
“She was speaking to him. She said where Callan is,” another voice argued.
Lord Tyndell.
A vision. He had trapped her in a vision again. He’d been doing this randomly over the last several days, and she was ?nding it increasingly dif?cult to differentiate between his visions and reality.
She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the image of Sorin before her. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as she tried to suck down air, her heart hammering. He wasn’t here. It hadn’t been real. He wasn’t real.
“Open your eyes, Scarlett.” Alaric’s voice ?lled her ears, and she shook her head, pressing her lips together. She could feel the shackles against her wrists, her hands suspended above her head. She was in the study, still chained to the wall. “You need to breathe, Scarlett,” he soothed. “Open your eyes.”
“This was fruitless,” Mikale snarled. “We already ?gured Callan was in the Fire Court with her. We learned nothing.”
“Stop speaking until she is under control,” Alaric ordered, his tone cold.
Something was pressed to her mouth, that same metallic syringe they used to force some kind of tonic down her throat. She still hadn’t ?gured out what it did. A glass of water followed.
“Look at me, Scarlett,” Alaric demanded. She felt a finger under her chin, tilting her face up, and she finally opened her eyes. Depthless, black orbs stared back at her. He seemed to search her face, for what she had no idea. She’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop. She’d been waiting for him to reveal his next punishment for disobeying him, but it had been days since he’d held her in his lap in a panic. She didn’t know how many days. Maybe it had been weeks. She’d long stopped trying to keep track.
Mikale and Lord Tyndell stood nearby, their eyes ?xed on her, as Alaric said, “I need you to tell me where in the Fire Court Prince Callan is, Scarlett. Was he in Solembra with you?”
She pressed her lips together, turning her head and looking towards the wall in clear refusal.
Alaric sighed. “I can only assume he stayed close to you. You did let him fall so hopelessly in love with you, after all.”
She was focused on her breathing, trying to shut out his words.
“The king is very upset he has been gone for so long, Scarlett,” Alaric continued. “In fact, he has decided that young Callan is showing a great lack of responsibility and is feeling the need to rectify the situation.”
Scarlett slowly opened her eyes, turning her head to meet his gaze once more. She still said nothing, waiting for him to volunteer information.
Alaric reached over, smoothing down her hair, his ?ngers dragging along her jaw. “He has decided that Callan needs to take a bride, hoping that having a family will make him stop … wandering off and shirking his duties.”
Her eyes widened. Callan would hate that. He would be furious. He would … blame her. For more than he already did.
“An arrangement has already been agreed to,” Mikale cut in smoothly, a cruel smile curling on his lips. “Veda is so very excited.”
Scarlett’s head whipped to him, and she let out a hollow huff of laughter. “How very unbecoming of her,” she rasped out. “She couldn’t hold his attention herself, so she went above him to the crown.”
Mikale’s face darkened with rage, but Lord Tyndell cut in. “It was the king’s idea, my dear. After a little push in that direction, of course.”
“Why would you care if Callan married Veda? What does that possibly matter to you?” she demanded, her gaze bouncing from Lord Tyndell to Alaric.
“My Dark Maiden,” Alaric sighed, patting her cheek patronizingly. “We have been moving pieces into place for a very long time. This is simply another move that needs to be made.” He braced his hands on his knees, pushing himself to his feet. “But that is neither here nor there. We need Callan to come home, even if that means we must retrieve him ourselves. Where is he?”
His tone had grown harsh and commanding, the voice of the Assassin Lord. He glared down at her, his hands clasping behind his back. When she merely glared back, his lips thinned. The room was quiet for a long moment before he said evenly, “So be it, Scarlett. I am out of time and out of patience. I know how much you like your choices, so it is time to make one. Tell us where Callan is and how to bring him home, or you can watch Cassius suffer. Slowly. Over several days. I will make sure he is alive for all of it. Feels every single thing we do to him. And then I will let you watch while he slowly fades over hours. You will ?nd you feel the death of your Guardian on a very deep level, even if you cannot currently access that bond.”
Her eyes widened in horror, and Mikale let out a chuckle. She couldn’t think of a word to say. She couldn’t think at all. Not at what was being presented to her again.
“Isn’t this scene familiar, my pet?” Mikale asked cruelly, leaning down to stroke her hair. “Will you choose to save one you so deeply care for, or an innocent? Whom shall you sacri?ce this time?”
“I will give you some time to think about it,” Alaric said, turning and striding to his desk. He quickly wrote a note, folding the paper in half. “When I return with some food, be prepared to make your choice.” He passed the note to Lord Tyndell as he continued, “I will make sure Cassius is here so that the repercussions of your decision can begin immediately. It would be very unfortunate for you to not make a choice at all.” He swung his cloak over his shoulders, pulling the hood up and over his head, once again hiding his features from view, as he swept from the room.
Lord Tyndell followed Alaric from the room, and Scarlett peered back up at Mikale who stood over her. His malicious grin of victory, that she had witnessed so often when she had been held in his house, was back on his face as he stared down at her.
How was this happening again? How was she again faced with the choice of saving her family or protecting someone simply caught in the cross-?re? Granted, Callan wouldn’t be dead. He would just be forced into a marriage that would slowly suffocate him. But wasn’t that always a possibility anyway? He was the Crown Prince. The likelihood of him ever marrying for love was practically nonexistent to begin with. His marriage was always destined to be a political move.
Mikale slowly lowered to a crouch before her, reaching out to cup her chin in his hand. “This isn’t really that hard of a decision, is it, my pet? Would you really sacri?ce Cassius to keep Callan from my sister?”
“Why are you so desperate to have her marry him? Simply so she can be queen? I cannot believe it is that simple. I cannot believe that there is not more to it. Everything Alaric does has motive behind it. If he is involved with this, I have no doubt that is the case,” she spat back at him, her voice hoarse and raspy.
Mikale released her chin, pushing back to his feet. He strode to the water pitcher, returning with a glass of water. He brought it to her lips, and she drank, having stopped resisting this particular offering a while ago. “And what of our own arrangement, my pet? We had an agreement,” Mikale said, placing the glass on a nearby table. He lowered into a chair, his arms coming to rest on the armrests.
“Fuck off, Mikale,” she snapped. “That is never happening.”
“Never?” he repeated, his head cocking to the side as his dark eyes slid over her. He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Then I suppose I shall have to ful?ll my end of that bargain. You remember the cost of refusing, do you not?”
“You cannot touch them,” Scarlett sneered, her lip curling. “They are hidden away and protected from all of you.”
Mikale’s smile widened. His hand came up, and he propped his head on his ?st, continuing to study her. “I am well aware that they are currently inaccessible. After the matter of Callan is settled, they are next, my pet. The children and Death’s Shadow are next on his agenda with you.”
Scarlett leaned her head back against the wall, shifting to ease the ever-present ache in her tailbone from sitting on a hard ?oor. “Then he shall die waiting.”
Mikale clicked his tongue. “We both know that is not true. I may have failed to break you, but he will not. He does not fail.”
Scarlett closed her eyes, trying to tune him out. Trying not to let his words burrow their way into her mind. Trying not to let their truth settle into her soul. Trying not to let her world crash in around her. Grasping for the stars. Grappling for the hope that threatened to ebb away a little more every day.
She heard Mikale shift in his chair as he spoke again. His tone was low, almost consoling. “This is your opportunity to make it hurt a little less, my pet. This is your chance to stop it all before it begins. You know the more you resist him, the harder the fallout is going to be.”
And she did. Alaric was biding his time, yes, but the longer he took to come at her, the more it was going to hurt. He was formulating the best way to bring her to heel. She had endured so much suffering at his hands, but nothing would compare to what he was preparing to do to her this time. It would be ten times worse. It would not be a drawn out game of who would break ?rst. He was growing impatient. She had messed with his plans when she’d ?ed to the Fire Court. When he struck this time, it would be swift, and it would be designed not just to break her, but to crush any sense of hope. Any type of resistance. He would be coming to ensure that she would not stand against him again.
And she did not know if she would be able to endure it.
Her days were spent appealing to the Fates that she did not believe in. Praying that she could hold out long enough to end her own existence before he could use it against those she loved. If she were out of play, if her power were gone from this world, if the ability to ?nd these godsdamn keys and get into Avonleya was no longer an option … It would at least give the others more time to ?gure out a way to defeat the Maraan Lords before they could formulate a new plan.
A hand brushed down her hair a few times, and Scarlett ground her teeth together, enduring Mikale’s touch and how wrong it felt. “I have no doubt that you are willing to sacri?ce your own wellbeing to keep innocents safe, to keep your dear friends from harm, but think of all those who will get caught in the cross?re, Scarlett. Think of all those like Cassius and Callan and Nuri. Think of those children who will be used, who will be hurt, who will suffer, because you choose to stand against him.”
She pressed her lips together, her throat burning as tears welled behind her closed lids. She felt him lean closer, felt his hot breath against her cheek as he whispered into her ear, “He is not coming, Scarlett. And if he does, we are prepared. You have experienced a fraction of what Balam can do. You have seen some of what I can do, but you have yet to experience his power. You are not the Fire Prince’s. You are not even mine. You are his . Just as you always have been.”
She heard his boots on the stone ?oor, heard the door slide shut, the lock click into place. Then he was gone.
She swallowed, forcing down the sob that wanted to fall from her lips. She would die before she gave those children up to the Assassin Lord. The sacri?ce would be her own life. And she was okay with that. She was okay with giving up her own life for theirs. She hoped she could end it before they came for her. She knew they would. She knew Sorin would tear the Syndicate apart to get to her once he ?gured out where she was. She hoped she was gone before he could face whatever they had lying in wait for him, that she could give him that one ?nal gift.
But she wished she could have seen him one last time. She wished she could have tasted his lips just once more. She wished she could feel safe, feel home , one ?nal time in her life.
She let two tears slip down her face. They were the only two she allowed to escape. She breathed in deep, allowing air to ?ll her lungs, calming her racing heart.
In and out. In and out. In and out.
A tiny squeaking sound had her opening her eyes to see a little brown ?eld mouse scurrying along beside her ankle shackles. Scarlett tilted her head to the side. She had never, in all her time at the Fellowship, seen any type of rodent in the building. Certainly not in one of Alaric’s rooms, even if it was a dungeon study.
The mouse cautiously stretched towards her, its whiskers twitching while it sniffed in her direction, squeaking once more.
“You are a brave little thing,” she murmured as it crept forward, its tiny claws scratching on the stone floor. It skittered over her bare feet, and she cringed back at the feeling of it. “That wasn’t an invitation to come closer,” she muttered, shaking her foot out and sending it flying a few feet away from her.
The mouse seemed to squeak indignantly before it came scurrying back towards her, slipping behind her just as the click of the lock sounded again. Scarlett’s gaze shot to the door.
No. Alaric couldn’t be back yet. He hadn’t even been gone an hour. There hadn’t been enough time to think about what she was going to do. Not when Mikale had hung around, trying to sow seeds of doubt in her mind.
But Alaric indeed walked back into the room, a covered plate in his hand. He was alone, and when the door had shut behind him, he reached up and pulled his hood back. He set the plate down on his desk then slowly removed his cloak, draping it over the arm of the sofa. He walked to the water pitcher, pouring her another glass of water before picking up the plate and coming to stand before her. He lowered himself to the ?oor like he had every other time he brought her a meal. He set the plate off to the side, his eyes coming to settle on her. He bent his knee, resting his arm on it again, leaning back on his other hand.
“It occurred to me,” he said, “that perhaps if you were allowed to ask questions, if you were able to understand a few things, you may be more amicable.”
Scarlett gave him a dry look, her brow arching. “I don’t think we will ever see eye-to-eye on things.”
“Perhaps not, but it would be worth the effort to try, would it not?” he countered.
“What do you want in Avonleya?”
Alaric chuckled. “Jumping right into it then, are we?” He reached for the plate, lifting the lid and letting the smell of roasted vegetables and meat waft towards her. He picked up a piece of bread, bringing it to her lips. She bit off a bite as he said, “Did you know the Avonleyans weren’t always what they are now?”
“You were in charge of my education,” she replied drolly around the food. “You know the lies I was taught to believe.”
Alaric tilted his head, appearing to contemplate her words. He cut a piece of venison, bringing it to her mouth. “The Avonleyans are called something different in other worlds.”
She chewed the meat, swallowing before she said, “I do not care what they are called in other worlds. I do not care what they are called on other planes. I do not care what they were before. I care about what you want there. I care about the innocent children you are slaughtering to get to them.”
“They are called Legacy in other worlds,” Alaric continued, as though she hadn’t spoken at all, bringing another piece of meat to her mouth. “Have you come across that term in the research you have obviously been doing?”
She shook her head while she chewed, and he stared at her expectantly, knowing he wouldn’t continue until she answered him.
“That is a pity,” he said with mock sympathy. “It would really tell you so much more about yourself. We can go over that history another day, but circling back to your original question, the Avonleyans have something hidden on their continent that we were sent to retrieve a long time ago. They are what drew us to this world in the ?rst place. So really, our presence here is their fault in the end.”
“Sent by who?” Scarlett asked, shifting on the ?oor again, stretching her legs out before her.
Alaric noted the movement, reaching out to bring a bite of vegetables to her mouth. “You can ask them that question when we enter Avonleya, my Wraith.”
“If your plans depend on me getting you into Avonleya, then you are going to be sorely disappointed,” she replied. “Even if I had the slightest desire to help you, I cannot do so chained to a fucking wall.”
“A temporary setback,” he agreed, bringing her another bite. “One that shall be recti?ed soon.”
“Doubtful.”
A small smile curled on his lips. “We shall see, Death’s Maiden.”
He fed her the rest of her meal in silence. She had just ?nished the glass of water when there was a sharp knock on the door and Tarek came in. He held one of those metal syringes in his hand, and Alaric pushed to his feet.
“Perfect timing,” he said, striding to Tarek and taking the syringe from him.
“Redding was just reported to be entering the Syndicate as well, my Lord,” Tarek replied, moving to settle into his usual place on the sofa.
“Excellent,” Alaric answered, coming back to Scarlett’s side. “When he gets here, I will be ready for your decision.” He gripped her chin, bringing the tonic to her mouth. She jerked as she felt the mouse move behind her back. She’d forgotten about the rodent in her conversation with Alaric, so focused on the information he was allowing her to hear.
Alaric sighed. “Must we do this every time?” he asked, taking her movement as resistance. He tipped her head back, forcing the tonic into her mouth and down her throat.
She didn’t fight, though. Because Cassius was almost here. She was going to see him for the first time in months, and she was chained to a wall. She would not be able to go to him. He would not be able to come to her. His fate was hanging in the balance. His fate was in her hands. And while it shouldn’t be much of a choice— his life was worth Callan having to suffer through a marriage for political purposes— she knew there was more to it. She knew that a marriage to Veda, a Maraan Lady if she was truly Mikale’s sister, was more than that. Was Cassius’s life worth potentially putting an entire kingdom in jeopardy? An entire country of innocent people?
Time seemed to speed up as the seconds ticked by, and far too soon, the door opened again. Lord Tyndell strode in with Cassius following behind, and the color drained from his face when his brown eyes landed on Scarlett.
“Seastar,” he breathed, lurching for her, but Alaric’s voice rang out in order.
“Not so fast, Cassius.” The Assassin Lord was leaning against his desk, his cloak on and hood up. “Death’s Maiden has something she needs to say before you can go to her.”
All eyes came to rest on her, and she began shaking her head, forcing back the tears burning at the back of her eyes. “Please, don’t,” she whispered, her eyes locked on Cassius. “Please, Alaric.”
She knew it would do nothing. She knew her pleas were falling on deaf ears.
“Are you ready to receive a Mark, then, my Wraith?” Alaric asked.
She shook her head again, knowing she couldn’t do that, not even to save Cassius from this.
“Then you know what choice lies before you. Choose. Cassius or Callan’s whereabouts,” he demanded.
“Callan is back,” Cassius interrupted. “Callan has returned. He will be arriving at the castle later this evening.”
The entire room went still, and Scarlett’s eyes widened. Sorin wouldn’t have sent Callan back without some sort of plan to keep him safe. But did he come with him? Did Cyrus? Did Eliza and Rayner?
“If that is the choice you are facing, Seastar, then it has been made for you. Callan has returned. This is not your burden to bear,” Cassius continued, his eyes ?xed on hers.
Alaric pushed off his desk, striding for him. “Stop speaking, Cassius. You are not here to counsel or console her. Where is Callan?”
“All I have heard is that he is set to arrive at the castle this evening. The king has been noti?ed, and Princess Eva is very excited,” Cassius explained, trying to peer around him to see Scarlett again. She craned her neck, trying to do the same.
“How have you heard this news and I have not?” Lord Tyndell demanded. The gentler tone he used with Scarlett was gone, replaced by the Commander of a kingdom’s armies. “How am I unaware that the Crown Prince has returned? Why were additional men not sent to meet him?”
“I do not know, my Lord. I do not know how his guards communicated with the crown.”
“And how did you come across this information, Cassius?” Alaric asked slowly, repeating Lord Tyndell’s question.
“I heard it being spoken of among the castle guards,” Cassius replied smoothly. “I assumed it was common knowledge.”
Scarlett squirmed, biting down on her cry of surprise as that damn mouse scuttled out from behind her along the wall. It would meet its death if any of the men saw it, but they were all focused on Cassius.
Except Tarek.
His eyes were set on her, a slight smirk on his lips.
“You are not to leave the Fellowship until this has been con?rmed. If you are lying, boy, expect consequences,” Alaric snarled, striding for the door. “And you are not to enter this room. Tarek, stay with her. You know what to do if she shows signs of weakening.”
Mikale and Lord Tyndell followed him out of the of?ce, Cassius trailing after them, glancing back at her over his shoulder. She could see the longing in his eyes. She was sure they were a mirror of her own.
“How do you always seem to pull babysitting duty?” Scarlett asked when the door was closed and locked once more, her gaze shifting to Tarek.
“The Assassin Lord trusts me to ensure his property is properly cared for,” Tarek answered. His fucking dagger was back in his hand, and he was idly flipping it again, just like he had that day he took her from Toreall.
“He trusts a Fae over his Maraan Lords?” Scarlett questioned, her head tilting to the side.
“Did you forget his mother was Fae?” Tarek countered. He stretched his long legs before him, crossing them at the ankles.
“And what did he promise you, Tarek?” she asked instead. “What made you turn your back on your entire race of people? What was so great, so irresistible, that you sacri?ced your twin ?ame ?”
“You act as though we are so different, your Majesty,” he replied, a light amusement ?ickering in his pale, green eyes.
“We are nothing alike,” she said, leaning her head back against the wall. She had a constant headache these days, the dull throbbing never seeming to cease.
“No?” She could hear the in?ection in his tone. “Did you not sacri?ce your own twin ?ame that day you came to meet the Night Children at the Earth Court border?”
“That is different. I did that to save him, to protect him,” she argued, glancing at the Mark on her left hand.
“I did not realize you knew my motives,” he retorted harshly.
She slid her gaze back to his, blinking slowly. “Are you saying you have let Talwyn think you are dead all this time to protect her?”
He stopped ?ipping the dagger at her name. A sneer curled onto his lips. “Tell me, your Majesty, does the Fae Queen not have another in her bed these days?”
“She believes you are dead ,” Scarlett replied incredulously. “Since you are not, how did the twin ?ame Mark fade?”
His sneer morphed into that slight smirk once more, and he resumed the ?ipping of his dagger. “So many questions today.”
Scarlett rolled her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall once more and closing her eyes, assuming the conversation was over. But he spoke again.
“Did Aditya ever tell you why there is such con?ict between the Fire and Earth Courts?”
“No,” Scarlett sighed, keeping her eyes closed. The throbbing in her temples was growing again.
“He likely doesn’t know what truly started it all. Relations were not always strained. In fact, the two Courts got along ?ne until my family was challenged for the Royal title, long before either of us were born into this world,” Tarek said.
She opened her eyes at that. “Why would the Fire Court care if the Earth Prince was challenged? Isn’t that how the Fae work? The most powerful takes the throne?”
“I suppose so,” Tarek answered, his dagger ?ips becoming more forceful.
“And do you believe yourself more powerful than the current Earth Prince?” Scarlett asked. “If that is the case, challenge him for his place. It’s not that complicated, is it?”
Tarek’s teeth clenched. “Here I was, trying to have a pleasant conversation, and you had to become nasty.”
“That happens when you’re chained to a wall for days on end,” Scarlett replied, shifting again, her shoulders aching.
“And that happens when you refuse to recognize the greater power.”
“Says the disgruntled wanna-be Fae Prince,” Scarlett scoffed.
A growl emanated from Tarek’s chest that had Scarlett ?ghting the urge to stiffen. Alaric would punish him if he hurt her without permission, but she could tell she was pushing him to an edge.
“You’re just as powerless here as you are there, Tarek,” she sighed. “If you can’t see that Alaric is merely using you as a means to an end, then it’s probably a good thing Talwyn believes you to be dead. You would be useless at her side.”
“Enough.” Tarek’s tone had dropped, low and dangerous. Gone was the smirk. Gone was the slight amusement. He was up and striding across the room towards her. The tip of his dagger was under her chin, forcing her head up to meet his gaze where violence glimmered. Her lips curled into a small antagonizing grin.
“When you ?nally learn what he has planned, when you ?nally realize what you are truly here for, you will see who is being used as a means to an end, your Majesty. Here’s a hint: It is not me.” He leaned forward, that dagger sliding along her jaw before moving down her neck.
“I know what I am here for,” she replied, swallowing as the blade grazed along the hollow of her throat.
Then he leaned in close to whisper into her ear. “Getting into Avonleya is just the beginning. In the end, it will not matter who is by Talwyn’s side. It will not matter who is by your side. In the end, there will only be one side.”