Page 28 of Lady of Darkness

“I was made a General a few weeks ago.”

“So now you have a new title and a new name? Why didn’t you say anything?” She couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice.

He shrugged. “I am not from here, Scarlett. My title means nothing to me here.”

“Do you have a title where you are from?”

“Who trained you in stealth?” he asked instead.

Fine. She was probably pushing her luck with all the questions, especially if his task was as dire as it appeared.

“The same people who trained me in everything else.”

“So Cassius?”

“Some, but he was more for combat and weaponry training.”

“And the rest?”

“Now, now,General, I believe being this close on a horse together is as personal as we’re going to get today,” she chided.

He sighed. “Have I ever told you how incredibly vexing you are?”

“If people only knew the half of it, General,” she murmured, leaning her head back against his shoulder, thinking of how her stubbornness had landed her at the Tyndell manor. Her eyes fluttered closed as her mind raced. Wards and spells kept the Fae from coming here and oppressing them, but apparently there were humans in the Fae lands who were experiencing exactly what King Deimas and Queen Esmeary had sought to protect them from hundreds of years ago.

“If you are being oppressed in the Fae lands, why do they not just come here? To the mortal kingdoms?” she asked.

“Because the Fae would not be welcomed here,” he answered.

Scarlett sat up at that. “TheFaeare being oppressed?”

“Many of them, yes, but they are not the only ones.”

Her heart was racing as she voiced her next question. “By the Prince of the Fire Court?”

Sorin stiffened behind her. “What do you know of the Fire Prince?”

Her body went cold, then hot, then cold again. “Not as much as I wish I did.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because the Prince of Fire is responsible for the death of my mother.”

“What?” It was his turn to be caught off guard by a revelation, apparently.

“The Prince of Fire is the reason my mother was killed,” Scarlett repeated, fury lacing her tone.

“Why would you think that?”

“I… I’ve been searching for answers for years. I have found various clues along the way that all point to him,” she answered. She couldn’t tell himhowshe had discovered such things. How the Assassin Lord had used many of his resources to gather information. How she had tortured answers from various Fae and men alike that she had been assigned to take out. “But from what I do know of the Prince of Fire, he seems like the sort of bastard who would oppress an entire kingdom.”

“How would the Prince of Fire have such power if they are ruled by the Fae Queen?” he asked.

“Is she the one who is oppressing your lands then?”

“I did not say that.”

“If you are from the Fire Court, and your people are being oppressed by the Fire Prince and not the Fae Queen, then why not go to another Court?”

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