Page 131 of Lady of Shadows

Scarlett glanced at Sorin again, but he was glaring back at the male before them. “Sorin, who is this?” she asked instead, looking the male up and down with an unimpressed sweep of her eyes.

The male huffed a laugh of disbelief.

Sorin sighed and, sounding as if he would rather be anywhere but here, said “Scarlett, this is Talwyn’s Second in Command…whom you bound and gagged with your shadows earlier today, by the way.”

Scarlett looked the male up and down again. “You are the earth guy?” Eliza had told her about the feuds between the Fire and Earth Courts. How had she managed to travelhere? She was sure Sorin was going to literally combust into flames at the laughter she could feel him holding in. The male before them snarled with rage.

“I am the Prince of the Earth Court and the Second in Command to the Queen of these lands,” he spat. “You two do not have permission to be here, and as such, I have the authority to bring you in for questioning.”

Vines appeared at Sorin’s wrists, binding them together. Sorin seemed none too concerned as he gazed at the prince unruffled.

That is until the same appeared at Scarlett’s wrists, snapping them together.

A ball of flame appeared at Sorin’s shoulder, and he snarled, “Release her, Luan.”

The prince shot a superior look at him as he wondered aloud, “Who is this female that keeps appearing at your side, Sorin? It is almost as if you came home with a—” The prince stopped short as his eyes fell upon the Mark on her left hand.They darted to Sorin’s left hand and then to his face. The prince seemed to have panic tinging his tone as he said, “She is your twin flame.”

Sorin's smile was savage and cruel as he growled, “She is. Now release her.”

Why does he seem nervous about that?

“Because,” Sorin answered her out loud, apparently having heard her question, “Fae can be…territorial.”

“Well, clearly,” Scarlett retorted with a roll of her eyes. “He seems very upset that we are standing in his sand.”

The Earth Prince growled low in his throat, but Sorin’s answering snarl was louder and much more threatening. “We are not just territorial with our lands. I have told you we get very protective of our people, our loved ones. It is a little more intense when it is our twin flame.”

Scarlett groaned. “You mean to tell me you’re going to be even more of a mother hen now?”

“There have been many brawls when it comes to protecting lovers, especially twin flames. I do believe a palace was destroyed once because another male smiled at one’s twin flame shortly after the connection had been Anointed.”

“It sounds like Fae males need to grow up and use their big boy words,” Scarlett mused, huffing a laugh. But then tree roots appeared around Sorin’s wrists, reinforcing his restraints, and blinding rage roiled in Scarlett’s veins.

Sorin’s eyes shot to her with an amused smile. “Interesting tidbit— females can get just as territorial over their lovers and families.”

“Lover? I do believe you turned me down last night,” she crooned back.

“A mistake I will not be making again.”

“Enough of this,” the prince before them said. “I do believe there is a tower at the palace that can hold the two of you until I have had a chance to confer with the queen and verify your stories, but who knows how long it will be before I can see her. A few days perhaps?”

A tower? Scarlett felt her heartbeat thunder at the word. Her breathing went ragged. He was going to lock them up?

“Easy, Love,” Sorin murmured soothingly.

“Escort them if you will,” the Earth Prince was saying to his two soldiers, a sand portal appearing behind him.

“No!” Scarlett cried out. She looked desperately to Sorin, whose eyes were on her. “Do something!”

He held her gaze, his eyes intense and swirling with so many emotions she couldn’t process them all. “You do not need rescuing, Love. No one can lock you up. No one. No one puts you in a cage.”

With an icy flare, the tree roots around Sorin’s wrists froze and shattered. Starfire followed, dissolving the vines binding their wrists. The Earth Prince cried out in rage and swung with his sword, but it was met by Scarlett’s own, her shadowfire wreathing its blade.

“The Spirit Sword,” he breathed, taking in the blade she wielded. His eyes were blazing with fury as he enveloped them in a swirling sandstorm. Scarlett’s shield flared to life, and she felt Sorin’s do the same beside her. Grains of sand sizzled as it whipped around their flames.

“That sword belongs to the queen,” the Earth Prince seethed.

“And the queen wields it,” Scarlett snarled back. “Talwyn knows I have it, and she knows it is mine to possess.”

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