Page 137 of Lady of Shadows

“And where are you going?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

Sorin stopped at the threshold and looked over his shoulder. “I am removing myself from temptation.”

Her answering scowl had him hiding a smirk as he walked out of the room to leave her to get ready.

CHAPTER 43

SCARLETT

Scarlett casually sat at the large table in the formal dining room at the Fiera Palace. Eliza was next to her, her arms crossed across her chest, scowling at no one in particular. Cyrus and Rayner were standing along the wall, keeping a wary eye on Sorin. Sorin was leaning against the wall nearest her, and she could feel his struggle down the connection. She felt the primal rage when Rayner had told her good morning as they walked into the dining room. She had simply patted Sorin’s arm, kissed his cheek with a smirk, and walked to the table. His Inner Court, however, had instantly noted the change in mood, the shift in scents, and since that time, they’d all been on edge. Briar was also already there, sitting at the opposite end of the long table, an amused smile on his lips as he watched Sorin. They had already explained what had happened after he’d left the White Halls yesterday afternoon.

Scarlett and Sorin had bathed and gotten ready up at the mountain chalet. Sorin hadn’t been lying when he had told her to check the armoire in the bedroom. It was full of dresses, tunics, pants, and other clothing. She also discovered her witch-suit and witch-leathers, which she found she much preferred to the Fae-leathers. The lightness of the witch-leathers allowed her to move more easily. She had dressed while Sorin had bathed quickly,pointedly throwing up a shield of flame anytime she tried to get closer than ten feet to the tub. She had stuck her tongue out at him as she slipped into black pants and a sage green tunic with rose gold beading.

Sorin had portaled them to their quarters. Then they had silently made their way to Beatrix’s office. The Healer, who was up working in the middle of the night, looked up when they entered the room, a smile forming on her lips. Scarlett, not really remembering any of her interactions with the Healer, had been shocked that she had graying hair and the start of aging skin. She looked like a mortal woman who was in her early sixties, not an immortal Witch. She had come to Sorin and embraced him like a grandmother embracing her grandson. With her Fae hearing, Scarlett had heard Beatrix whisper to him, “I told you the Fates would find a way, Prince,” and, as Sorin pulled back, she could see tears glimmering in his eyes.

Beatrix had sanctified their union, and afterwards, as they were walking back to their chambers, she had asked Sorin, “I thought Witches were immortal like Fae?”

“They are, but even we fade in time. Compared to mortal lifespans, though, yes, we are immortal,” Sorin answered, her hand clasped tightly in his.

“But she looks…older?”

“Witches do not have a Staying like Fae do. When Fae reach a certain age, we enter a Staying, where our bodies stop aging, usually in our early twenties. Witches continue to age but very, very slowly,” he explained.

“How oldisBeatrix?” she had asked, peering up at him.

Sorin shrugged his shoulders. “I have known her my entire life. She was in service to my father when I was young and looked exactly as she does now.”

Scarlett had nodded, then had suddenly realized they had not returned to the private living wing of the palace but were standing at a door on the main level. “Where are we going?”

A sly smile had spread across his face. “Consider it a marriage gift.”

“I do love gifts,” she had said with mock wistfulness, watching him draw a symbol with flames on the door.

The door had opened, and Sorin had led her down several sets of stairs. At the bottom was a stone wall. He had taken a dagger from his belt and pricked his finger, drawing the same symbol on the wall with his blood, and with a grinding groan, the stone had slid to the left revealing a large chamber that had apparently been carved deep into the side of one of the mountains. Inside, though, Scarlett had gasped when Sorin led her in and illuminated the room with flames. Jewels lined the walls from tiny to larger than eggs. Trunks of gold, silver, and other precious metals lay all over the floor. On the back wall, each in its own compartment, were various crowns, and she saw the one she had created for herself in the very center.

She had turned to Sorin with a raised brow when she saw it, and he had simply said, “For safekeeping,” with a wink. Then he had led her to a stone table. As they had approached it, she had realized it was not a table at all but a case with a glass top and inside were rings of every shape and size and varying metal. Rings with diamonds and rubies and emeralds and sapphires. She had inhaled sharply as she took them all in.

“Pick whichever one you like,” he had whispered into her ear from behind her.

“Sorin, I couldn’t possibly,” she had breathed, bringing a hand to her throat as she took in the rows and rows of gleaming rings.

“Of course you can. They are as much yours as they are mine,” he’d answered, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“They are your family riches,” she’d argued.

He had turned her gently then, bringing his brow to hers, and whispered, “Youare my family, Scarlett. You are my wife. You are my twin flame. What is mine is yours, as if it has always been yours.”

She had kissed him, tenderly at first, and then it had turned passionate, and he had taken her right there in that room of treasures and jewels, bending her over that case of rings.

She smiled at the memory as she played with the ring that now adorned her left ring finger. It was a band of gold with a large diamond flanked by two smaller rubies on each side of it.Sorin had chosen a black gold ring with three black diamonds embedded into the band.

Sorin’s eyes slid to hers as he ground out down the bond,What are you thinking about?

Oh, just a few more uses I thought up for my tongue,she purred back.

“You two,” came Eliza’s voice from beside her as she sniffed the air, “need to keep it in your pants for the next few hours. Then you can go fuck like rabbits until you can’t move.”

Cyrus huffed a laugh from behind them, but before Sorin could respond, they all felt that icy wind cross their wards. The males in the room instantly straightened, Briar rising to his feet. Eliza’s hand slid to her dagger at her waist. Scarlett merely picked up a muffin from the food spread before them and took a bite.

---