Page 52 of Lady of Ashes

Maybe the more important question to be asking, though, was what had he ever done as their Crown Prince to prove he deserved to be sitting on that throne and leading them to begin with?

His gaze settled back on Tava, and he couldn’t help but think back to their dinner months ago. When she had sat next to Veda, cunning and witty, helping get information to Scarlett. Aiding Cassius and Drake to get her out and intercepting Veda at every turn. And he realized she could do this. She had always been in the background, in her brother’s shadow, but from there she could see everything. And she had. No one would ever suspect sweet, quiet Lady Tyndell to be a threat, to know anything. But as that scene at the Lairwood house played again and again in his mind, he realized she was a threat. She knew things. He was willing to bet she knew secrets people would kill to keep quiet. Secrets that would be incredibly useful if they were going to outwit Mikale, Veda, and her own father.

He took a step towards her. He could tell she wanted to step back, but she held her ground. “You are willing to do this? To appear to be courting? To put yourself in Veda’s path? Mikale’s? The king’s?”

She swallowed, her slender throat bobbing with the motion. “If it will buy us time, if it will buyyoutime, yes.”

“Maybe we should run this by Drake before …” Nuri started, but trailed off before she ?nished her thought.

Tava was already shaking her head, turning to look at Death’s Shadow. “If you manage to get her out, I can only assume she will want to come after them. The Assassin Lord. Mikale. My father.” She paused for a moment, her gaze darting to a window before going back to Nuri. “You will need people on the inside. Who better than the Crown Prince himself?”

“This will be dangerous,” Sorin said. “Scarlett would not like—”

“Scarlett is not here, nor does she have any say in this,” Callan cut in, moving another step closer to Tava. “If Lady Tava is willing to risk her safety for her kingdom, who are we to deny her that choice? And who am I to not be willing to do the same for the people I am to one day lead?”

Tava’s face ?ushed for the hundredth time that day at once again being the center of attention. She didn’t back down, though Callan could see her trembling slightly.

“You will need to be … convincing,” Nuri said tentatively. “Mikale and Veda are crafty and vicious. Their weapons are not swords and daggers, but power plays and prowess. They excel at manipulation.”

“We are not seriously discussing this right now,” Sorin said in disbelief.

“She has a point, Sorin,” Nuri said. “We could use people on the inside. That was the whole reason Scarlett began seeing—” She cut herself off, glancing quickly at Callan.

“I was a means to an end,” Callan supplied. “I am well aware of what I was to Death’s Maiden,” he added bitterly. “But that is neither here nor there. There is a threat against my people, and I will do what is necessary to stand against it. I will not, however, force Lady Tava into this if she is not certain.”

“I can do this,” Tava said, her ocean blue eyes sparking with determination. “I can play the part until we ?gure something else out.”

“No,” Sorin said, pushing back to his feet. “This is not happening until every possible outcome has been explored. If this negatively impacts Scarlett in any way—”

“This is about more than your wife,” Callan snarled, stepping towards the Fire Prince. “This is aboutmypeople. This is aboutmykingdom that has been caught in the cross?re of a battle between immortal beings, and your queen is at the center of it all. My concern is not for how this will affect the Fae Queen but for how it will affect the children in this building and the people on my streets.” Sorin opened his mouth to argue further, but Callan pushed on. “You have no say in this matter. Not here. This is not your Court. This ismine.”

A muscle feathered in Sorin’s jaw, embers dancing in his golden irises. Without another word, he turned on a heel and left the room. Rayner and Cyrus exchanged glances before Rayner slipped out to follow him.

“So what is your plan then, Princeling?” Eliza drawled, from where she still sat.

Callan glanced at Finn and Sloan before looking back at Tava. “It would appear I will not be going home alone tonight.”

Arianna pushed to her feet as she said, “You best be on your way. It was stated you would be arriving this evening, and the sun is nearly set.” She started walking the way Sorin and Rayner had gone, but stopped beside Callan. With a slight smirk, she winked at him. “Destiny is a ?ckle thing, isn’t it?”

CHAPTER 14

SORIN

He couldn’t stand to be in that room anymore. He couldn’t stand to hear them all talking about the mortal prince and what they needed to do to help him. Maybe that made him a sel?sh prick, but he didn’t give a fuck. Not when it involved Scarlett. The rest of the world could go to hell for all he cared at this point, because his entire world was chained to a wall in some private study where everything he feared was coming true. Alaric had her, was breaking her in ways far worse than physical torture. And now he’d brought Cassius into this, knowing exactly what kind of leverage he now held over her.

He was down on the ?rst ?oor of the warehouse, debating if he could safely burn some of the scattered crates to ash to release some of the tension in his veins. Rayner was standing near the stairwell, watching and waiting. What he wouldn’t give to feel her down that bond again, just another glimpse to know she was still ?ghting, still reaching for him as adamantly as he was reaching for her.

Scarlett.

But the word was met with the same resistance it had been since she had left him at the border. There were no cracks in that wall this time. No weaknesses to hurl ?ames at. No ?ssures to exploit to try to bring that wall crashing down.

Footfalls sounded on the stairs, and a moment later, Arianna stepped into the room, followed by Eliza, Cyrus, and Luan. Of course, it was Luan who opened his mouth ?rst.

“We cannot meddle in the affairs of mortals, Aditya. That is not what we are here for,” he said, his tone holding a slight chiding tone to it.

Sorin snorted a hollow laugh. “Of course you would say something as foolish as that.”

“Foolish? What is foolish is you getting into an argument with a mortal prince when we could be focusing on getting your wife and queen out. He wants to go back to his castle and walk into some kind of trap? That is his choice to make. Leave him to it, and focus on what we came here to do,” Luan retorted.

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