Page 120 of Lady for Embers

“And then we trained,” Scarlett countered. She motioned to the other chairs around her, looking over her shoulder as she took a bite of bread. “Sit and eat,” she said to everyone else. “I am the princess, apparently. It will be ?ne.”

Her Court seemed content enough with that explanation andmoved to take seats at the table. Prince Azrael and Auberon were a little more hesitant, but ultimately followed suit, leaving Callan and Drake to do the same.

Callan was bringing a forkful of rice to his mouth when the doors opened and the king strode in with Razik at his side, along with a couple others and... a mortal.

Callan slowly lowered the fork still full of rice back to his plate. Callan wasn’t quite sure how he knew the man was mortal. He had the rounded ears of humans, not that such a thing was a clear indicator anymore. Cassius had rounded ears instead of the arched ears of the Fae and Avonleyans, apparently taking after the High Witch in that regard. He was wearing brown pants with a ?nely crafted red tunic, gold threads running through it. His sandy blonde hair curled around his ears, and he had dark navy blue eyes. He moved casually enough that he was obviously comfortable among the royalty in the room. So the question remained: what was a mortal doing with the king of Avonleya?

The Fae around him had all gone still, the preternatural way only the Fae could achieve, as they took in the newcomers, eyes narrowed and calculating.

“Good afternoon,” Cethin said, moving straight to the head of the table and sitting down, Scarlett at his left. Razik moved to the seat at his right, the rest of their company following suit. “Are the lunch options to your satisfaction?” There was mirth in the small smile on his lips, Scarlett taking a bite from a roast beef sandwich as she watched him.

“It will do,” she agreed, sucking juice from her thumb, and even after being around her constantly for so long now, her lack of propriety in front of royalty still somehow shocked him. He knew she had manners and could show respect, but it had to be earned ?rst and that was not an easy feat with the queen. Princess? What exactly would she be considered at this point?

“Gentlemen,” Cethin said, his gaze staying ?xed on Scarlett. “May I introduce Scarlett Aditya,FaeQueen of the Western Courts across the sea, and her husband and twin ?ame, Sorin Aditya, Prince of the Fire Court and King of the Western Courts.”

“Again, we appreciate your willingness to be ?exible with our accommodations last night,” Sorin said, nodding toward the Avonleyan company. Scarlett, however, was staring at Cethin, her nose slightly scrunched and eyes narrowed on her supposed brother.

“Right then,” Scarlett said, clearing her throat as she settled back into her seat. “You apparently already know Cassius. He is my Guardian and Hand-to-the-Queen.” She paused, her features hardening as she pinned Razik in her silver stare. Razik didn’t seem to notice, his eyes ?itting over Cassius once before moving on to Cyrus beside him. “Next to him is Cyrus, Second in the Fire Court.”

She continued on, introducing the Fae Princes, the rest of the Fire Court, Auberon, and Sawyer. Cethin and Razik didn’t say anything, absorbing the information. Cethin’s eyes kept darting back to Scarlett as she spoke, as if he couldn’t quite believe she was really sitting there. Maybe he couldn’t. How long had he known about her? Known his sister was across the Edria Sea and he couldn’t get to her? Help her? Save her? Callan would do anything for Eva; he could only imagine Cethin felt the same way.

“King Callan Solgard of Windonelle,” Scarlett said, reaching him in the line down the table. “His sister, Princess Eva, is with the other children. Next to him is Lord Drake Tyndell.”

“Tyndell?” the mortal man said, his head tilting in interest. He was the ?rst to speak since Scarlett had started introductions. “You are Lady Tava’s brother then?”

Drake stiffened beside him. “How do you know my sister?”

“I met her this morning,” the man answered, a warm smile ?lling his face. “I make it a point to know the people who enter my home, especially a Lady as bright as your sister.”

“You own the estate the children are staying at?” Sorin asked.

Cethin cleared his throat. “I thought you would want to meet the owner of the home where your people are staying. Allow me to introduce Hale Coventry.”

Callan lurched forward. “Coventry?”

A small smile pulled at Cethin’s lips, his attention shifting away from Scarlett. “I thought if anyone would recognize the name, it would be you.”

“Callan?” Scarlett asked.

“Coventry is the name of the last Toreall ruling family.”

“Before Alaric put a Maraan on the throne,” Scarlett clari?ed.

Callan nodded, studying the man seated on the other side of the table. It wasn’t possible. He couldn’t be any older than late twenties, possibly early thirties. The last Coventry king died without an heir or siblings more than seven decades ago, paving the way for the current king.

Scarlett turned back to Cethin. “Is he related to the Coventry line?”

Cethin glanced between her and Hale, and the man nodded his head before Cethin said, “Heisthe Coventry bloodline. His grandfather was the last Coventry king to hold the throne of Toreall.”

“Bullshit,” Callan said, unable to keep the curse from ?ying out of his mouth. “How? How is that possible?”

“My grandfather became suspicious of the Commander of his forces some time before his death. From what my father told me, he sent my grandmother and him away a week before his life was taken from him,” Hale explained. He was relaxed and casual, clearly at home here. His features were solemn as he spoke though, and Callan wondered how often he’d told this story. Did the people of Avonleya know his true heritage?

“Of course, my grandmother and father were hunted down as the queen and prince. Whoever had done this wanted the bloodline wiped out. They were in a small hunting cabin in the Xylon Forest, only the King’s Hand with them. Supposedly it was a cabin no one else knew about, but they were found. It was burned with them still inside it until even the ashes were nothing. They had tried to hide my father, shoving him into a small space that was beneath the ?oor. It was meant to be a hiding space, but it would not have kept him from ?ames.”

“Then how did he survive?” Sorin asked, his tone grave as he listened to the story.

Hale smiled, a sad tilt of his lips. “Apparently, a beautiful Fae who could walk among the winds appeared in the small space with him. She held her hand to his mouth, giving him fresh air to breathe, while her winds kept the ?re from them.”

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