Page 127 of Lady for Embers

“True,” Alaric agreed. “However, had the Fae Royals been dealt with properly, a new Water Prince could have already been instated and this would not be an issue.”

She couldn’t argue against that, but she’d be damned if she was going to apologize for it. An insincere apology was pointless, and she had a feeling Alaric would see right through it anyway.

“And Princess Ashtine?” Alaric asked. “She does not have any insights to offer?” His head tilted to the side as he watched her, gauging her reactions. She let nothing show, no trace of emotion.

“No,” she answered curtly. “She continues to be unwell since Nasima left her.”

Something crossed Alaric’s face at the mention of the spirit animal.

Disdain or displeasure? Perhaps both.

“What lies within Avonleya?” Talwyn asked. The question had plagued her for weeks, but she’d had other things to worry about. Now, though, she was curious what exactly Alaric had to gain from this war. She wanted revenge, wanted to see Avonleya brought to ruin, but Alaric didn’t seem to care about the kingdom itself, only what it housed. It was evident the spirit animals guarded it, explaining why they sided with Avonleya. It was foolish to go up against spirit animals. She knew that, but they only seemed to appear when it suited them. Sure, their bonded could summon them, but there was nothing that required the animal to answer. Nasima was proof enough of that.

So was Maliq.

Not that she’d tried to summon the wolf of Celeste since he had failed to come for her in that throne room. Partly because she wasn’t sure if their bond still existed. More so because she did not want to know the answer to that question.

Alaric moved back to the table, taking his seat once more. He leaned back, crossing an ankle over his knee. “You know, I once tried to convince Scarlett to see reason by sharing more with her. I thought if she had all the facts, she would understand and join me by choice rather than by force.” He sipped on his drink. “Of course, all that accomplished was pushing her further into the arms of that godsdamn Fire Prince. All those years of keeping her hidden, wasted.” That last part he seemed to mutter more to himself. He lifted his gaze back to hers. “Everything started to go to shit the moment that ?re Fae stepped over the border into these lands. Sent here by his queen to look formyweapon. How did you come across the whisperings of her, by the way? I have often wondered.”

If she were the laughing type, she would have lost it at the irony of how that had come about. As it turns out, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed at anything. She wasn’t even sure she could remember the last time she had smiled.

“The winds whispered of her to Ashtine,” she replied. “That led me to consult with the Oracle.”

“Ah,” was his only reply. Another sip of liquor. “You seem to be more... receptive to rationale. Unlike my protégé.”

“Your protégé,” she repeated coldly.

“I trained her to be exactly like me,” he said. “That is why she is proving to be such a formidable opponent. She thinks like I think. Strategizes like I do. Which is why I need to try something different. Make a move she would not expect.”

“One would think the attack at sea was rather unexpected.”

“Perhaps,” he mused. “But this is more of a mental attack rather than a physical one. She will not be beaten with mere strength. Not anymore. She has learned to harness her power too well, and once they get to Avonleya—provided she can ?nd a way in without the keys she so foolishly wasted—she will be even more powerful. No, she will be beaten the same way I have always controlled her, and her rage will make her brash as usual.”

Her rage.

He clearly did not understand the depth of the bond between twin ?ames. Her rage at losing Sorin would be enough to burn the world down. It was already simmering, the embers of her fury hot and ready, waiting for her to breathe its ?re to life, and then she would let it consume anything and everything. She would not care what got in the way.

That is what Cyrus would have done if he’d had the power Scarlett has.

And that is how she should have felt when she thought Tarek had died. Instead, she’d gone to Azrael.

“Do the Maraans have twin ?ames?” she asked suddenly. Because by the gods, if he hadanyidea about what that entailed, he would know this was not just any kind of wrath.

Alaric paused, surprised by her random question, but then he scoffed. “No, your Majesty. We were notgiftedsuch a thing by the gods. The Maraans and seraphs were created for one purpose. The twin ?ame bond was created as a gift for their Legacy, not for those created with an actual purpose to serve.”

“What does that mean?”

“The Legacy are the children of the demigods,” Alaric said, bitterness ringing in his tone. “The demigods are the offspring spawned when a god has a child with a mortal.”

“Why in the realms would a god have a child with a mortal?” The mere idea was absurd.

Alaric shrugged. “Eternity is a long time to live. They get bored. Petty. Experimental. Perhaps they even care for one at some point in their infinite lives. I would not know. What I do know is that they populated their various worlds in more ways than one. Some of the bloodlines were created,” he said, gesturing to himself. “And some were born.”

“Then what are the Avonleyans?”

“They would all be considered Legacy, I suppose,” Alaric answered. “But the original Avonleyans were the product of a god and a demigod.”

“A god and a...” That kind of power, to have the power of agodrunning in your veins? Sure, a demigod would be half-mortal, but an Avonleyan would only be a quarter mortal. And if they had a child with another Avonleyan and their children continued to do so, eventually that mortal blood would be nothing.

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