Page 40 of Lady for Embers

Cyrus snorted a laugh.

“How’s Sorin?” Cassius asked.

“Worried about... everything. His wife. His Court. All of us. He’s always been responsible for the well-being of others. I sometimes wonder if he forgot how to make sure he’s taking care of himself as well,” Cyrus answered.

When silence stretched between them, he glanced at Cassius from the corner of his eye. The commander was watching him toy with his ?re. Cyrus sent a ?ame leaping at him, and he jerked back with a curse. Cyrus laughed, commanding the ?ame to expand, winding it around Cassius’s wrist.

“And you say I’m a prick,” Cassius muttered, watching the ?ames dance along his skin.

“It’s been well-established that I am indeed an asshole,” Cyrus said with a shrug. “You’ve seen Scarlett use her magic. This is no different.”

“I was not expecting ?ames to be thrown at me,” he deadpanned.

“No sign of your own magic emerging again?”

Cassius shook his head, lifting a hand, and Cyrus directed the ?ames to move into his palm, pooling there and glowing bright. “Maybe when we get to Avonleya,” Cassius mused. “Maybe being in that land will make it stir again.”

“Maybe,” Cyrus mused, but he didn’t think so. The only time Cassius’s magic had surfaced was when Scarlett had been in danger. Sure he’d Traveled a few times, but from what he’d been told about the events of that throne room, Cassius had produced some type of ?ames of his own. In the chaos, no one had paid much attention, and since they had more pressing matters to deal with these days, it hadn’t been discussed much. But Cyrus had thought on it during these night watches, wondering what kind of magic would produce black ?ames. Not the ?ames Scarlett would sometimes create when she combined her shadows and ?re. These were pure black ?ames. He was guessing it had more to do with the fact that he had been continuously fueling Scarlett’s power while Sorin was healing. Scarlett was still refusing to draw from Sorin unless absolutely necessary, much to Sorin’s dismay. Cyrus had lost count of how many standoffs the two had had over this. He had bets daily with Eliza and Rayner about who would win that day.

But since Scarlett had stopped needing to draw from Cassius, Cyrus had been hoping that power might manifest again. Although,maybe the commander being unable to produce black ?ames that he very likely couldn’t control on a ship was for the best. Maybe the Fates really were helping them out on this one thing.

“What do you know about Sargon?” Cassius asked.

“Not as much as I know about some of the other gods,” Cyrus admitted. “But I did look into him more after Ranvir showed up at the Black Halls and the High Witch all but con?rmed you are a descendant of him.”

“And?” Cassius pressed.

Cyrus shrugged. “He’s the god of war, courage, and bravery. Ranvir is his spirit animal, and the dragon has a brother, Edjer, who is bonded to Arius.”

“That is all common knowledge,” Cassius sighed in resignation.

“It is,” Cyrus agreed. “What is not as well known is that Sargon was Arius’s Second.”

“Why would the god of death need a Second-in-Command?”

“I don’t know if that was an actual title,” Cyrus said. “From what I could gather, they worked closely together. I couldn’t ?nd much on it, but it explained why their spirit animals were dragon siblings.”

“Interesting,” Cassius murmured, his gaze moving towards the sea.

“It is something I hope they have books on in Avonleya,” Cyrus added.

“Ranvir showing up to save me and Scarlett kind of solidi?ed the fact that I will be meeting my father when we get to Avonleya.”

Cyrus slowly turned his head to look at him at the randomness of that statement. Cassius was staring straight ahead, his hand still massaging his thigh. They hadn’t talked about this since that night they’d smoked the mugweed at the Black Halls.

“Yeah,” Cyrus agreed. “It would appear he plans to meet you if he’s putting forth effort to keep you alive.”

“I don’t... ” Cassius trailed off before he tried again. “I don’t know how I feel about it. About meeting him.”

“Do you feel the same way about him as you do the High Witch?”

“No,” he said. “She knowingly abandoned me. He had no idea I existed, according to her.”

“Why would she lie about that?”

“There wouldn’t be a reason, which is why I’m inclined to believe her.”

“The High Witch is many things, but a liar is not one of them,” Cyrus said. “She is painfully blunt.”

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