Page 109 of Lady for Embers

“And I can ride with Drake,” Tava chimed in. “Then everyone else should be ?ne.”

“Everyone set then?” Cethin asked, eyes scanning over all of them. They all murmured agreement, moving to horses and getting settled.

How are you holding up, Love?Sorin’s voice echoed down the bond as she slid back into the cradle of his hips atop the grey spotted stallion they were on.

I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve quite... processed what he said.

You have a brother.

So he says.

You doubt him?

He knows a lot of things, Sorin. It is a little suspicious.

“Will you introduce the others in your Court?” Cethin asked, moving his horse to walk beside theirs.

“On the docks? I thought we were worried about that,” Scarlett said, taking in the buildings on either side of the cobbled road they were traveling down.

There was a snicker from Cethin’s other side, and she leaned forward to peer around him at Razik.

“Technically, we are no longer on the docks,” Cethin said.

“How long will it take to get to the castle?”

“Riding at this pace? A good hour or two.”

“Can you both Travel?” she asked.

Cethin barked a laugh. “Out of all the questions you surely have, that is what you ask?”

“She is sizing up the threats,” Razik said, sounding utterly bored.

But he wasn’t wrong. She wanted to know what gifts they had because she didn’t trust them. Not in the slightest.

“Well?” she pressed. “You want me to trust you, right?”

There were lamps atop posts as they moved, ?ames in each of them lighting the way. Did they stay lit all the time? Who lit them?

But in the faint glow of those lamps she could see Cethin’s lips twitch. “Yes, Scarlett, Razik and I can both Travel.”

“And you are my brother?”

His head swung her way. She could feel him watching her, but her eyes were ?xed straight ahead. Sorin’s arm was looped around her waist, his thumb stroking soothing circles on her hip.

“Yes, Scarlett, I am your brother.”

“Full-blooded?”

“Yes.”

She hummed in acknowledgment. She was sure he was expecting a question about who their parents were that he was claiming they shared, but she just... wasn’t ready for that yet. It didn’t take a genius to ?gure out that if he was the king, their father, and likely their mother, were both dead. Assuming he was truly her brother.

So instead she asked, “Are there Fae here?”

Cethin and Razik exchanged a look before Cethin said, “We were separated from the Fae when the Wards went up.”

“I know that, but then how do you ?ll your magic reserves?”

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