Page 111 of Lady for Embers

“And he will not mind us staying here?” Cassius asked, coming up behind them.

Cethin looked him up and down before he said, “He will not.” The rest of them all shifted, feeling uncomfortable at basically taking over a Commander’s home. Cethin took notice and added, “He is busy at the castle these days and is rarely home. I assure you, he will not mind. He would offer it up to you himself if he were here.”

“And the Lady of the house?” Drake asked.

“There has never been a Lady of this house,” Cethin answered.

After a tense moment of silence, Scarlett gestured towards themanor, telling Cethin to lead the way, and they all followed the path Razik had taken. When they stepped through the front doors, Scarlett tilted her head back, looking up at the balcony that ran along the second floor. Two winding staircases ran up either side of the foyer they had stepped into, leading to a landing that split off in two directions. Shining black banisters ran along them, silver etchings shining in the glow of the sconces lit on the walls.

She took another step forward, but a hand gently gripping her arm stopped her. She looked up at Sorin who looked pointedly down at her boots... that were leaving muddy prints on the grey marble ?oor.

She sighed, reaching for the buttons on her cloak, but Sorin was brushing her hands aside. “Thank you for the last-minute accommodations,” he said to Cethin. “We understand asking to stay here is an inconvenience.”

“It is not an inconvenience,” Cethin said, stepping to the side while their company all removed boots and cloaks. They were all tired from being woken during the middle of the night, and they were all dirty from the weeks of travel. “I want Scarlett—all of you—to be comfortable. If she is more comfortable here, then we will make it work.” Sorin pulled the cloak from her shoulders, Cethin immediately stepping forward to take it from him and pass it off to a small female who appeared from the hallway to the right. She was shorter with long brown hair pinned back. She was wearing a simple blue gown, and she had warm brown eyes. “This is Magdalena,” he said. “She runs the household. If you need anything, let her know, and she will see that it is done. Magdalena, this is Scarlett and her husband, Sorin.”

The female bowed her head to them, moving forward to gather more cloaks in her arms. “Lord Razik is making sure the rooms are in order,” she said, her voice soft and melodic. “There will be hot tea and something to eat waiting for you along with fresh clothing once we know who is staying in which rooms.”

“Scarlett and Sorin will need the master at the end of the hall,” Cethin said.

“Already taken care of,” came Razik’s deep timbre, and Scarlett looked up again to ?nd him standing on the balcony of the landing overlooking the foyer. He was leaning casually on the railing, forearms braced atop it, and his brown hair falling into his eyes as he watched them carefully. She knew that while she had beensizing them up on the ride here, Razik had been doing the same. He was doing so now as well, taking in interactions, looking for strengths and weaknesses. “When you are ready, I can show you to your rooms.”

“Right then,” Scarlett said, straightening her shoulders, suddenly ready to be alone with Sorin to take everything in and talk it over with him. She motioned to the others behind her. “Forgive me if I ask to save introductions for tomorrow. We are all rather tired.”

Cethin glanced up at Razik again before saying, “Of course. The estate south of here is being prepared for the rest of your company. The two estates together should be more than enough to house you all.”

“Thank you again, Cethin,” Scarlett said, moving towards the staircase on the left.

Calloused ?ngers encased her hand, tugging her to a stop, and she glanced back to ?nd her brother. Something on his face seemed different, almost pained. The way his brow was scrunched, lines at the corners of his eyes, as if he were ?ghting a wince.

“I tried, Scarlett,” he said softly, squeezing her ?ngers. “All those times, whenever I could get to you, I tried to earn your trust. I hope you know that. I tried to show and tell you as much as I could. I tried, Scarlett.”

She could see it in his silver eyes— the sincerity of those words. And gods, she wanted to believe him. She wished she wasn’t so broken and battered and hardened to this world that she could simply believe in the goodness of another person. But she’d been lied to and used and caged too many times. She simply didn’t have it in her to believe that such a thing still existed. She’d seen him torture Talwyn in her dreams. She’d seen him call forth her shadows when he awakened her gifts. He’d done things to her without her knowing what they were. Sure, the Mark he’d given her had proved useful and needed, but at the time, it was simply another thing she’d had no control over.

He slowly pushed up the sleeve of her tunic, watching her carefully as he did so. When she didn’t pull back, his thumb brushed over the newest Mark he’d given her. The one he’d painted onto her skin with his own blood when all hope had been lost.

“Do you know what type of Mark this is?” he asked, his voice going even softer, as if he was sharing a secret only for her ears.

Scarlett shook her head, gaze ?xed on the interlocking circles on her arm, pale and silver like all the other Avonleyan Marks on her skin. She could feel Sorin hovering behind her. Cassius too.

“It is a Melding Mark. It can only be used by those who share blood.” He pulled his sleeve back, a matching Mark on his forearm. “When used, when our blood is mixed, we can lend each other our strength. The more closely related, the more we can share. But only blooded siblings can share gifts.”

Her gaze snapped up to his. “Share gifts?”

“For very brief periods of time, yes.”

“I did not dream-walk though.”

“Could you feel the power of those around you? Were you able to ?nd those who were strongest? To draw from them?”

She felt the color drain from her face at the memory of her shadows latching onto Cassius and pulling every bit of magic from him, at feeling all of them around her. How Cyrus had snarled at her about purposefully drawing from Cassius that night.

“That was your power?” she whispered. “You can drain people of their magic to strengthen your own?”

“That is one of my gifts, yes,” he answered.

“But... Alaric can do that too.”

“Yes, I suppose he can.”

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