Page 128 of Lady for Embers

She narrowed her eyes at Alaric. “Then what is Scarlett? Avonleyan or Legacy?”

A knowing smile ?lled Alaric’s face. “I think that is enough history for one day. It all gets very complicated after a while. God and mortal. Avonleyan and Legacy. Demigod. Deity. The gods are ?ckle beings with an in?nite lifespan. Back to the matter at hand: I have shared something valuable with you. It would only be fair for you to do the same.”

“I do not think there is anything I can share that you do not already know,” she replied, still trying to wrap her mind around everything he’d just told her.

“While I do not believe that is true, that is not the reason I summoned you here today,” he said, pushing to his feet and moving towards her. “There is something else you can share with me, since you refuse to share knowledge I know you are keeping.”

A vine with thorns appeared in her hand beneath the table. She was on her feet, a thin shield of air pulled close to her body. “I am not the only one suspected of keeping knowledge from the other in this arrangement.”

“Am I not upholding my end of what was promised to you? AmI not aiding you in getting your revenge?” He moved another step closer.

“Are you?” she asked. “Because from where I sit, that does not appear to be the case.”

“And whose fault is that, Child?” he sneered, taking another step. “Youare the one who let the Royals ?ee across the Edria.Youare the one who failed to convince the Shifters to join our cause.Youare the one who refuses to search for another way into the Underwater Prison.” He paused, standing mere feet from her now, his head tilting. “Or rather, you are the one who refuses to share the work around to that little problem.”

“I do not know the work around,” she ground out, and that wasn’t entirely a lie. The Underwater Prison required the Water Prince’s bloodline for entrance. If Ashtine weren’t carrying an heir, Talwyn would have no idea where to even begin looking for an alternate way into the prison.

The smile he gave her was tight and indulgent, akin to one given to a child when they are being tiresome. “Do you know how seraphs and Maraans obtain their power?”

Talwyn couldn’t help but be thrown by the sudden change of topic, but she reinforced her winds in the shield around her.

“Considering I did not know the Maraans existed until a few months ago, no. I assumed you were born with them the way we are.”

“We take our power,” Alaric said, his entire demeanor going cold. “It is a rite of sorts. We get one opportunity. Once we take a gift, there is no second chance. No changing our mind. Naturally, it is a decision made with very careful consideration.”

“Naturally.”

“There is much to consider,” he continued, as though she hadn’t spoken. “What kind of power one wants. How that power will be re?lled. How to take it.” He knocked back the last of the liquor in the glass he still held before placing it down softly onto the table. “I, for example, took the power of a Legacy. I am ­assuming your education taught you how Avonleyans re?ll their power reserves, no?”

“Of course they did. It was why—” She went utterly still.

It was part of the reason the Fae were gifted their own magic.

And then her knees were buckling, and she was gripping the table to stay standing. Magic, cold and dark and oily, was snakingover her shield, and she could feel her power being ripped from her very being.

“The stronger the power I feed off of, the stronger my power becomes,” Alaric said, moving close enough to touch her now. “Tarek has been ?ne enough these past years, but after the battle above the Edria Sea, I ?nd my reserves achingly empty.”

A vicious yank on her power pulled a cry from her lips as she sank to her knees. She scrambled, trying to gain any ounce of control, but she could do nothing. She was completely at his mercy while he drew from her.

Alaric only smiled darkly down at her. “If you are not willing to share your knowledge of your Courts with me,your Majesty, I can certainly ?nd other uses for you.”

Talwyn stumbled through the sand in the Water Court. She’d wanted to go to the Southern Islands to try to find Ashtine, but Alaric had taken so much from her, this was as far as she’d been able to Travel. Shifting wasn’t possible. She could hardly muster a breeze or stir the sand beneath her boots. She was fairly certain she had only ever been this drained once.

Azrael had forced her to drain her reserves during training one day. He’d wanted her to feel what it was like so she could recognize when she was getting too low. Looking back on it, she’d never questioned him. Had done exactly what he’d demanded, knowing he would keep her safe in her moment of greatest vulnerability.

Azrael would have never let her go to a meeting alone with Alaric. He would have never let this happen.

Sheshould not have let this happen.

She sank down to the sand, turning to face the horizon, the same direction Abrax had taken Ashtine. She wanted to send a message to the princess, but she did not have enough reserves left to do even that. What would she say anyway? Nothing more than she already had. She just wanted to know if she was all right. Did she need anything? Was she managing? Abrax could protect her, but the animal couldn’t take care of her.

“Talwyn?”

She stiffened at the sound of his voice.

“Did you know?” she asked, voice void of any emotion. She didn’t bother looking up at him.

Silence greeted her. It was answer enough. How had it all come to this?

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