Page 135 of Lady for Embers

Apparently they were Traveling again.

When they stepped from the air, she breathed deeply, the sea mist ?lling her senses. There were tall posts with soft glowing ?ames in them illuminating the area where they were standing. They were a little ways inland, but she could still hear the waves crashing against the rocks. Below her bare feet were dark stones, carefully arranged. Small bushes with blooming ?owers ran along the edge of the circular area, and in the very center was a statue of a woman.

The statue was black stone, and easily six feet tall. Even taller because it sat atop a pedestal. Scarlett reached out, her ?ngers skimming the smooth surface of the base.

“This is nightstone,” she whispered.

“It is,” Cethin agreed.

“Who is she?”

Scarlett tilted her head back, trying to make out the details in the night. She wore a simple dress, her hair long and loose with slight curls to it as it cascaded down her back. She appeared older, like a mortal in the later stages of life.

“Her name was Sidora,” Cethin said. “She was a Witch with a gift of prophecy.”

“An Oracle then,” Scarlett said, trying to gather her thoughts amid the alcohol she had consumed.

“More than that,” Cethin said. “She was the one who created the spell that put the Wards in place around our lands. It was strong and powerful magic. Continues to be so because of her sacri?ce. Our people were fearful and hopeless. The Great War had been raging on for decades, and our parents were desperate to save their people, willing to do just about anything to give them a reprieve while we regrouped. The Wards were that answer, and before they went up, Sidora gave one last prophecy.”

He pointed at the base where words were etched in the Avonleyan language.

When Ashes Meld with Shadows,

When Stars and Dreams Collide,

When Night and Darkness Meet,

She will return with the ?re of the stars.

Brother of the throne,

Hope will rise,

And the Prince will fall.

For Darkness takes it all.

“This... could mean anything,” Scarlett sputtered. “Oracles are notorious for being vague and unhelpful.” She looked over her shoulder at the males behind her, their faces saying they already believed this to be her. She ?ung a hand at the inscription. “This could be Saylah herself. Maybe Temural occupies a throne where he is these days. The Prince could mean any one of the Fae Princes.”

“The people of Avonleya believed Selinya to be a descendant of Saylah. They do not know she was Saylah herself. Only our father and a few select others knew that. Sidora was one of those few. Shecame with Saylah when she came to this world,” Cethin said, his tone tense and impatient.

“Then how do they believe she died?” Scarlett demanded, whirling to face him. Her shadows rose up, the wine and her emotions making it too dif?cult to control them right now. “What kind ofqueenlets her people think she has died?”

“The kind who feels guilty for bringing this upon them in the ?rst place,” Cethin spat back. “The kind who is doing everything in her power to ?x this, to leave this world so her people can live the quiet lives they deserve.”

Darkness pooled around his feet like ink, blacker than the night in which they stood. It was night itself. He had shadows of his own, different from hers, but also somehow the same.

“Both of you need to take a breath,” Sorin ground out, ?re ?ickering in his eyes.

“It’s just a little sibling spat,” Scarlett sneered, lifting a palm and letting white ?ames ?are to life.

“Oh, look.” Cethin smirked. “Fire of the stars.”

Scarlett instantly closed her ?st, the ?ames extinguishing. “What?”

“Those white ?ames? That is star?re,” Cethin said. “A gift of Sera?na herself. Our grandmother. It ?ows in our veins and manifested in you. Where did you think the name came from?”

“You have this gift too, then?” Scarlett asked.

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