Page 153 of Lady for Embers

“You could not ?nd a way to be here, but you think you would have found a way to get to me across the sea?” Cassius asked coldly.

Tybalt looked taken aback by the comment, but quickly schooled his features, and Scarlett couldn’t help but feel sorry for the male. She knew Cassius’s defenses were up, especially after Hazel, but this all felt so different from that.

“You are a Guardian. You know that when your Ward needs you, you cannot ?ght that call,” Tybalt replied, his shoulders squaring.

“But Razik said you were with Saylah,” Scarlett said, wincing at intruding on the moment.

Tybalt’s gaze cut to her. “I was.”

“You areherGuardian? She is a goddess.”

“I am well aware of what she is,” Tybalt said, irritation ?ickering in his eyes. “I am also well aware that she gave you two the Guardian bond all those years ago.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Scarlett asked.

“Because that means your mother knew of my existence, and, if he is to be believed, did not tell him,” Cassius answered.

Tybalt nodded slowly, his eyes back on his son.

It took everything in Scarlett not to ask the male about her, about how to go and see her. She had questions of her own that needed answering, but this was not her time. It was Cassius’s. She squeezed his hand again, willing to do whatever he needed from her right now.

“Are you Avonleyan then?” Cassius asked.

“No,” Tybalt answered, clasping his hands behind his back. “My mother was mortal, but my father is Sargon.”

“So you are a demigod?” Scarlett asked.

“I am.”

“How did you meet the High Witch?” Cassius asked.

Tybalt blinked at the question before he gestured to some armchairs before a hearth. “That is quite a tale. Can we sit?”

Cassius released her hand, letting her move to a chair ?rst before slowly lowering into one beside her. Tybalt took one directly across from him, while Cethin remained standing near the window.

“When the Wards went up, I was on your continent. We were trying to get all of our people back home safely, but we ran out of time. I still had warriors in a few territories, including the Witch Kingdom. One of them was a male, and you know how the Witches can be about males,” Tybalt said, his eyes rolling slightlyas if annoyed. “They get that from the goddesses their powers come from. They never once took a male as a lover.”

“Wait,” Scarlett interjected, tossing Cassius an apologetic look. “The Witches’ gifts came from the Sorceress.”

“Who is a descendant of one of those goddesses,” Tybalt agreed. “The High Witch at that time was no different. She had detained my warrior. I offered myself in exchange.”

“You became a prisoner so that one of your men could be free?” Cassius asked, his grip on the arms of his chair slackening some.

“Of course I did. What honor is there in abandoning your own warriors?” Tybalt answered, and from the ?erceness in his tone, Scarlett knew he believed that wholeheartedly. “I was a captive there for centuries, but they made good use of me. Made me train their covens. How do you think they became so skilled and ruthless? One of the High Witch’s daughters was particularly dedicated. She was always early to training and stayed far later than the others. Her sister wasn’t as skilled and was always annoyed when she would stay late.”

“Hazel,” Scarlett said softly.

Tybalt nodded, clear fondness crossing his features. “She was ?erce and strong. She was a warrior through and through. If I had not known she was a Witch, I would have sworn she was a descendant of Sargon. It was she and I that ?gured out how to catch and harness the grif?ns they now ride. All under the guise of imprisonment, of course. But when she became the High Witch after her mother Faded, I was no longer a prisoner. Just her secret.”

“What happened?” Cassius asked.

“I am bound to Saylah. My Guardian Bond still supersedes all else other than a twin flame bond, and Hazel and I were not that. We were just two warrior souls who found each other on this side of the Veil. Ranvir came for me, delivered a message that they had found a way to get me back inside the Wards. I had to go, but it killed me to leave her.” Tybalt’s gaze darted to the darkened hearth. “I suppose after me, she went back to believing males were useless, only ever wanting one thing. That they become a weakness to be exploited.” He looked back at Cassius. “There was no way for her to tell me of you, but if she could have, I am not entirely sure that she would have done so. The Witches are spiteful enough that she would punish me with such a thing, but I would like to think she is still different from the rest.”

Cassius stared back at his father, and Scarlett was inclined to do the same, even though she had a million questions swirling in her mind. She glanced at her brother who had been silent this entire time. His attention remained ?xed out the window.

Tybalt shifted in his seat. “I understand you learned who I was and who Razik is in a way I did not intend, and for that, I apologize. It was never my intention to keep information from you. I assumed you would have questions, and after all this time... Perhaps it is sel?sh of me, but I wanted to be the one to answer them, to tell you your history. And Razik can be rather dif?cult at times.”

Scarlett snorted. “At times?”

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