Page 201 of Lady for Embers

“Why don’t you ask me the questions you have for her? Perhaps I can answer them,” Talwyn said, forcing herself not to react.

“I have already asked them of you. You either do not know or refuse to share your knowledge,” Alaric replied. “But since you seem to know Princess Ashtine is simply—how did you put it?—trying to recover, you clearly know where she is. If you did not, I would think you would be more concerned about her whereabouts.”

Alaric was standing then, slowly striding around the table towards her. “We have ways of ?nding those who are missing. The most accurate involves the person closest to her.”

“That is not me,” Talwyn said.

“I know,” Alaric drawled. “He is across the sea with the other Fae Royalty you allowed to leave. But that leaves me in a conundrum then, does it not?”

“I suppose it does.”

“But one you can help with.”

Alaric had stopped beside her chair, standing between her andTarek. He reached out, his ?nger gliding over the shirastone ring on her ?nger. “I bet you have tried to take this off, haven’t you?”

She didn’t bother answering. Obviously she had tried. Spent hours trying.

“It is spelled,” he said, hands bracing on the edge of the table as he leaned in closer to her. “By the being in the prison I want freed, which brings us back to Princess Ashtine.”

“What does Ashtine have to do with the Sorceress being freed?” Talwyn asked from between gritted teeth.

“There is a vast library beneath that Citadel of hers. One only she can enter. I am certain there is something in there that would help me enter that prison.” He straightened then, pushing off the table and stepping back. “The thing about that ring, though, is that it nulli?es all of one’s magic, including your ability to shield.”

“I am aware,” Talwyn replied stif?y, her ?ngers curling around the arms of her chair.

Alaric turned and began striding back to his chair. “Do you recall how I told you there are a vast array of powers in my home world?”

“I am well-acquainted with one of them,” she retorted.

A small, amused smile tugged at his lips as he lowered back into his seat. “Some can read minds, sift through memories. It is called telepathis. Would you like to guess what power Mordecai acquired?”

Talwyn felt herself pale.

Victory danced in Alaric’s dark eyes. “It is what makes him an excellent leader. As an opponent’s power begins to weaken, so do their mental shields. All he needs is some of their blood, which is easy enough to obtain in a battle. When he can read their mind and know their next move? Well, the battle is over quite quickly after that.”

Talwyn twisted, realizing Mordecai never took a seat at the table, but she was too late. The seraph was already behind her, a knife slicing across her forearm. She yanked her arm away, but her blood glistened on the blade. He swiped his ?nger across it, drawing a symbol of some sort on his forearm.

She felt him. Some sort of extra noise in her mind, clawing through various bits and pieces of her thoughts. She could do nothing. She had thought Alaric was referencing a physical shield, but he’d meant mental ones because she could not keep him out. And having him in there was an excruciating torture because he couldsee everything she was and wasn’t. All her fears and failures. All her secrets.

All Ashtine’s secrets.

Mordecai’s head tilted, his brown eyes watching her carefully, and Talwyn knew he had found what he was looking for.

“Well?” Alaric asked impatiently from the other end of the table.

“She is in the Southern Islands, hidden in the cliffs.”

“We ?gured as much,” Mikale said in annoyance.

“She is with child,” Mordecai said, and the Maraans all fell still around the table. “Twins.”

Alaric sat back in his seat, and Talwyn had never seen him look shocked, but that was what was on his face. His jaw was slightly slack as he stared at her. “Looks like we do not need that work-around after all, do we, your Majesty?”

“She will not help you,” Talwyn said, unable to keep the panic from creeping into her voice. “Even if you manage to ?nd her and get past Abrax, she will not aid you.”

“Oh, you will ?nd minds can be easily changed when children are involved,” Alaric said, a cruel smile twisting on his lips. “As for you, your Majesty, we are clearly no longer allies, which makes you a traitor. It also means I no longer need to pretend you are here for any other reason than to feed my power.” He stood, the others standing with him this time. “Tarek, escort her to the cells. We will deal with her when we return.”

Tarek gripped her elbow, leading her from the room, down stairs and halls. He led her into a cell, and when the door clanged shut behind her, he said, “This is not what I wanted in the end, Talwyn.”

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