Page 233 of Lady for Embers

Her gaze shot back to his, but he was ?xated on a spot beside her. If she had to guess, he was visualizing exactly how he would kill Tarek based on the violence ?ickering in his eyes. She cleared her throat again, pulling him from whatever reverie he’d been in.

“You said Alaric wants to free the Sorceress.”

She nodded. “He wanted me to persuade the Shifters to join his side and ?gure out how to get into the Water Prison. Those were the two tasks he gave me.”

“Stellan and Arianna would never side with him. Not when Scarlett freed them from their containment,” Azrael said.

“I tried to tell him that, but he gave me little choice but to at least try. I went to them. They humored me. Let me plead my case, and then effectively told me to fuck off.”

“And the Water Prison?”

“He thought I knew the work-around to get into the prison without Briar’s bloodline. When he ?gured out what I knew, I found myself in the same place I sit now. In a cell. He would siphon power from me to fuel his own.”

“His draining power,” Azrael mused, rubbing at his jaw.

“You know of it?”

He nodded. “Cethin can do the same.”

“Cethin?”

“Cethin Sutara. The Avonleyan King and—”

“Scarlett’s brother,” Talwyn muttered. “I met his Hand.”

Azrael’s lip curled slightly in annoyance. “Razik is a prick, but he’s a damn good ?ghter.”

He somehow?tsin with her Court quite well.

That’s what Nuri had said to her, and gods, Azrael really, really did. He brought some balance to the other two princes, to all the Fae Royalty really. Briar and Sorin sometimes let their emotions play too much into their decisions. Azrael rarely did. And Ashtine... Well, she brought knowledge in her own way.

And the reality crashed down on Talwyn thatshehad always been the weak link among the Fae Royalty. She had fancied herself stronger and more powerful, had thought she was in charge and demanded loyalty even when others resisted. How incrediblystupid she’d been to not realize that the princes and princess were not there as lessers but as equals. If she would have just treated them as such, so much could be different. But she’d thought she had something to prove. She’d thought...

She’d thought a lot of things.

Azrael was looking at her as if he could read her thoughts, as if he knew exactly what she was working out.

“I was never meant to be a queen,” she said, more to herself than to him.

“That is not true.”

“You cannot possibly believe that.”

“Were you perfect? Of course not,” Azrael said. “But were you a good queen? You were, Talwyn. You cared for your people. We all know that. I know you thought you were protecting them in the beginning. You were a good queen until you weren’t. You were a good queen until you became blinded by your own motives, and then tried to make the needs of your people align with what you wanted.”

You were a good queen until you weren’t.

She wanted to believe him, knew that Azrael Luan would not mince words to spare her feelings, but she just... didn’t.

“When this is over, if you and the others win this war, be sure you and Ashtine ?ght for the Wind and Earth Courts. Not to rule over. But to continue to lead them. Under her.”

“Of course we will, Talwyn. My people have always been my highest priority. I will always ?ght for them. That is my job as their prince.”

She nodded, ?ghting to control the ?ood of emotions clogging the back of her throat. “I know that... ” She had to stop to swallow back the tears burning in her eyes. “I know I am not worthy of a Farewell, but can you at least make sure my body is burned, Az?”

His mask slipped the smallest amount. “I will talk to Sorin, Talwyn. I will see if he can speak with Scarlett. Maybe if he is the one to ask for her mercy—”

“I do not want her mercy,” Talwyn said, two tears ?nally slipping free. “I will face the fate I created. I am the one to blame for this, even if Sorin does still live.”

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