Page 247 of Lady for Embers

He rolled over, hand seeking the warm body that had fallen asleep in his arms, but when it found nothing but cold sheets, he shot up.

“Tava?”

He ?ung the blankets off, scooping his pants from the ?oor as he climbed out of the bed.

“Tava?” he called again, stumbling as he attempted to walk and slide a leg into his pant leg at the same time. Maybe she had gone back to her room to bathe? He knew she didn’t regret last night. Tava did nothing without thinking it through ?rst. She wouldn’t have initiated any of that without being sure of herself. That had been clear by the nightclothes she had been wearing when she came to his rooms.

But those nightclothes were not on the ?oor where he had dropped them. Nor was the robe in the sitting room where it had slid from her body.

He ?nished getting his pants on before he pulled open the main door, rushing down the hall to her rooms. He rapped his knuckles on the wood.

“Tava? Are you in there?”

“She is not here, your Majesty.” Callan turned to ?nd Magdalena standing in the hall holding a bundle of linens in her hands. “She mentioned you might need new bedding this morning.”

“Do you know where she went? Did she go to help with the children?”

“I do not know,” she answered. “She and King Drake left before dawn.”

Before dawn?

“But Queen Scarlett is in the dining room,” Magdalena added. “Perhaps she knows.”

Scarlett was here? None of the Fae had stayed here since Eliza had been injured. They’d all been staying at the castle.

“Thank you, Magdalena,” he said, hurrying back down the hall to his room.

He quickly ?nished dressing before he rushed down to the dining room where Scarlett was indeed seated at the table. She was not eating though. She was sitting at the head of the table, one leg crossed over the other, her ?ngers wrapped around the ends of the armrests. She was completely in black.

She was dressed as Death’s Maiden.

“Scarlett,” he said, unease already blooming his gut. “What are you doing here?”

She rolled her lips, eyes darting to the side, before she met his stare. “I just returned from the Water Court.”

Callan felt the color drain from his face. “What did you do?”

“They came to me, Callan. I did not ask this of them.”

“When?” he demanded. “When did they come to you?”

“Last night. After the meeting in the council room.”

“They came back here with me.”

“They returned to the castle. Sorin and I were in our rooms with the rest of the Fae, discussing matters further. They came to me,” she said again.

“Where is Tava, Scarlett? Where is she?”

“This was her choice, Callan,” Scarlett said calmly. Too calmly. “She wanted to do this. None of us asked. We all told her we could ?nd another way.”

“Where is she?” Callan bellowed, unable to move.

“The Water Court,” Scarlett said. “She is with Briar and Drake in the Water Court. To trade themselves for Ashtine.”

He had never hated the Wraith more than he did at that moment.

Chapter 47

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