Page 30 of Lady for Embers

She pushed out an exasperated breath. “As I have already stated, I have four entire Courts to run now.”

“But you must also rest, Talwyn,” he said softly.

“I do,” she said, ?ghting the urge to run the ?nal steps to the council room door.

She wouldn’t have made it far though. A hand was grabbing hers, tugging her to a stop. His other hand came up, the tips of his ?ngers skating along her jaw. “Talk to me, Talwyn. I cannot help if you do not let me in. You used to tell me everything.”

“Then you let me believe you were dead for ten years,” she retorted.

“And how much longer will I have to atone for that sin?” he asked, taking a step towards her. She stepped back, Tarek noting the movement. “All of that was for you. All of it to get your revenge, and now we are on the verge of attaining just that. I do not know how to prove myself anymore to you.”

He’d taken more steps towards her while he spoke, and she’d retreated just as many. Now her back was pressed to the wall, and she tilted her head back to look up into his face. His eyes searched hers, as if he thought he could ?nd the answers he sought there.

He wouldn’t ?nd any answers there though. Only the cold emptiness that was now her soul. There was only one who could read her simply by looking at her, and he was on a ship ?eeing to the west with the Fire and Water Courts. She’d driven him from his own home. She’d driven all of them from their homes.

“Talwyn?” Tarek said, ?ngers toying with the end of her braid that had slipped over her shoulder.

The door of the council room ?ung open, causing them both to whip their heads to the sound.

“About time you found her,” Mikale Lairwood, current king of Windonelle, sneered. “She was summoned over an hour ago.”

“Apparently your leash is not as long as we thought, hmm?” Nuri quipped, sauntering past them.

Where the hell had she come from?

Talwyn made to push away from the wall, but Tarek hadn’t moved, still crowding her against it. “Have dinner with me tonight, Talwyn.” She opened her mouth to object, but he brought a ?nger to her lips, silencing her.

She shoved down every urge to bite that fucking ?nger.

“I know you are busy. I know you have more responsibilities than you ever had before, entire Courts depending on you. But have dinner with me. Just the two of us. We will talk and ?gure this all out.”

He does not see you, Talwyn.

Azrael’s words echoed in her mind as Tarek continued to search her face, looking directly at her but unable to truly see her.

“Do not ever silence me again,” she said, her tone dripping with venom. Her winds came up, pushing against him, forcing him back.

“Talwyn, do not do this,” he sighed, irritation creeping into his tone.

“They are waiting on us,” she sneered, walking past him and into the council room.

Just in time to see a knife ?y from Nuri’s hand directly at the king’s head. Mikale ducked with a curse, and Alaric—the Assassin Lord and Maraan Prince—sighed from the head of the table. “Nuri, stop throwing knives at Mikale.”

Nuri just pulled another knife from her belt, beginning to spin the point against one of her glove-tipped ?ngers.

Alaric glanced up, black eyes settling on Talwyn. “Glad you could join us, your Majesty,” he said. There was no sarcasm in his tone, but she knew he had to be irked she’d made him wait.

She slid into a seat at the table, Tarek pulling out a chair beside her. Balam Tyndell was seated to Alaric’s right, Mikale across from him, still glaring at the Night Child. Next to Mikale sat Mordecai, Alaric’s chief seraph. He was a large male, taller and broader than any Fae, but he still had the arched ears the Fae and Maraans had. He had deeply tanned skin, and his brown feathered wings that arched over his shoulder were nearly the same shade. His black hair was tied up on top of his head, eyes the color of a thunderstorm watching her carefully.

“We ?nd ourselves in need of your assistance,” Alaric said, leaning back in his chair. His hand rested on the table.

“Beyond letting you into my Courts?” Talwyn asked coldly.

Alaric’s brow arched. “We are allies, are we not? Do we not assist one another?”

Talwyn nodded curtly.

“Good,” Alaric continued. “We need you to go to Siofra and speak with the Alpha and Beta. Persuade them to join our cause. You have decades of history with them. I believe you would be more successful at this endeavor than myself or Balam.”

---