Page 67

If Eliza wouldn’t tell him anything, he’d figure it out himself. “I am going to the library,” he growled to Finn, wrenching the door open, his boots crunching on the shattered glass.

CHAPTER 20

SCARLETT

Scarlett woke with a groan. Her arm was stiff and sore, but the shooting pain was gone. She sucked in a breath and gasped. Her ribs were healing, but her entire body ached. She was exhausted. Her very soul felt drained.

“Take it easy, Princess. Sorin will kill me if you wake up and hurt yourself more,” came a female voice.

Scarlett’s eyes fluttered open, and she found Eliza sprawled in the chaise beneath the window, a book in her hands. The army general wore pants and a tunic the color of ash. Her fighting leathers and weapons were discarded on the floor beside the chaise, although a dagger was still sheathed at her side.

“Where is he?” Scarlett asked, looking around the room.

“He had to tend to some Court matters with Cyrus, and Rayner had his own tasks.”

“So you got stuck with babysitting duty?” Scarlett inquired, using her good arm to push herself into a sitting position. She breathed through her teeth at the sharp pain in her ribs. She moved her arm back and forth, wincing slightly with the movement.

“I volunteered,” Eliza replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

“How many days have I been asleep?”

“Only one.”

Scarlett’s eyes widened. “How have my arm and ribs healed this much in only a day?”

“Didn’t Sorin tell you Fae heal quickly? Add Beatrix to the mix, and you should be good as new in a few days’ time. Although your depleted magical reserves may delay things a bit. There is a tonic by the bed to speed your healing,” Eliza answered with a nod to the nightstand. Her red-gold hair was free and flowing down her back. Scarlett could see her tattoos peeking out from beneath the collar of her tunic. Eliza followed her gaze and said, “They’re Marks.”

“What do they mean?” Scarlett asked.

The two females hadn’t spent much time together the past few weeks, so she wasn’t sure if Eliza would find the question prying. She had eaten dinner with Sorin’s Inner Court every evening, becoming more comfortable with them each day. She had quickly become close with Cyrus and delighted in giving Sorin as much shit as possible with him. She could tell beneath the wit and endless bantering was a brilliant mind that was constantly calculating and assessing everything at once. After spending just a few hours with him, she knew why he was Sorin’s Second, and he had even given her tips on her archery skills a few times.

Rayner was still a mystery to her. He was kind whenever she saw him and always had a soft smile for her, but he was quiet and reclusive. She rarely saw him outside dinner and even there he only spoke to quiet tension. When he spoke, though, you listened. He was like a wise old man who you knew held untold wisdom if you just listened at the right times.

Eliza, however? She could still hear her voice telling her to leave them at that initial dinner and see the challenge in her eyes to Sorin. Eliza had been civil to her, but hadn’t spent any more time with her than necessary. To hear she had volunteered to watch over her was a surprise. Even on the short journey here, Eliza hadn’t said much to her. Her sole focus had seemed to be keeping Sorin under control for some reason. She’d always managed to appear when tensions were rising between Sorin and Callan. She clearly had no problem with challenging him when she thought what he was doing was ill-advised.

Eliza closed her book and laid it beside her on the chaise, those gray eyes fixing on Scarlett. “Some Marks are symbols. Some Marks are tests. Some Marks are used in spells and enchantments. Some Marks amplify certain aspects of one’s power.”

“And yours?”

Eliza studied her a moment, then asked instead, “What do you know of the Courts?”

Scarlett blinked in surprise. “Not a lot,” she admitted. “I know there are four. I know the names. I know the sitting royalty. I know little more.”

Eliza nodded. “I’m told that the mortal kingdoms place a lot of stock in bloodlines.”

“They do,” Scarlett answered shortly, reaching over to the tonic sitting on the bedside table. She swallowed it down and nearly choked on the bitter taste.

“The Fae Courts are no different, except that our families are built up for magical power, not just royalty bloodlines. Those with powerful magic are betrothed to those of similar power to strengthen the bloodlines,” Eliza explained. She was looking down at the floor as she spoke, tracing idle circles onto the rug with the toe of her boot. “Marrying outside of your Court is not permitted. The only exception is if your twin flame is from another Court, and even then the bond has to be Trialed and Anointed before it is accepted. Queen Eliné had been working hard to break that stigma, and we were beginning to see more marriages amongst the Courts, but it’s still frowned upon by many.”

“But why?” Scarlett asked. “In the mortal lands, sometimes marriages are arranged between the kingdoms to strengthen their relations.”

Eliza snorted. “I don’t pretend to understand the workings of the Courts and their arranged marriages. The Courts hold petty grudges against each other, especially amongst the Western and Eastern Courts.

“My mother, though, was of the Earth Court. She was incredibly powerful and was given to a male of equal power.I was conceived, and it was impossible for me to not be more powerful with their combined bloodlines. From the day I was born, it had already been determined that I would be given to the Earth Prince for marriage. His parents had been slaughtered by Deimas and Esmeray like the other royals had been, but he was older than Sorin was when it had happened. He was in a much better position to take over ruling his Court and did so without thought or question. Queen Henna, and later Queen Eliné, had to do little advising to him.

“However, when my power began manifesting at age eleven, it was fire, pure and strong, and my mother’s husband realized that he was obviously not my father. She had had an affair with a male from the Fire Court, whom she believed was her twin flame, but they were too afraid to undergo the Trials. I still don’t know who he is to this day, but instead of my powers being unparalleled earth magic, they are fire. My fire magic is second only to Sorin’s.”

Scarlett’s mouth fell open a little at the revelation. She had seen Eliza use her flames here and there, but had no idea she was that powerful. “When my mother’s husband learned the truth, he slit her throat in front of me. Then he gave me this Mark,” she said, pointing to the whorl of ink directly over her heart. “It prevents me from bearing children. He told me he’d rather die than have any more of his relations with a drop of Fire Court blood in their veins. He dropped me over the border of the Fire Court and left me to fend for myself or die. There has long been tension between the Fire and Earth Courts. This only added to the hostility between them.”