Page 14

Chapter 14

Scarlett

S carlett hoisted herself up the rungs as she climbed the main mast of the ship. They had spent the morning on Briar’s ship paying respects to the fallen. She had learned that Fae are not entombed the way the mortals entomb their dead. No, the Fae give their bodies back to the element that ran through their veins when they crossed the Veil to the After. The body is burned, and then the ashes are offered up to the god of their element in a ceremony they call The Farewell. And while she had watched as the Fire Fae had worked to carefully burn the bodies of the thirty-two Fae warriors they had lost, she hadn’t been able to help. Panic had wrapped its icy claws around her chest, leaving her unable to move, scarcely able to breathe as she watched them continue to burn those of the ?re element until even their ashes were nothing. Because that had almost been Sorin. She’d nearly lost the contents of her stomach as Azrael carefully stored the ashes of the Earth Fae to be scattered among the soil whenever they reached dry ground again. And when Briar had released the ashes of the Water Fae, of Nakoa, back to the sea, she couldn’t keep the tears from spilling over any longer. She’d paid homage and respect to those Fae who had given their lives to protect her own, to protect the innocents, to protect their home.

She wanted to go and hide in her quarters with Sorin beside her, escape to the place where it was just him and her, where everything going on around them couldn’t seem to touch them. She wanted to lose herself in him, remind herself that she wasn’t watching his ashes burn away to nothing to return to Anala. But as much as she wanted to do that, this needed to be done more.

She reached the top of the mast, climbing onto the lookout platform where a female sat with her legs dangling over the edge. Her red-gold hair was unbound, blowing in the breeze, weapons discarded on the small platform beside her. Her grey eyes were ?xed on the sea, the same direction Briar had released the ashes of the Water Fae.

Scarlett moved silently, lowering down beside her. She reached over, grasping her hand and intertwining their ?ngers. Eliza rested her head against her shoulder without a word. Scarlett reached up with her other hand, smoothing her friend’s hair back before resting her cheek against the top of her head.

The Farewell was the ?rst time she’d seen the general since the battle. She’d watched Eliza through her tear-?lled eyes. Watched her keep her composure as she used her ?ames to light the pyre around Nakoa’s shrouded body, the Water Court at her side. Watched her bottom lip tremble the smallest amount. Watched her ?ght back the tears but didn’t let a single one fall as she said her goodbye to a teacher, a fellow general, a friend, a lover.

She didn’t know how deep her feelings went for the Water Commander. She knew that when Eliza had surpassed all the instructors in the Fire Court, Nakoa had taken over her training, helping her hone her skills into what they were now. She knew they often trained the Fire and Water Court armies together. She knew they often shared a bed, that Eliza had spent more nights on Briar’s ship with him than she did on their own ship these past few weeks.

Knew she’d been in his room since the battle that day. “What do you need?” Scarlett asked softly.

“Just this.”

She squeezed Eliza’s hand, then settled in beside her, to sit in her darkness for as long as she needed.