Page 23 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

Eliza

T here was a soft knock on the door, and Eliza looked up from her book as Azrael entered the room.

“How is she?”

“Sleeping,” Eliza answered. “Alaric had her for a while. The early months of pregnancy are hard enough, and she has been by herself and then with him.” She paused, trying to find the words. “It has taken its toll on her,” she finally finished.

She would know. She had been with child three different times, and she had done it by herself too. While she had never made it as far into her pregnancies as Ashtine was, she had gone through the first few months before the curse took those lives from her.

“Rayner needs to speak with you,” Azrael said after a moment. “I came to stay with her so you could go to him.” His eyes darted to the door of the bedchamber. “I assume Sawyer is in there.”

Eliza nodded. “Last I checked he was sleeping on the sofa.”

“Go. I will stay. Rayner is in his rooms.”

Eliza closed her book, tucking it under her arm as she got to her feet. She snagged her boots from near the door, carrying them with her rather than putting them back on. Trudging down the hall in her stockinged feet, she did not bother to knock when she came to Rayner’s rooms next to hers.

He was standing before the fire, a glass of amber liquid in his hand. He glanced up at her before flicking his wrist. A swirl of ashes carried a glass of wine from a side table to her. She dropped her boots by the door and sent her book to a pocket realm in a burst of flames.

“Tula?” she asked, taking a sip of the wine.

“Sleeping in the bedchamber.”

“You let the tiny child sleep in the giant bed while you take the sofa?” she asked, arching a brow.

Rayner simply shrugged and took a drink of his liquor.

“Are you going to the Fire Court?” she asked, moving to stand beside him while she swirled her glass of wine.

“Not until Tula is back in Avonleya, across the sea with Sorin and Scarlett.”

Eliza looked up at him incredulously. “Rayner, we need to know who we are dealing with.”

“I know this, Eliza,” he answered. “But most of my connections are in hiding. I will need to do this myself.”

“So go do it.”

“I will not leave her here alone.”

“Stellan and Arianna will not hurt her,” Eliza said, rolling her eyes.

“No, but they will fight to keep her.”

Eliza’s lips pursed as she watched his fingers flex around his glass, swirling eyes fixed on the fire. He was always quiet and stoic, the voice of reason, but she never forgot what prowled beneath his skin.

“They will not do anything while we are here,” she tried again. “This is necessary—”

“What is necessary is keeping her safe,” he snarled, rounding on her. “Stop being na?ve, Eliza.”

She bit her tongue to keep from snapping back with a scathing reply. The last thing they needed was division among themselves right now. They were both worn out and on edge.

“You know as well as I do they have people watching our every move. It is the same thing I do when visitors come to the Fire Palace,” he finally went on, his tone terse as he worked to keep control. “The moment they have an opportunity to claim her, they will.”

“Arianna will not alienate herself from Sorin,” Eliza argued.

“She will not give a fuck. Not when it comes to protecting one of their own. You know they have their own charters here. I want Tula out of this territory before they can invoke them.”

“Rayner,” she started slowly, knowing that she was toeing a very dangerous line. “Maybe it would be better if—”

“I swear to Anala, Eliza. If you are about to say it would be better for her to be raised among her own kind …” He trailed off, leaving the threat open-ended.

“For fuck’s sake, Rayner! She is not Breya. She is not Aravis,” Eliza said, exasperated with this entire conversation.

Ashes fluttered from his hand as he slowly raised his glass to his lips, holding her stare. He didn’t say a word, and she knew she had lost him. He would not discuss this further. Not anymore tonight.

She set her half-empty glass of wine off to the side, wrapping her arms around herself. “If Ashtine cannot leave the continent, someone needs to stay with her. Sawyer will not be enough.”

“Agreed.”

“They will need Azrael for battle strategies and planning as he is a prince and knows the Wind and Earth Courts best, and you need to go back for …obvious reasons. I will stay with her. You two can go back tomorrow. Take Callan with you.”

“And Razik?”

“What of him?”

“You are his Source.”

“I am well aware,” she grumbled.

“What else are you?”

She glared at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You have been hiding in your quarters to avoid answering questions about this,” he said, swirling his glass, ice clinking together. “You have been avoiding all of us.”

“There is nothing to talk about.”

“Nothing to talk about?” he repeated incredulously. “Did you think this through at all?”

“Of course I did.”

“You did? What is the plan, then? You will stay with him in Avonleya when this is all over?”

“What? No.” Her lip curled at the idea. “I will go home to the Fire Court.”

“You are his Source, Eliza. You will need to be near him at all times. He is Cethin’s Hand. He will need to be in Avonleya.”

“He can Travel. He can come to me when he needs to.”

“And if his power is too drained to do so? What then?”

“He will need to plan for such things.”

“Eliza,” he deadpanned.

“This is none of your business, Rayner.”

“It is my business. It is Sorin’s business because there is a very good chance you will need to challenge for the Fire Court throne.”

She jerked back from him. “What? No,” she said, shaking her head in denial. “Sorin lives. He has not abdicated—”

“And he no longer has any power. If whoever is running the Court right now challenges him, he will lose. There is no question. You are now the most powerful Fire Fae. Surely you have thought of this.”

Her arms tightened around herself, eyes darting away from him. She hadn’t let herself think about it. She did not wish to rule. She was perfectly content leading Sorin’s forces as his general.

“And then what will you do, Eliza? How will you balance being both the Fire Court Princess and the Source of a powerful Avonleyan?” he went on.

“Don’t be stupid. I’m not going to be the Fire Court Princess,” she snapped.

Rayner fell silent, knocking back the last of his drink.

For several minutes, the only sounds were the crackling logs in the fire.

Eliza just wanted to get out of here. Go back to her own rooms and curl up with her book.

Escape to places where she did not need to contemplate such things.

As much as she loved reading, it was a necessity as much as it was for enjoyment.

“What do you want me to tell Sorin?” he finally asked.

“Tell him whatever you want.”

He sighed. She knew she was in a mood now. Rayner did too.

“Get some sleep, Eliza,” he said, setting his empty glass down on the side table before he disappeared into the bathing chamber, shutting the door behind him.

She stalked out of the room and past her own guest chambers.

There was no way she could sleep right now.

Not after all the things he’d just filled her head with.

She wouldn’t be able to concentrate on reading either.

She would love to go into a sparring ring, but Rayner wouldn’t spar with her.

That would require leaving Tula alone. And they weren’t at home, so it wasn’t as if she could find an off-duty warrior to spar with either.

Which left sword meditation. She hadn’t done it since Nakoa had died, mainly because he had been the one to teach it to her.

A series of precise movements with a sword, specific body positions held for an extended period of time, and a concentration on breathing, the practice demanded all of her attention.

It left no room for her focus to stray or she would lose her balance, which wasn’t ideal while holding a sword.

Nakoa had taken over her training when she’d surpassed all those in the Fire Court armies.

Most of the soldiers in Sorin’s armies had come to accept her as one of their own.

She’d more than earned their respect, but there were a few—some top commanders—who were still passive aggressive with her to this day.

More than once, she’d had to put them in their place.

The first few times, Sorin had been pissed, and she’d had to stop him from going down there himself.

Cyrus had been the one to finally convince him she needed to handle it herself.

That they would never truly respect her if Sorin stepped in and did this for her.

But that had always been Sorin’s nature.

Fiercely protective of his people, and overprotective of his family.

Just like Scarlett. They were the perfect rulers for the Fire Court. Not her.

Eliza crossed a stone patio, nodding at the small lynx that sat up at her approach. The shifter’s luminous eyes watched her, but it made no movement of acknowledgment. She was sure there was an avian shifter flying around as well that would report her movements to Stellan.

She walked until she was at least half a mile out into the desert before she slipped her socks off.

The sand was freezing beneath her bare feet, and she tossed some flames to the side, creating a good-sized fire that radiated with heat.

She pulled her spirit sword from another burst of flames and planted her feet, inhaling deeply.

The cool night air filled her lungs, the stars looking on from above.

She tightened her grip on her sword, and her eyes fell closed as she slid one foot out and raised her arms, controlling her exhale, forcing everything from her mind but her movement and her breathing.