Page 42 of Lady of Starfire (Lady of Darkness #5)

Talwyn

F ucking bars.

Again.

They had waited in that room in the cliffs until the seraph had returned to report that Scarlett and her company had indeed left the Southern Islands.

Alaric did not acknowledge her the entire time.

Briar stood next to her but also did not speak.

When Mordecai had returned, he’d taken her arm, and they’d all gone down to the beach where Alaric had immediately Traveled them out.

Then the seraph had escorted her down here while Briar had been taken elsewhere.

Talwyn tipped her head back against the wall of the dungeon she was once again sitting in.

Not in Windonelle. No, this time she was graced with the Water Court cells.

Musty, dank, and cold, the mist of the sea seemed to seep into her clothing.

Shirastone shackles were still on her wrists, but they didn’t burn.

Not anymore. Not without magic in her veins that would react to the stone.

The open cuts and bruises from the nightstone shackles were still there though.

She’d heal as a mortal now. She turned her hands over, the slices along her palms scabbed over but still red and raw.

At least she was in clean clothing, she supposed, and she’d had a bath.

Her eyes fell closed at the memory. The only bit of warmth her soul could cling to right now, and even that was bittersweet.

Azrael had been holding her tightly to his chest when Sorin had told him to take her to his rooms. She had heard him, heard Azrael’s roar when she had started screaming.

The pain of having her magic ripped from her being nearly overpowered the agony at knowing what price she was forcing him to pay alongside her.

She’d figured it out during her many hours behind bars. Finally saw what had been right in front of her all this time. What she’d been too lost in anger and grief and hurt to see.

What Tarek had taken advantage of.

She hadn’t been wrong. Not entirely. She’d felt a twin flame bond. But it hadn’t been Tarek.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.

Azrael still clutched her to him as he began filling a tub with hot water.

He didn’t answer. Didn’t say anything as he peeled her grimy and sweat-drenched clothes from her body before helping her into the tub. With a care she was certain no one else had ever seen, he washed her hair for her, rinsing it thoroughly.

It was when he was wiping dried blood from her skin that he said, “I wanted you to be happy, Talwyn.” His voice was low and soft, just as gentle as he was being while he washed away traces of the last several weeks.

“And if he … When you came to me, you were so lost. You were hurting. You felt abandoned and betrayed, and after all of that, all you had endured, I just wanted you to experience happiness. True happiness. And you did. With him. For a little while, at least. I could feel it. I wasn’t about to take that away from you. ”

“You chose me,” she whispered.

“I have always chosen you. Even when choosing you meant having to step back and let you choose your own path. Perhaps I should have—”

“I wouldn’t have listened,” she interrupted, sinking further beneath the water. It was the first time she’d been warm in ages.

“I know,” he replied. He was kneeling beside the tub, arms resting atop the edge and water dripping from his hands.

A somber silence fell as all that could have been hung between them.

“When did you know?” Talwyn asked, barely audible.

“Not right away,” he answered. “I began suspecting some months after you had appeared at the Alcazar. We had not spent much time alone together before then. After that day, though, we spent nearly every day together. But if you are asking if I knew before I found you on that veranda with Tarek the first time, the answer is yes.”

She nodded, letting the quiet engulf them again.

When she was finally ready to get out of the bath, Az helped her out and wrapped a towel around her shoulders before using another to wring the water from her hair.

He tossed the damp towel aside when he was done.

One hand on the nape of her neck, his other came up to cup her cheek, tilting her face up to his.

“I am sorry, Talwyn. I should have protected you from so much.”

“Why is everyone apologizing to me for the consequences of my actions?” she replied, searching his brown eyes. “I am sorry, Az. For making you endure watching me with another. For not …” A tear slipped free. “I am sorry. For all of it.”

He gathered her close, towel and all. His chin rested atop her wet hair as she let more tears fall. “You didn’t have to do this, Talwyn,” he murmured. “You know that, right?”

She pulled back, looking into his eyes once more.

“I did, Az. I could have stood there. I could have stayed silent. I could have let everything stay the same and committed the same sins I have been committing for decades. Or we could change one thing that will hopefully contribute to some good. I have to believe that giving this up was worth something. Right?”

Her tone was almost desperate as she spoke. She needed him to tell her this had been the right choice. That she had done something right. She needed him to tell her he understood why.

“The fate of this world is more important than what we could have been. Things could stay the same, or we could be part of changing it all,” she added.

His thumbs swiped across her cheeks, wiping away tears as he brought his brow to hers. “I love you, Talwyn Semiria,” he said, and her heart was both healed and broken all at once with those words. “I do not need any type of bond to choose you.”

Azrael walked her out to his bedchamber, where he pulled one of his tunics from the armoire and slipped it over her head. Then he led her to the bed. She crawled under the blankets, and he slid in beside her, pulling her back against his chest.

“Know that while I understand why, I wish you were not going back to Alaric,” Az murmured into her hair.

She swallowed thickly. “I know, Az.”

“So much could go wrong.”

Vulnerable. He was never vulnerable, but his being so now made this moment all the more intimate.

She twisted in his hold so she was facing him across the pillows.

Reaching up, she slid her fingers into his hair.

“We will see each other again. We might not survive this war, but I will see you again. And maybe then—” Her voice cracked, her words getting caught in her throat.

“Maybe then we can have what should have been.”

He kissed her then. Soft and tender and full of the sorrow that was consuming them both.

She’d slept, a sense of safety she hadn’t felt since the last time she’d shared a bed with Azrael falling over her despite what she would face mere hours later.

He’d helped her dress when the messenger had come to his door to tell them their party would be leaving in thirty minutes’ time.

A courtesy of the others to not come themselves, but to give them these private moments together.

She didn’t know if they’d figured it out or not, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

He’d watched while she’d braided her hair back, no longer able to simply summon her leathers and weapons and be ready to face whatever came for her.

That would take some getting used to. He’d passed her a leather band to tie off her hair, and then they’d walked side-by-side to the entrance hall.

Azrael hadn’t acknowledged anyone else, and when it had been time for her to go, he’d taken her face between his hands and looked into her eyes.

“You can do this, Talwyn. Magic was not all that made you powerful. You are not weak. Do you understand?”

She’d reached up and gently pulled his hands from her face. “Meet me on the battlefield, Prince.”

He’d held her gaze as the nightstone was put back onto her wrists.

His eyes were still fixed on hers when she’d been pulled through the air to a humid beach on the Southern Islands.

Cassius had escorted her until they were outside the cliffs and the archway was appearing after Rayner had summoned it with the brand beneath his skin.

As she was handed off to Rayner, Scarlett had cleared her throat.

“I don’t know that I can ever like you, Talwyn Semiria, but thank you.

For what you did for Sorin,” she’d said curtly, tugging down the sleeve of her witchsuit to her wrist. Her twin flame Mark was covered with gloves due to the room they would be in not allowing for glamours.

She’d lifted her eyes to Talwyn. “For what you have sacrificed and what you are doing now, thank you.”

Talwyn hadn’t said anything. There wasn’t anything to say anymore.

She’d been entirely focused on her task, and now here she sat, waiting to see what would happen next.

When would Alaric realize Scarlett had once again tricked him?

When he did, Talwyn knew the odds of her surviving his wrath were slim.

Knew the probability of seeing Azrael or Ashtine again on this side of the Veil was unlikely, and she’d made peace with that.

She hoped she’d done enough. She hoped she’d made enough of a difference to matter.

It had been nearly three days since the exchange.

Something would happen soon. She could feel it in her gut, so she wasn’t surprised when two seraphs appeared outside her cell a few hours later and escorted her to Alaric.

She sat at a table, the Maraan Prince not sparing her a glance as he pored over a map spread out before him.

“Fae Queen,” Nuri greeted with a mocking bow when she appeared in the doorway taking a bite from an apple.

“Do you even need food?” Talwyn asked sharply.

Nuri paused, the apple halfway from her mouth in her gloved hand. “Do you need those shackles?” When Talwyn narrowed her eyes, Death’s Shadow only laughed, tossing the apple to her. “If you wanted a bite, all you needed to do was ask.”