Lady of Shadows (Lady of Darkness, #2)

by Melissa K. Roehrich

and the look on Sorin’s face when he’d seen her would forever be etched in her memory. How he had stilled. How his eyes had swept her up and down. Twice. How, when he finally began moving again and reached her side, her toes had curled when he had whispered directly into her ear, “You shall start rumors tonight in that dress, Princess.”

She didn’t even need her cloak, and Sorin had sent it to whatever pocket between the realms where he stored everything else it seemed.

“I am not your soulmate, Scarlett.” “Because you were my mother’s?” “No. You can actually have more than one soulmate, but I am not yours.” He paused a moment before he added, “Cassius, however, is your soulmate.”

But the way Sorin was looking at her, as if she were the only person in the room, despite the chaos and revelry going on around him, she allowed herself to peel back the outer most layers of whatever it was they were. She allowed herself to entertain the idea of letting herself love him, the one who always came for her. The one who let her work through things. The one who knew every secret her heart held. The one who did not fear her darkness.

“My dear Scarlett, I have done nothing but think about all the uses I could find for that tongue since the day I watched you spar with Cassius in that training barracks. It has really been quite distracting.” And it was her turn to still. “Then,” he continued, his breath hot in her ear, “I thought of all the things I could do with my tongue.”

She was done. She was done flirting. She was done keeping him at arm’s length. She was done. “Sorin,” she ground out, “let’s go.” A slow smile spread across his face as he leaned in even closer, so that his mouth was right next to her ear. She could feel his lips brush the shell of it as he whispered, “As ravenous as this dress makes me for you, Princess, not tonight.” She actually groaned. Out loud. “Why?” He didn’t move, still whispering into her ear, “Because, Scarlett Monrhoe, you are drunk on wine.” She started to protest, but he continued over her. “And the first time I take you, I want you completely aware of every single way I worship you.”

“Love, if I came home with you now, I would go back on everything I just said.” “Then come home,” she purred.

She took those shadows and slammed them into her fire, producing a wall of impassable shadowfire in front of the bedroom door.

“Yes, she is your Queen, but what am I?” Sorin froze, and when his eyes fixed upon her this time, they were flames. He stalked back to her and a trail of fire was left in his wake. As he reached her, a column of flames erupted around them, and Scarlett forced herself to quiet the surprised cry that rose up inside of her. She had known he was powerful. She had known he was the Prince of Fire for months now, but he had never displayed it at this level, not even in the face of Talwyn. Flames of red and gold and wildfire blue snaked through his hair and rose from his fingertips. He seemed to almost be floating on flames.

He gripped her chin roughly, forcing her eyes up. When she finally met his gaze, he spoke again. His voice was just as lethal, but the edge had softened a touch. “You are mine, and I am yours, but what are you to me? What am I to you?” “I don’t know,” she snapped. “We must suddenly define something so undefinable?” “When you decide what you are, I will accept your choices. But until then, when my Queen summons me, I must go. I do not have a choice.”

“He doesn’t have a choice, Scarlett. Not until—”

She had found two other books down there in the Old Language. Translations. They were translations of the other language, and she had indeed been teaching herself how to read it,

She was tall and young. She looked like a mortal in her early twenties. Her features were sharp and angular. She had long brown hair that was braided down her back, and she wore a black suit of some sort with leathers over the top. Scarlett could see the sword strapped to her back, peeking over the woman’s shoulder underneath the cloak she wore. Her skin was golden brown, but her eyes were a deep shade of violet as she pierced Scarlett with her stare.

“The panther brought you here? You did not come on your own?” Scarlett didn’t know if she should answer. She didn’t know if she should do anything. Shirina decided for her with a nod of her head. “I see,” the woman answered. Looking Scarlett up and down, she added, “You best come change, your Majesty. You cannot see the Oracle looking like that, even if you are a Queen.”

Those violet eyes glared back at her, just as wicked as this whole damn realm felt. “I am Hazel Hecate, the High Witch.”

Without her taking the Mark and acknowledging the bond, she is not considered your highest priority,”

“Sorin, she is our family, too. She is our prince’s twin flame. Rayner will not fail you,” Cryus replied. Then he added softly, “And she will forgive you. The bond is stronger than the fights. At least it was for me and Thia.”

just as a swirl of smoke appeared in the reflection of the mirror behind her near the hearth and Rayner stepped from ashes. His eyes settled on her, relief flooding them as they scanned her for injuries. “Are you hurt?” he asked, his low voice thick with worry. “No,” Scarlett answered, tilting her head to the side as she watched him in the mirror. “How did you find me?” “Sorin sent me,” Rayner answered, coming to stand beside her. He reached over and tightened a buckle at her shoulder. “How did he know where to find me?” Ignoring her question, Rayner asked, “Does anyone know you are here? Have you been spotted?”

Rayner caught her by the waist as she tripped over a fallen branch, and she threw him an appreciative glance. Once he had steadied her, a plume of smoke appeared before them and from it he drew the same sword that Eliza had summoned for her in the courtyard the day Talwyn had appeared there. “Here,” he said, handing it to Scarlett. “Eliza sent this for you.”

Scarlett looked to Shirina, who was now sitting beside the cave mouth, her tail switching behind her. The panther gave a slight nod of its head,

“You would wait for permission from a male?” “No. I mean—” Scarlett started, stumbling over her words. “Is he your keeper?” the High Witch snarled. “I do not have a keeper,” Scarlett bit back. “Are you someone’s subject? Someone’s property? Someone’s pet?” “No,” Scarlett growled from between her teeth. “Your Spirit Animal brought you here. The Oracle does not often take visitors.

“You are a Queen. You do not need permission to do anything and certainly not from a male. You make the choices that will affect you and your people, and you make them without regret. You choose, and you handle the consequences, whatever they may be. You do not look back, only forward. Now make your choice.”

She didn’t know what she had expected to see or what the Oracle would be, but she did not expect what stood before her as the passageway opened up forming a wide circular cavern. In the center of the room stood a woman. Stood Juliette. She was barefoot, her feet dirty from the dirt floor of the cave, and she wore her black tunic and pants. The same clothing she wore on the nights they were dispatched to take care of the worst of the worst. Her hands were clasped lightly before her. Not real, Scarlett told herself. She was not really standing before her. That was impossible. But Scarlett could not take another step into the room. Her breathing grew ragged, her chest tight. “Hello, sister,” the Oracle said, her voice soft.

“Juliette is dead.” “Am I?” she asked, with a tilt of her head. “Yes. I stabbed you in the heart myself. I watched the life leave your eyes. It’s haunted me, whether I am sleeping or awake.” “You merely released me from my mortal body. My essence lives on,” the Oracle said, taking a step towards her. “I came here. To wait for you. To see you.” “How? How is that possible?” Scarlett whispered, her voice cracking. “Blood magic,” Juliette said grimly. “Powerful, ancient blood magic.” “You knew I would come here? How?” Scarlett asked, unable to hide the shock and surprise in her voice. “I am a Witch, Scarlett,” Juliette answered. “I am a powerful Seer. I saw what you are to become. I had originally thought it meant you were to be a queen beside Callan. It is why I tried to push you towards such a path. But then I had more and more visions. And now…”

“You were made for such a time as this, sister,” Juliette said, reaching out and grasping Scarlett’s hands with her own, repeating wo...

“No. I am not a queen. I was not made for a throne.” “Then what are you?” “What?” “Then what are you?” Juliette repeated, her amber eyes fixed on Scarlett’s orbs of icy blue. “What kind of question is that?” Scarlett demanded. “If you are not a queen, if you are not to car...

“Mikale has come for me. Over and over. Last time, I nearly went with him. Sorin and Briar think he was entrancing me, but he wasn’t, Juliette. I was not under some Night Child spell. A part of me thought it would be easier—”

“Mikale is not of whom I speak, my friend. I speak of the one who comes for you. I speak of the one who came for you before he even knew who you were. I speak of the one who has searched for you since the dawn of time.” “You speak as if I have a twin flame,” Scarlett scoffed.

“You will reside here now? Forever? What of the previous Oracle?” “Those are secrets I am not allowed to reveal, even to a queen of the realm,” Juliette replied quietly.

“I have been terrified. To let myself love him,” she whispered into the darkness of the cave. “I have been terrified that someday his twin flame would come for him, and I would lose him forever. As I have lost you.” “He has proven himself to you. Over and over again. He will always come for you. He will always catch you.”

“He knows? How long has he known?” “He bears the Mark, yes?” Juliette asked, holding up her left hand, showing Scarlett the back side. The Mark. The unfinished tattoo on his hand. “He is— I did not know…” Scarlett trailed off. “Of course you knew, Scarlett. There is a difference between knowing and acknowledging. Just as there is a difference in your knowing and acknowledging your purpose in this world.”

You think he broke you, and maybe he did. But look at what rose from those ashes. Look at the strength, at the power, at the beauty of those shadows and that darkness on your soul.”

“Talwyn is not as she appears,” Juliette replied with a knowing smile, “but, like you, she cannot complete her tasks alone. Like you, she has done what she has needed to survive. In the end though, you will need each other.”

“Because I do not know who I am any more!” Scarlett cried. “How can I lead an entire kingdom if I do not even know who I am? How can people be loyal to a queen who doesn’t know her own self?”

“My mortal death started a chain reaction you have yet to discover, but there were plans in motion long before we entered this world.

Scarlett fixed her eyes on Juliette’s, on those beautiful amber eyes. She felt the ice and flames swirling as one in her own eyes. “I am someone who has faced the darkness and found the beauty it had to offer. I am someone who can create stars in the void when the light has gone out. I am someone who cares for those the realms have forgotten. I am someone who can bring beauty from brutal ashes. I am a fucking Queen.”

“The cave is just an entrance,” Juliette said with a wink. “So where are we actually, then?” Scarlett asked as she made to move to the windows. “That is not to be revealed to you right now,” Juliette answered, striding for the glass table.

“You are the daughter of two powerful beings who sacrificed much to save our world,” Juliette said, as if reciting a lesson. “Now a king returns to take the throne, and all the worlds hold their breath as the stage is set.” “Wait, two powerful beings? You know who my father was?” Scarlett asked, coming to a halt beside Juliette. “I know much, Scarlett. Things I cannot reveal to you, but I can guide you to the truth.” “Why can you not just tell me?”

“Your answers lie across the seas, sister. In a land locked away by ancient magic.” “Avonleya?” “Indeed. The Fae Queens hid keys. If found and used, the keys will allow the bearer to enter the land.” Juliette turned to face Scarlett once more. Her face was all business now, like it would get when they were planning missions. “You are the only one who can find the keys. It is why you were kept hidden. It is part of the reason you are considered a weapon.”

seven keys, and her daughter can restore them. Eliné entrusted one to each bloodline. Queen Selinya hid the other two, but you can find them.”

“Before you leave here, tell the High Witch that you are the one she has been waiting for.”

“A child of each possesses them on a chain of wind-kissed stone,” Juliette answered.

“The Oracles have long been outside of any reigning power’s jurisdiction, but they have always had a strong relationship with Eliné.”

“I will give you three gifts before you leave today. One, regarding the keys, you will find that the keys have always been trying to get home.” “What does that mean?” Scarlett ground out from between her teeth, “Two,” Juliette said with a smile. “An Artist must give you the twin flame Mark.”

You would definitely want a highly skilled Artist for that Mark…unless you know an all-powerful Seer.” The wicked glint in her eyes sparked a star to life in Scarlett’s chest. “You can give me the Mark?” “If you are choosing it. If you are accepting the bond that has always existed there, yes. It would be my honor to give you the Mark, especially since it will save his life.”

“When he took that Mark without a companion Mark, he took a great risk. Because there is no companion for that offering to latch on to, it drains his own magical reserves. When those are gone, it will begin to drain his very life force. Sending the Ash Rider to you cost the Prince of Fire greatly.”

She saw the flames that surrounded the edges of her being. The flames were warm and safe. The flames were home. She placed a mental hand against the flames. She felt them struggle as if someone were trying to keep them lit. I’m okay, she whispered gently to the flames. I’m safe. The flames sputtered, and she sucked them into her palms.

And then she saw it. She saw an endless abyss of power. Her power. Golden flames and ice and water and ashes swirled in it, but also glittering white flames of pure white. And shadows. Her shadows danced and flitted among it all. Unending. Unrelenting. Wild and vast and deep. The deepest recesses of her own self. Beyond herself even.

“The third gift…” Scarlett swallowed. Juliette smiled. “By finally accepting who you are as a whole, the light and the dark, by not trying to cage parts of yourself, you will find your magic is a song in your very blood, sister. You will find the control you have sought for months. N...

“One last thing, your Majesty.” Scarlett turned back to Juliette, who was standing near a window, looking out. “Those who can walk among the worlds brought a book with them in the beginning. You would do well to find it.”