A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire 1)

He looked over his shoulder at me. “Are you prophetic?”

I snorted.

A faint smile returned as he focused ahead. “It has what it needs.”

A desk and chairs were all that was needed. But if he were anything like a mortal ruler, I knew a lot of his time was likely spent in such chambers. I thought of the glass figurines lining my stepfather’s office walls. Or had. Were they still there, or had Mother removed them?

Ash continued on to another alcove and opened the double doors. “This is the library.”

A light turned on as Ash walked inside the large chamber, casting a buttery glow across the rows and rows of books lining the walls. They went from the floor to the ceiling, the top shelves only accessible by a rolling ladder that traveled across some sort of track along the top shelves. In the center of the room I saw the only hint of real color I’d seen so far in the palace. Two long couches were situated across from each other, each the color of deep crimson. There appeared to be two portraits above several lit candles along the back wall, but they were too far away for me to make out any detail.

“That is a lot of books.” I drifted to the left. Many of the spines were covered in a fine layer of dust.

“Most belonged to my father. Some my mother.” Ash had moved to the center of the room, watching me as I made my way around the shelves. “There’s not a lot of…stimulating reading material. Most are ledgers, but toward the back, there are a few novels I believe my mother collected.” There was a pause. “Do you like to read?”

I nodded, glancing over at him. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “Do you?”

“When I was younger, yes.”

“But not now?” I pulled my gaze away from him. Some of the spines had language on them that I couldn’t even begin to decipher.

“The escape that reading once provided has sadly faded,” he said, and I turned to him, about to ask what he sought to escape, when he spoke again. “You may help yourself to the library whenever you’d like.”

I nodded, eyeing him. “I’m not sure what part of that made you believe I would throw sharp objects at you.”

That half-smile returned. “It’s this part. You’re free to move about the palace and its grounds as you wish, but there are conditions.”

“Rules?” I clarified.

“Agreements,” he amended.

“I do not know how you can call them agreements when I haven’t agreed to anything,” I pointed out.

“True. I suppose I hope they will become that.”

“And if I don’t agree?”

“Then I guess they will be rules that you won’t enjoy.”

My eyes narrowed. “What are these conditions?”

“The first hopeful agreement is that you’re free to go anyplace within the palace and on the grounds, as I said, but you are not to enter the Red Woods without me with you.”

That surprised me. “I would’ve assumed you would tell me not to enter the Dying Woods because of the Shades.”

An eyebrow rose. “I see someone has been talking.”

I shrugged.

He clasped his hands behind his back. “Sometimes, Shades find their way into the Red Woods. It is not often,” he explained.

I was glad to hear that since there appeared to be no wall between the Red Woods and the palace. “So, why can I only enter them with you? Does your presence keep the Shades away?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

Once again, I thought about his reaction when I’d walked into his back. “Were you injured when you were wrangling them? I’ve heard they can bite.”

“Someone really has been talking,” he remarked. “They do bite, and they do claw.”

A shiver crawled down my spine. “Can their bites pierce your skin?”

“My skin is not impenetrable, as you know.”

I rolled my eyes. “It was a shadowstone dagger.”

“Sharp objects, whether they be teeth or daggers, can pierce my skin and the skin of a god.”

“Is that what happened to your back?” I drifted closer.

He didn’t answer for a long moment. “It was.”

“And why hasn’t it healed?”

“You have a lot of questions.”

“So?”

A faint smile appeared. “Do we have an agreement?” Ash countered.

“You haven’t told me why I cannot enter them without you.”

His eyes met mine. “Because you’d likely die if you did.”

“Oh.” I blinked. “What else is in—?”

“The second agreement is that you can enter the city if you wish,” he went on, and I snapped my mouth shut. “But only after I have introduced you as my Consort. And if you have an escort.”

“I have more questions.”

Ash’s stare was bland. “Of course, you do.”

“Why must I wait until I am introduced as your Consort?”

“All mortals who call the Shadowlands and Lethe their home have my protection. But even the protection of a Primal can only go so far. Gods from other Courts can and do enter Lethe. As my Consort, any god or Primal would be extremely foolish to mess with you. Even those who like to push,” he explained. “But until then, you will only be seen as another mortal.”