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“No.”
“And what was your reward for being her source of information?” Eliza asked. Callan just stared at her, holding her gaze. “Ah, a guessing game it shall be then.” She tapped her chin as if thinking long and hard. “Considering everything you’ve done since your arrival here has revolved around Scarlett, I’m going to guess it has something to do with her. Did she offer to help give you a private moment with her?”
“No,” Callan said through gritted teeth.
“Did she offer to send you back to your mortal lands and deliver her there?”
“No.”
“I don’t have time to guess all day, Princeling,” Eliza said, her tone going cold. “You can either tell me what happened, or Sorin will come to extract it himself.”
“I am not afraid of him,” Callan snapped. That was a godsdamn lie. He was terrified of the prince.
“You should be,” Eliza said, a cruel smile spreading across her face. “Our methods of obtaining information are most unpleasant, and because this has to do withher, he will use whatever means necessary.”
“He loves her?” Callan asked.
“I think you know the answer to that.”
Callan bristled inwardly at the answer. “Does she return the sentiment?”
Eliza paused, studying him carefully. “We all have our suspicions and opinions on that, but the truth remains to be seen,” she finally answered.
“Tell me your best guess,” Callan challenged.
“It is not my place. Tell me what she told you.”
“She did not tell me anything. She gave me access to a book for a few hours, which I spent all night reading.”
“What sort of book?” Eliza asked, her brows rising in surprise.
“A book of Fae customs and history,” Callan answered. The shock and adrenaline of the day’s events were wearing off, and exhaustion was sinking in. He crossed to the liquor cart in their sitting room, pouring himself a knuckle’s length of whiskey.
“Was that your asking price?” Eliza asked, watching him carefully.
“No. I asked her if Fae royalty were required to marry royalty and nobility as is custom in the mortal lands. From the little bit I’ve been able to observe since being here, the lands seem similar in that at least.”
Eliza noticeably stiffened at his words. “They can be,” she replied slowly.
“Instead of giving me a straight answer, which seems to be a common Fae trait, she pulled a book from the air and told me it was mine to peruse until she returned me here.” He took a sip of the alcohol.
“And what did you learn?”
“I learned that marriages are often arranged between powerful bloodlines to breed power into the royalty.”
“Did that ease your worry of their relationship?”
Callan clenched his jaw, a muscle feathering in it. “Not particularly, since it has been hinted that her own bloodline is powerful. Is that not why Mikale wants her? Is that why Sorin wants her?”
Eliza bared her teeth at him and a growl left her throat. “Careful, Princeling,” she warned. “What else did you learn?”
“I learned that Fae believe there are bonds between souls and that two in particular surpass any other type of relationship.”
“And…?”
“And that while Sorin has the twin flame Mark on his left hand, Scarlett does not.” When he had read those particular pages, he had sunk to the couch in his small room in relief. The twin flame bond took precedence over anything and everything. It was a bond deeper than marriage, deeper than love. It was an inexplicable union of the souls that persisted beyond death. The Marks were taken together, though. “Who is his twin flame then?”
Eliza’s eyes hardened. “That is not for me to say, especially since you seem so willing to divulge information to Queen Talwyn. If she knew that sort of information, she could use it against him.”
