Page 108 of The Sorrow of Shadows

“You didn’t answer Aurelius's question, Mother.” I narrow my gaze at her .

“No, I don’t think so. Now drop it.” Her tone brokers no room for argument. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. She’s not saying something, but now isn’t the time to push.

We all take a seat in the chairs occupying the queen’s receiving area. “Now tell me everything,” she commands.

I spend the next ten minutes relaying the same information I had shared in the training room two nights before. The entire time my mother stays silent, ingesting the details and considering them all before she speaks.

“How interesting,” she finally says. “I’ve never encountered magic or a shield like you described.”

“You don’t think it could be one of our own?” Elijah asks, voice full of uncertainty.

“No, I think we would have heard of someone with abilities like that before now. You can’t hide that kind of power for long. They must have come from one of the neighboring kingdoms, but...” She trails off, deep in thought.

“But what?” Aurelius pushes.

“It doesn’t mean they aren’t working with someone within the kingdom. There’s too much coincidence for me to believe it was happenstance. They had to have knowledge that would be impossible to know without an inside source.”

Anxiety churns in my gut at the implications. There was likely someone in the castle that we couldn’t trust.

“Any guesses who?” Elijah asks.

Mother contemplates for a moment, before sighing. “It’s hard to say for sure. Only because there are several I don’t trust lurking in these halls.”

I grunt in agreement, but Aurelius asks, “Could it be Lord Seamus?”

“You really don’t like him, do you?”

Aurelius snorts. “Does anyone?”

Mother chuckles. “No, I don’t think so. But that brings me to another point. I may have found a way to end our engagement.” A feeling sparks in my chest that I don’t want to acknowledge and will have to inspect later.

“Oh?” Aurelius asks, his voice full of intrigue.

“Lord Seamus is convinced our engagement is a ruse.” She laughs, but it lacks real humor. “He has offered himself as an alternative.”

“That snake,” Aurelius hisses.

“What do you care? You’re fucking my daughter, and it would leave you free to do so openly,” she scoffs.

“I care because you’re still my best friend, Gen, and he’s a shit male,” Aurelius snaps back. “You’d be in a loveless, miserable match. He’s got ulterior motives.”

“Of course he’s got ulterior motives,” Mother says, rolling her eyes. “Anyonewho offers themselves for the job would have ulterior motives. That’s why I approached you first. I knew you wouldn’t be like them.” Her voice softens as she finishes her explanation.

Elijah's bewildered gaze finds mine, a question in his eyes. I shoot him a look that says, ‘I’ll tell you later’.

“I’m sorry, Gen,” Aurelius says, his voice apologetic. “You know I’d do anything to help or protect you. I just...”

“Fell in love with my daughter?” she offers softly. I stiffen at my mother’s bold words. We hadn’t named this thing between us, but apparently she had.

Aurelius reaches for my mother and wraps her in his arms. She returns his embrace as he mumbles, “Something like that.”

Unsure of how to respond to the scene before me, I clear my throat and ask, “You’re not seriously considering his proposal, are you?”

“What other option do we have?”

Aurelius pulls back from Genevieve and gives her an incredulous look. “You just said you don’t trust him! Tell me you’re kidding. You deserve so much better.”

“Aurelius, I wouldn’t really trust anyone offering themselves for the job at this point.” Her face falls at the admission. “I don’t know that I really do deserve better,” she whispers. Seeing her so vulnerable and defeated is new, and I don’tlike it.

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