Page 31 of The Sorrow of Shadows

The last part had piqued my interest. “I love reading myself. I don’t get to do it much since I’m on the battlefield. You shall have to give me some recommendations. Now tell me who this male is that you admire.”

“Oh, no. I couldn’t do that. It’s not like it will go anywhere, so there’s no point in telling anyone.”

“Telling me won’t hurt anything. I won’t tell anyone, cross my heart.”

“Fine,” Ophelia groans, “but you can’t tell him. Swear it.”

“I swear; now spill,” I demand.

“It’s Lord Elijah,” she mumbles.

I gasp loudly, clutching my chest. “You like Elijah?!” My words are teasing.

She grabs the pillow behind her and smacks me with it playfully. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. Now you’re making fun of me,” she pouts.

“Oh, come on now, I’m not making fun of you. If anything, I’m surprised Elijah has an admirer. He may be pretty, but he’s a flirt and a complete ass.” I try to reassure her. “You could do much better.”

“I know he’s a flirt, but he doesn’t seem like an ass,” she reasons.

“Oh, but he is. It’s one of my favorite things about him.” I grin over the rim of my glass as I take another sip. “Are you going to tell him?”

“Why would I do that?” She seems genuinely curious.

“Why wouldn’t you tell him?”

“I have no power, so no one will want me. I’m just a burden at this point.” Her insistence on coming back to this point was annoying. Mostly because that line of thinking irked me, even though it wasn’t her fault. It was likely engrained in her seeing as that’s how most people thought, so I couldn’t fault her for it. I could try to break her of it, though.

I grab her hand and look her in her beautiful silver eyes. “Listen to me, Ophelia, you are not a burden.” I enunciate every word to drive home my point. “I know that’s what most people think, but they’re wrong, and I would never have kept Elijah as my best friend for this long if that’s how he thought. The choice to tell him is yours, but don’t make it based on what you think he will believe. I promise you Elijah won’t care whether you have power or not. That’s not the kind of male he is.”

I don’t know if she believes me, but she seems to smile brighter. We spend the rest of the night talking about books and getting to know one another. I don’t know if all females are this way, but I know that I want to keep this one around.

I’m unsure what time it is when I hear someone enter my room. Groggily, I reach for the dagger I keep under my pillow. Whoever it is isn’t even trying to be stealthy. I hear their heavy footsteps cross the room to my bed. My eyes are open now, butunfocused as I try to leap from my bed to meet my attacker. Something is wrong, though. My limbs are slow to respond, and it feels like I’m moving through molasses. My normally graceful movements and agility are nowhere to be found.

The male in front of me grins and cocks his head at me, “Something wrong, Princess?” There’s humor in his voice. I can’t seem to focus on his face long enough to identify him. He’s male, but that’s all I can make out. My vision blurry, I swipe out in an arc attempting to cut him. My movements are slow, and he easily deflects, pushing my arm away from his face.

“Wha...do you want?” My words slur, but it’s close enough for him to make out what I’m saying.

“From you? Nothing. Nothing, except your death, that is.” He chuckles and lunges forward, burying his knife deep in my gut. It’s not placed somewhere that will kill me immediately, but I will bleed out painfully. I grunt but take the opportunity to do my own damage by stabbing my dagger into his thigh. I don’t have the strength to drive it deeply, but it’ll still hurt.

“You bitch!” he exclaims while pushing me away.

The bed cushions me as I fall, the blade still lodged in my abdomen. The pain is excruciating, and I let loose a scream before my attacker can get to me to cover my mouth. There’s a fire burning in my stomach where the knife remains lodged in place. My scream was loud enough for someone to hear. Extra guards were stationed right next to my quarters, outside Aurelius's room. How the attacker got past them is a mystery, and one I can’t ponder right now. Instead, I pray someone heard me.

Black starts to creep into the edges of my vision, and I know I’m on the verge of passing out from blood loss. It’s the scent of bergamot and rich spices that greets me and the words, “Stay with me, little demon,” that I hear as I finally drift into the blackness.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

AURELIUS

It was Breyla’s piercing scream that woke me from sleep. What I find when I reach her room is so much worse than I imagined. She’s laying on her bed, dagger protruding from her stomach and blood pooling around her. She’s bleeding out and barely conscious, but I can see she’s still breathing, at least for now. There are no guards stationed outside either of our quarters; that’s something I’ll have to look into later. Right now, I need to stop her bleeding. I’m kneeling beside her bed, applying pressure to the wounded area and cradling her neck.

“Stay with me, little demon,” I plead, watching her eyes flutter shut. I feel her heart slowing, but her pulse is still there. I have never been so grateful for my Gift as I am now. I use my Hemonia Gift to slow the flow of blood to her wound, forcing it to clot temporarily so she doesn’t lose any more of it.

“Guards! Servants! Anyone?!” I yell at the top of my lungs, hoping someone nearby will hear. I can’t leave her now or shewillbleed out. After what feels like hours—but is truthfully only seconds—a servant peers in through the open doorway.

Her long gray hair and withered hands tell me she’s been serving the royal family for quite some time. I believe her name is Lyla, but I’m not as familiar with the staff as I should be. “Please, the princess has been attacked. She needs a healer, but fetch me the castle physician as quickly as you can,” I plead. She nods her head and swiftly disappears.

Breyla’s breaths are shallow and her freckled skin pale when Lyla returns. Following behind her is not the court physician, but a sleepy-eyed Ophelia in a nightgown. Ophelia seems to know what to do as my jaw drops in confusion. “I don’t understand. Why is Lady Ophelia here? I told you to fetch thephysician.” The frustration is clear in my voice. "Breyla is dying, and you brought a female with no power instead?”

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