Page 26 of The Sorrow of Shadows

“I don’t need protection,” I mumble, trying not to provoke her wrath further.

“Oh, how very wrong you are about that, daughter.” She shakes her head at me, taking a step back. There’s a pain in her eyes that I put there. Guilt grows in the pit of my stomach.

“Mother, I’m sorry,” I say softly.

“No, you’re not. You may feel guilty, but you don’t feel remorse for what you said. You can find me again when thatchanges.” She turns away from me and leaves the hall. I’m left standing alone, my face throbbing, and my gut churning.

Julian and Jade find me later that afternoon hanging from one of the trees that surround the training yard. At this time of day, the rings were empty, so I was enjoying the quiet and contemplating my words to my mother from this morning.

“Care to tell us why you’re hanging upside down from a tree, B?” Julian asks, quirking a brow at me.

“I find it helps the blood flow better when I need to think,” I answer flatly.

They look at each other, shrug, then look back at me. In true Julian and Jade fashion, they just accept the nonsense answer and climb up to hang with me. I sigh, then laugh at the three of us hanging upside down in a tree.

I’m reminded of the three of us in a similar position from years ago.

“What are you doing in the tree?” Jade asked from the ground. I had climbed the tree to escape the servants currently looking for me. My powers had manifested recently—just before my fourteenth birthday.

“I’m hiding,” I whisper-shouted. “Now leave before someone sees you and comes to investigate.”

The twins glanced at each other, sharing a look that was really an entire silent conversation, and climbed up the tree after me.

“What did you do this time?” Julian asked.

I sighed, swinging my legs back and forth. “I may have blinded Lord Aurelius with my shadows and made him walk into a wall.”

“And it was on purpose?” Jade asked.

“Maybe,” I replied.

They laughed simultaneously.

“Did he deserve it?” Julian questioned.

I rolled my eyes. “Doesn’t he always?”

“Then I guess we’re staying here until he forgets.” Jade shrugged her shoulders.

“Then I hope you brought dinner because it will be a while.”

“You know, I’m not sure this limb can take all three of our weights. We weigh more than we did at fourteen. If this limb breaks and we end up on the ground, I blame you two.” That causes a new round of chuckles from the three of us.

“So, what’s going on?” Jade asks after the laughing subsides.

I sigh, “I’m just contemplating my failures as daughter and general.”

Julian rolls his eyes and says, “Pouting does not flatter you, B. Stop being so dramatic.”

“Rude,” I snort, giving him a slight shove with my elbow.

“Eh, he’s right though. You’re not one to seek pity, but right now you seem pitiful,” Jade agrees from my other side.

“Wow, you two are really taking it easy on me today. Tell me how you really feel,” I say sarcastically.

“We literally just did,” Julian says flatly.

“To answer your earlier question—I said something to my mother today that was truly awful, but it was how I felt. Regardless, she probably didn’t deserve it.”

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