Page 74 of The Sorrow of Shadows

“You aren’t mad?” Breyla asks incredulously. The guilt she’s been carrying for weeks is evident in the way she looks at her mother.

“Mad? No. Actually, I think I’m relieved. Maybe I should be horrified that you’re kissing your father’s brother, but you’ve never really looked at him that way, have you?”

“Not really.” Breyla is clearly uncomfortable with this conversation. I, on the other hand, am highly amused. “Could you not say it like that?” Breyla pleads. “He’s adopted. There’s no blood relation.”

“Breyla, this is Aurelius. Aurelius, meet our daughter, Princess Breyla.” My father introduced me to the male he called brother. They looked nothing alike. Father had hair like mine but even brighter, and Aurelius had hair as black as shadows. His eyes were dark. The only thing they had in common was they were both tall.

“Hello, Princess.” Aurelius said with a smile. He doesn’t look nearly old enough to be Father’s brother. Older than me, but not that old.

“Don’t call me that,” I said with an eye roll.

“Then what should I call you?” he asked curiously.

“I don’t know, just not princess,” I replied with a shrug.

My father chuckles behind him. “She has never cared for her title. Just call her Breyla.”

“You look nothing like Father. Are you sure we’re related?” I asked.

“Blunt little thing you are,” my father said.

Aurelius took a deep breath, debating how to answer me. “No, I wouldn’t look anything like him. We’re not related by blood.”

“What’s that mean?” I asked.

“Aurelius was found as an infant without any parents, so mine took him in and raised him as their own,” my father elaborated.

“It’s like how Elijah isn’t really your brother, but we take care of him because his parents are gone,” my mother added.

I tried to wrap my head around how that worked, but all I could figure out was, “So you’re not actually my uncle.”

“No, not technically, I suppose.” Aurelius didn’t look upset by this.

My mother bent down to my level and said, “Sometimes family is blood like with you and me and your father, but sometimes family is chosen. Both are precious, Breyla.”

I looked Aurelius up and down, trying to determine if he fitinto my family. After several moments of silent thought, I said, “Well, I don’t choose you for my family.”

“Breyla!” my mother said, frustration and embarrassment clear in her face.

I pulled away from her as my father’s deep voice boomed, “To your room, young lady. That is not the way we behave.”

“I was already going there,” I replied as I skipped out of the room and back to my own. I didn’t care if I was confined to my chambers; Aurelius wasn’t family, and I didn’t regret saying that.

“Why are you relieved?” I ask, my curiosity piqued.

“Well, for one, it saves me from having to ever bed you.” She visibly shudders at the thought, doinggreatthings for my male ego. Not that the thought of sleeping with her doesn’t elicit the same reaction from me. “For two, maybe the tension between you two will finally ease and we won’t have to endure your constant bickering.”

I chuckle. “Not likely. She’s still the most infuriating female I’ve ever met.”

Breyla punches me hard in the shoulder at that comment, which I mostly deserve, but I wasn’t lying.

“Yes, well, she gets that from her mother,” Gen teases.

“Like mother, like daughter, I suppose.” I reach out and catch Breyla’s fist before she can land a second hit. Stop it, little demon. There are much better things I can think of to use your hands for.”

Gen clears her throat behind us, as if to say she doesn’t want to hear this. I turn to face her again, and her face is sullen.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, immediately on edge.

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