Page 8 of Heir of the Autumn Queen

I roll my eyes, but humor my best friend. “She said I’m the long-lost daughter of thevery-deadprincess Solana Amberheart.”

Briar stops in her tracks, eyes going wide.“Edith’s tits,” she breathes, calling upon the goddess of war and violence as she backs up a few steps.

I glare at her halfheartedly.“Surely you don’t believe her.”

“No, not that. Your eyes… They’re glowing.” Briar examines my face, a look of wonder on her own.

I blink several times. “I think you’re still drunk, Bri.”

She shakes her head adamantly. “They were just glowing, I swear. When you said Solana’s name.”

Faide take me. This whole town is going crazy.“Let’s go home, I’m beat.”

“Is there really no part of you that believes anything she said?” Briar keeps pace beside me.

I scoff. “Why would I?”

“I mean, we learned the histories… didn’t Solana have a daughter before she died?”

I shrug. “You’re the teacher. I don’t remember all the lineages of the royal families.”

Briar squeezes her eyes shut in concentration and nods as she remembers. “She did. A baby that disappeared right after Solana was killed. I just can’t remember her name.”

“Seriously, Bri. Don’t waste your time. Whoever her daughter was, it’s not me.”

“But—”

“I said drop it,” I cut her off just as we come to the fork in the road.

“Fine.” Briar holds her hands up in surrender.

“Thanks. For tonight.” I look down and kick a pebble, mad at myself for snapping at her.

“Happy Birthday, Auri.” Briar wraps her arms around herself.

“Yeah,” I say, hating that we’re ending such a fun night on a tense note. “I’ll see you later.”

Briar hugs me quickly before stepping back and turning to walk toward her house. “See ya.”

I look up at the twilight sky and sigh. Even though I don’t like how we left things, I know we’ll be fine. We’ve had no shortageof disagreements over the years, especially considering we’re pretty much complete opposites.

If anything, I know Killian will get a kick out of Sibyl’s ramblings, especially after his cryptic warning to stay away. My mother can rest easy knowing that even though I went against their wishes and saw Sibyl anyway, it was a complete waste of time.

∞∞∞

Chores on a farm start at dawn, so I’m not surprised to find both of my parents awake and working in the garden. My father pulls up the carrots and hands them to my mother to inspect and sort, determining which of them are good enough quality for the market. I watch them working in silence from the back doorway, their movements an easy, coordinated dance that comes with decades of being together.

Before I can head back to my room to sleep off the alcohol still pulsing through my system, Killian materializes beside me.

“You look like you had an eventful night.” He smirks, taking a drink of his coffee.

I laugh, excited to tell him my wild tale. “You’ll never guess what Sibyl told me.”

His smirk turns to a frown.“You went to see Sibyl?”

I wave my hand in front of my face dismissively. “It was pointless, trust me.”

“But, I told you not to go.” His harsh tone catches our parents’ attention, whose eyes raise from their task, now watching our exchange.

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