Page 28 of A Vow of Wrath and Ruin

“Tell me what?”

I wasn’t sure how much I should tell her. Gideon wouldn’t have passed up the chance to disparage me in an attempt toturn my sister against me. Perhaps those memories were lost in the storm. “I gave him the information he needed to infiltrate Elyria.”

Baylis’s expression went blank as she mulled that over.

“I want to be mad at you, Aelia, but I know the Highlands would’ve found a way in whether you gave them a tip or not. They are, and always have been, a warring kingdom. They wanted the Midlands. I suspected as much when Gideon agreed to marry you.”

“You did?” I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.

“Yes. Why would the Ironhearts marry a lesser kingdom when they could have married into an elven bloodline and secured their reign for thousands of years? Instead, they chose to ally with a poorer kingdom. A kingdom that just happened to be rich in the one thing they didn’t have—fertile soil and enough cattle to feed the continent. They wanted Moriana’s breadbasket, and they were going to take it one way or another.”

A calmness washed over me. For five years, I had carried the weight of my guilt like a yolk around my neck. My breaths came easier now, and my burden lightened just a bit. “Thank you,” I said.

Baylis gave me a reassuring smile; her gray eyes sparkled in the dazzling light of the chandelier.

“Alright, let’s see what else we have here.” I ran my hands over the parchment, trying to sense what lay within. Some were from our early years, and others were too private for me to explore—nothing from her time with Gideon.Shit.

“Anything?” Baylis bit her thumbnail nervously.

“Not that I can see.” I scanned the parchments, hoping something would catch my eye. At the end of the table sat two torn strips of paper. Reluctantly, I picked one up, focusing my power on the words. It was a memory of Baylis playing with her dogs. I let out a sigh of relief before grabbing the next one. Thepaper fizzled with heat. I scanned it with my mind—a lover’s touch.

I had never known Baylis to take a lover, but that didn’t mean she didn’t do so in secret. While my sister gazed at the papers, I focused my mind, diving into the snippet of a memory.

A room full of dark wood with bloodred curtains. This was not Elyria, or at least no place I had ever been in Elyria. The smell of leather and mahogany swirled in the air. The sound of wine being poured drew my attention. Gideon drank red wine. He loved it. It was the only alcohol he’d put into his body. I tried to expand the memory, but it fought against me. The edges of my vision blurred, but I needed to see who poured the wine. A cold hand traced my jaw before running down my collarbone and over my shoulder. I didn’t have to see the source of the touch to know it was Gideon. My guts twisted inside me, but Baylis’s didn’t.

She… she felt attraction, possibly even love.

The memory spit me out before I could investigate further. Was this a trap set by Gideon and Erissa to turn me against my sister, or was this affection she felt real?

Baylis stared at an old memory of us at a Yule celebration, utterly calm as if we hadn’t just been attacked by a giant cat lurking in her mind. Was she a part of this? I shook the thought from my mind.No, don’t be stupid, Aelia. Baylis is not your enemy. She’s your sister. She’d never intentionally hurt you.

I tucked the sheet of paper into my pocket. The memory belonged to me now; if she hadn’t remembered it before, she wouldn’t miss it now.

“I loved this Yule,” she whispered, running her hands over the inscription on the parchment, trying to absorb the memory.

“Do you want to go in?” I asked.

Baylis held the paper to her chest.

“Yes.”

“It’s your memory. You don’t need me to enter it. Just focus on it.”

“Will you come with me?”

“Of course.” Despite what I had just witnessed in Baylis’s memory, when I looked at her, all I could see was my innocent sister.

Taking her hand, I closed my eyes and focused my waning power one last time. When I opened my eyes, we were sitting around a roaring fire in the parlor. Typically, when I entered a mind, I took the place of the memory holder, but with Baylis here, I took my own body.

The smell of cinnamon, nutmeg, and pine filled the air. My heart stopped at the sight of Caiden slouched in a plush armchair, Baylis’s dogs asleep at his feet. His golden hair was tied behind his ears—a crown of holly around his head.

I sat next to him—my cheeks round with youth. This was the first Yule Caiden spent with us. The jitters I’d felt then reverberated through my body. We had been friends for years prior, and this was the first time he’d come to visit for the holiday. I swallowed hard.

Caiden passed me a gift wrapped in delicate tissue adorned with silver birds.

“You shouldn’t have,” I said, cheeks flushed.

“My mother wouldn’t have let me come empty-handed.” He gave me a dimpled smile, melting my heart.

---