Page 147 of Of Storm and Emerald
From her–their–grandfather’s mistress, to Davina’s grandmother being sent away to Garnet with her newborn.
Her mother had a half-sister, and she’d never mentioned her.
Auraelia and Xander had, at the very least, one cousin that they never knew about.
And as she scanned through pages and pages of truth, after a lifetime of lies, rage boiled in her veins.
Her motherliedto her.
The entire councilliedto her.
Kept her and Xander in the dark for so long, and now their mother had been murdered because of it, leaving her to deal with the fall out.
Auraelia slid her arms across the table in a fit of rage, sending all the books and parchments skittering across the floor.
Thunder and lightning crackled through the sky, and she could feel her magic buzzing beneath her skin.
She needed to get out.
Needed to scream and release her anger where she couldn’t hurt anyone.
Throwing open the doors that led out into the garden, she ran.
Rain fell in sheets as thunder rolled across the sky, and lightning danced between her fingers.
She ran to the furthest edge of the castle grounds and screamed until her lungs gave out.
The waves of magic that rolled off of her made splinters of the trees that had stood on the grounds for decades, and there was a perfect circle where her lightning had scorched the earth.
“Auraelia!” A voice that would be forever ingrained on her soul called through the torrential downpour, and she had to steel her spine before she turned to face him.
“Daemon, gohome.” She was exhausted, both from the amount of magic that she’d just expended, and from the endless stream of thoughts that swirled through her head.
She loved him, but he was marrying someone else.
Marrying the same person who murdered her mother.
Davina hadn’t lied.
She’s going to have to fight for the crown she believes is her birthright.
Did she want this?
Her whole life had been a lie.
Her mother was dead, and she was alone.
It was too much, and she couldn’t handle this–him– right now.
“I’m not leaving until we talk, Auraelia. You owe me that much.”
“Owe you? My mother was murdered, and you think that Ioweyou something? I have to go towarbecause of the secrets my mother kept, and you think that I owe you?”
He was standing in front of her now, the rain pelting both of them as they stared at each other. “Don’t do this. You don’t have to go to war.”
She scoffed and threw her hands in the air. “I don’t? Please,Daemon, tell me how I can avoid a war. Should I just give up my crown and end up with nothing? Let her have you, my kingdom, and my people? Is that your solution?”
“I’m not marrying her, Auraelia. I’ll abdicate the throne before I let that happen.” He sounded so sure, but she knew it wasn’t that easy.
