Page 65 of Of Storm and Emerald
“Well, that was certainly graceful,” Piper quipped from across the room.
“Shut up,” she responded without changing position.
“Do you need help, Rae?”
Auraelia sighed, then pushed up into a kneeling position and blew her hair out of her face.
“No, I’m fine. I must have fallen asleep while reading.”
“That much is obvious. Couldn’t sleep or was the book too good?”
“Nope.” She popped thepfor emphasis before pushing up from the ground. “Couldn’t sleep.”
When she picked up her book from the floor, a folded piece of parchment fell out from between its pages and fluttered to the ground. Auraelia stood, frozen in time. The midnight blue seal staring back at her from the floor. Even from this distance, she could clearly make out the scripted ‘D.A.’ that was stamped into the wax.
He wrote back.
Memories of the previous day, of the hours she spent wondering if he would write back, filtered back into her mind.
After they had gone swimming in Nefeli Lake, the rest of the day had gone by in a blur. They’d stopped at the lavender field on the way back and spent hours cutting sprig after sprig of blossoms to bring back with them so that fragrant flowers could be turned into whatever was needed. But the green in the stems reminded her of Daemon’s eyes.
When they returned to the castle, they dropped the flowers off in the kitchens and ended up staying to help the chef prepare for dinner. It wasn’t often that Auraelia got to spend time in the castle kitchens, but she treasured the time all the same.
It started after she and Piper had stolen sweets when they were ten. Their punishment had been to help the ladies in the kitchen remake what they had taken. Ever since then, both Piper and Auraelia would sneak away to the kitchen to help whenever they could. But as she chopped chocolate for tomorrow's pastries, her mind drifted back to sharing those same pastries with him.
When there was nothing else for them to do in the kitchen, both women retired to their suites to bathe and get ready for dinner. They ate in the dining hall and played drinking games with Xander afterwards, then they all retired to their rooms for the evening.
She’d been bone tired when she got back to her chambers, but her mind was everywhere. And no matter how hard she tried, it always drifted back to Daemon and the million questions surrounding their new-found relationship.
What were they to each other?
How would this even work?
Did her letter actually make it to him, or was it some magical fluke?
But the question that had been circling around and around all day, was whether or not he would even respond to her.
With questions swirling, and after hours of tossing and turning, Auraelia decided to read. She slipped from her bed, wrapped herself in her dressing robe, and padded into the sitting room.
She’d stoked the fire back to life and grabbed her favorite romance novel from the shelves. One that she had read so many times that the cover was worn to the point of being unrecognizable. Then, curling up on the plush settee, she let herself get lost in the world of a book.
Shaking herself from her wayward thoughts, Auraelia stooped to pick up the letter. Letting her thumb run over the rise and fall of every curve to the initials that were embedded into the wax.
Clutching the letter in her hand, she tucked it into the pocket of her dressing gown and crossed the room to where Piper was setting up breakfast.
Later. I’ll read it later.
Across the room, Piper was removing the cloches from their trays. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and hot pastries wafted through the air, making her stomach grumble.
Piper chuckled, “Would you come eat, please.”
Pulling up the chair opposite her friend, she sat at the table and piled her plate with croissants and berries while Piper filled both of their cups with coffee.
“So, what fell out of the book that had you staring so intently at the floor?” Piper asked before popping a berry into her mouth.
Does she miss nothing?
“What are you talking about?” Auraelia’s feigned confusion did nothing to dissuade her friend.
