Page 107 of Of Storm and Emerald
Sighing, she nodded in agreement. “I know… I know. We’re going to talk, I promise. He said he wants to show me Kalmeera, so I’ll try to talk to him then. But trust me, we’re going to talk. We have to. I can’t leave here without that happening.”
Piper nodded, but her shoulders were tense and there was a crease across her forehead that only showed itself when she was trying not to say something.
“What is it?”
Piper looked away and pushed a breath out through pursed lips before she pulled her gaze back to her friend. “I just need you to remember thatyouare worth more than this.Youare worth more than a sideline seat in his life. You may be ‘his star,’ but to our court? Rae, you’re the sun, the moon,andthe stars. You are the future, and you deserve more than what he’s been giving you. Don’t settle for less. Promise me, you will hold your worth higher than your heart. Promise me, please.”
Auraelia reached across the space between them and grasped Piper’s hands firmly in hers. Tears welling as she gazed into Piper’s silver-lined hazel eyes.
“I promise, Piper. I know my worth. I know it with every fiber of my being because you have reminded me of it my whole life, and I will hold it higher than my heart.”
She pulled Piper into a firm embrace, staying there until the tears in both of their eyes had dried.
When they pulled apart, Auraelia released a breath and stood, walking over to the wardrobe where her clothes had been put away.
“You know, Queen Avyanna sent a trunk of Kalmeeran garments for us to wear if we wanted. It’s in the sitting area if you want to wear something from there,” Piper said from where she was still perched on the bed.
Auraelia turned around slowly, her eyes narrowing as she caught the sly look on Piper’s face.
Her curiosity fully piqued, she asked, “What’s so special about these clothes, Piper?”
Standing from the bed, Piper backed towards the door with a grin on her face. “Why don’t you come with me and find out.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Daemon
Anhour.
His mother kept him for a whole hour, and the entire time that she was talking, his mind continuously wandered to Auraelia.
She’d explained her reasoning behind her scheming, but that didn’t mean he was any less annoyed by her methods.
Thankful that she brought Auraelia to Kalmeera?
Yes.
Overjoyed at the prospect of things moving in a forward direction with herbecauseof his mother’s meddling?
Of course.
But annoyed, nonetheless.
Daemon shadow-walked back to Auraelia’s suite, but instead of entering unannounced as he had the night before–purely out of desperation and the fact that he thought she wouldn’t let him in otherwise–he appeared outside the main door that led into the sitting room.
He could faintly hear the conversation between Auraelia and Piper, and though he couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying, their words were intermixed with laughter, and it brought a smile to his face.
Taking a breath to center himself and calm his nerves, Daemon knocked–the sound bringing the conversation on the opposite side of the door to an abrupt hault.
As he stood there, he could hear whispered mumbling and a scurrying of footsteps across the space before Piper finally called for him to enter.
He had no idea what to expect when he walked through that door, but it wasn’t anything compared to what he saw. Standing in the middle of the room was Auraelia, dressed in traditional Kalmeeran riding clothes. She was a vision of beauty, curves, and all things inherentlyAuraelia. He stood stock still, his breath caught in his throat as he drank her in.
The clothes were simple, but they still accentuated every feature she had. She wore simple, flat, chocolate-brown boots that ended right below her knee. Her leggings were a slightly lighter hue and hugged every curve.
The top was a plain, loose, white linen tunic and she had her sleeves rolled to her elbow. The neckline cut down between her breasts, the ties that crossed the bottom of the deep V doing nothing but drawing attention to the swell of her breasts and the sapphire pendant that dangled between them. Cinching her waist was a Kalmeeran corset in a matching blue with intricately embroidered waves and shells in pearlescent white thread and was secured across the front with brass hook and eye closures.
Her golden waves had been pulled back away from her face and tied into a simple ponytail that cascaded down past her shoulders. There were still a few strands that fell around her face, and he itched to run his knuckles across her cheek and tuck them behind her ear.
