Page 116 of Of Storm and Emerald
She dressed quickly and slipped between the sheets.
Pulling them up below her chin, she closed her eyes as she curled in on herself and let her mind wander. Images of strong arms that had held her while she slept the last three nights mixed with the sound of his laughter played an endless loop through her memories. They were so vivid, that she could have sworn that she could still smell him. His signature scent of sandalwood and salty ocean air tickled her nose.
She cracked her eyes, and there laying on her pillow was a note with a midnight blue wax seal.
Careful not to disturb Piper, she sat up and quickly broke the seal. It was short and sweet, but it brought a smile to her face and filled a small portion of the hole that had formed in her heart.
Tucking the letter under her pillow, Auraelia laid back down. A smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Daemon
ThefirstnightwithoutAuraelia had been rough, and as the weeks went on it only got harder. It’d been a month since she left, and Daemon spent every waking moment trying to fill his days so that he wouldn’t drown in the growing chasm in his heart.
The day was hotter than usual, the midday sun beaming down on him as he stood out on his balcony looking over toward the docks–his heart growing heavy with the memory of her leaving.
He’d escorted her to the front doors of the castle, not daring to go any further for fear of not being able to let her go. They’d said their goodbyes, but physically letting go of her hand as she climbed into the carriage that would bring her to the docks took more strength than he had.
Returning to his rooms, he stood on his balcony and watched the Nevermore pull away from the dock, until it disappeared into the tunnels that led out of his city. He then spent the rest of the day in his rooms with the curtains drawn, getting blindingly drunk.
It wasn’t until Yvaine came to bring him to dinner, that he had even realized what time it was.
Too drunk to stand on his own, she shouldered him into his shower and turned it to the coldest setting. The freezing water was sobering as it seeped into his clothes and shocked him back to his senses.
“Daemon, I know this shit sucks. But we still need you to–at the very least–act like you’re not falling apart at the seams.” She stood outside his shower with a scowl on her face and arms crossed as the frigid water pelted against his body.
“Sis, I don’t know what stick you sat on, but kindly pull it out your ass. I’m allowed to wallow for a day, after the love of my li–” he stopped mid-sentence, sobering immediately at what had just slipped through his lips.
“Did you–did you just say what I think you did?” Yvaine stood up straighter now, her eyes widened, and her mouth hung slightly agape.
He didn’t answer. Just stared at the wall as streams of thoughts filtered through his head faster than he could process them.
“D!” her shout startled him out of his stupor. “Did you, or did you not, just admit to being in love with the princess of the Court of Emerald?”
“I-um–” His mouth was suddenly dry, and he had to peel his tongue from the roof of it. “Yeah, I think I did.” His brows furrowed, his eyes searching the tiles of his shower for answers he wouldn’t find as the realization barreled into him.
He loved her.
Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he’d known what it was all along. He’d known for sure as soon as he saw her standing at the top of the stairs at solstice. He was just too scared to put it into words.
And saying it out loud, was something else entirely.
But the fact that Yvaine had been the one to hear his confession, instead of Auraelia, made his chest hurt and his head throb.
Yvaine sank down on the floor next to the shower. The water was still streaming down on top of him, but he was numb to the cold as his heart beat harder in his chest.
Yvaine sighed, “Damn, little brother.”
Daemon glanced over at his sister and nodded. “Yep.”
They sat in silence for a while, both just staring at the wall as the sound of water filled the space.
Turning from the docks, Daemon headed back inside his study. Auraelia’s most recent letter sitting unread in his vest pocket.
In the time since she’d left, not much had changed within the kingdom. But by the grace of the goddess, his father had been improving slowly over the last few weeks.
Color had returned to his face and the rashes on his body began to heal. The swelling in his arms and legs receded slowly with each passing day, and he was able to keep food down as long as it was light and not heavily seasoned.
