Page 118 of Of Storm and Emerald
Auraelia stalked around to the chair designated for her next to her mother and sank into the plush cushion as Xander took his seat on the opposite side.
The tension in the room was palpable.
Tense looks marred every council member’s face, as they avoided her gaze and suddenly found the parchment on the table much more interesting.
“So.” She leaned back in her chair, her hands steepled together in front of her chest. “What were we talking about?”
Her mother nodded towards the members surrounding the table, and they immediately stood to take their leave. “We were just finishing up.” She never once looked at Auraelia. Not as she spoke, and not as the nobility filtered out of the chambers.
“Mother!” Auraelia stood in a rush. Her chair flew backwards in her fit of rage, her magic skittered to the surface and prickled at her skin, begging to be released.
“Auraelia, you will calm yourself and conduct yourself as the future queen of this court, or you will be dismissed.”
The coldness of her mother’s words sent a wave of shock through her system, her magic no longer swirling beneath the surface in an angry current.
Auraelia turned and picked up her chair from where it landed, returning it to the table and sitting down once more.
“Mother, what’s going on? You’re excluding Xander and me from meetings altogether now?”
Her mother sighed, and it was in that moment that Auraelia really saw her.
The dark circles under her eyes and the wrinkles in the corners had deepened. Her shoulders were tense and she seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on them. Yet, in the two months since she’d returned from Kalmeera, Auraelia had been progressively pushed away from anything regarding the welfare of the kingdom, which included council meetings.
The fact that her mother refused to share the burden of whatever weighed on her heart, frustrated her to no end. Instead, she avoided her at every turn, except when she would insist on a training session to see how her magic had progressed.
“Auraelia, I’m tired. I don’t have the time, or the energy, to have this conversation right now.”
“Make time.” Xander’s tone was harsh, and it made the hairs on her arm stand on end.
Xander never spoke out of turn. He kept to himself and observed, calculating every possibility before opening his mouth. But when she looked at him now, anger rolled off him in waves, and his usually calm eyes were swirling storms of gray.
Queen Adelina stood abruptly and slammed her hands onto the table, the sound echoing through the chamber.
“I willnotexplain myself, or my decisions to mychildren.If I say now is not the time or place, then that is final. Am I clear?”
“Goddess damn it, Mother. As the future queen of this court, I deserve to know what’s going on with my people! I’m tired of you avoiding me and keeping me in the dark with whatever is happening with Garnet.” Her magic sparked beneath her skin the way lighting crackled across the sky.
Her mother righted herself and slowly turned her gaze toward her daughter, her eyes hard as she spoke through clenched teeth. “You may be thefuturequeen of this court, but I amthequeen, and you will do as you’re told and drop this.Now.”
Auraelia and Xander locked eyes across the table, her jaw was clenched so tightly that she wondered if she would crack a tooth.
She stood from the table and turned toward her mother. “Yes,Your Majesty.”
Auraelia dropped into a deep curtsy, then turned on her heel and stormed from the room with Xander and Piper close at her heels.
She charged through the castle, heading to the east wing where she could slip out the back and head to the stables.
Xander had gone his own way after they left the council chambers, mumbling something under his breath about needing a drink. She could have joined him, but she needed to get out.
Out of the castle and away from all of the secrets.
She couldn’t breathe.
“Rae!” Piper cried from where she was trying to keep up behind her. “Rae!”
Auraelia finally stopped when she came to the bottom of the stairs that ran along the outer wall of the castle that would lead to either the stables or the training pitch.
“Fuck, Rae. You could have at least let me catch up.” Piper’s breathing was slightly labored, and it brought a smile to her face. “What the hell are you grinning at?”
