Page 138 of Of Storm and Emerald
Queen Adelina looked down into her glass, her eyes widening as it slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor, shattering against the veined marble of the ballroom.
“No, no this can’t be happening.” Tears began to well in Auraelia’s eyes, and her head shook slightly in disbelief of the events that were unfolding in front of her eyes.
The queen’s face flushed and twisted into one of pain. She clawed at the bodice of her gown as if it were burning her skin, and her eyes frantically searched the crowd around her.
When her gaze landed on Auraelia, a look full of more love than Daemon thought he would ever be able to comprehend latched onto the princess, but there was regret in her eyes as well.
Auraelia began chanting, “No,” over and over again, and she watched the queen crumple to the ground.
A collective gasp filled the air as Auraelia hurled herself across the floor and fell to her knees next to her mother. As she pulled her mother’s head into her lap tears began to stream down her cheeks.
He couldn’t hear the words that fell from the queen’s lips, but when he heard Auraelia sob, “Please, don’t leave me,” his heart shattered.
When the queen’s arm went limp at her side, and her eyes fluttered closed, Auraelia’s head fell back as she released a blood curdling scream that sent wave upon wave of raw, unfiltered magic pulsing throughout the room.
He’d never felt a blast of pure power like that.
It caused the ground to shake and knocked people off their feet.
It chilled the air and blew out the windows that lined the walls of the ballroom.
Hurricane force winds swirled through the space, ripping the carefully curated decorations from their places and throwing them like projectiles around the room.
An unnatural lightning storm raged outside as rain poured from the sky in sheets.
Auraelia’s hair and skirts began to lift around her as if she were suspended in water, and the emeralds she wore were incandescent with the sheer force of her magic that funneled through them.
Even the sapphire pendant that he’d given her seemed to be fueling the magic as it ripped through her.
As her scream died down and turned into a hoarse cry that sounded like it was being painfully ripped from her throat, the wind began to subside. Though the unnatural rain and lightning still persisted, it seemed as if the world had tilted back into alignment once more.
Daemon attempted to rush to her side, but a tight grip on his elbow stopped him in his tracks.
When he turned to see who it was, shock and rage filled his entire being, as the deep moss-green eyes of his father stared back at him.
“It’s not our business, son.”
“The fuck it isn’t! Someone just murdered a monarch, what makes you think they won’t come for you next?” Daemon forcefully ripped his arm from his father’s grasp and stalked towards Auraelia.
Chapter Forty-Five
Auraelia
Numbness.
Confusion.
Despair.
Emotions warred against each other as she stared down at her mother’s lifeless body. She’d thought they could make it in time. Thought they could warn her so that she would be able to avoid the poison that had unjustly taken her life.
But they’d failed.
She’dfailed.
Tears streamed down Auraelia’s face and splashed against her mother’s once rosy cheeks.
She could barely make out the sounds of frantic screams around her. Could hardly understand the commands that Xander was undoubtedly issuing to lock down the ballroom in hopes of finding the person responsible.
