Page 144 of Of Storm and Emerald
“Where’s–” she stopped and cleared her throat in hopes that it would loosen her vocal cords. “Where are Xander and Piper?”
Daemon sat next to her on the edge of her bed. “They’re probably still in your sitting room. They’ve barely left your suite since–” He stopped himself before he said anything that could potentially make her spiral back into overwhelming grief.
They sat in silence for a moment before she cleared her throat once more. “Your parents–” Daemon’s spine stiffened slightly, but she continued. “What happened?”
His face fell as a sigh slipped through his lips. “My father…shadow-walking is a familial trait. I’m assuming that after he tried to stop me from going to you after—” He stopped himself once more. The unspoken words hanging between them like a heavy weight. “He took my mother and ran.”
Auraelia nodded, her gaze falling to the glass she held in her lap. “Can I see them? Xander and Piper, I mean.”
“Of course, I’ll go get them. Are you hungry at all?” he asked before standing to leave.
Auraelia thought for a moment, then as if her stomach had a mind of its own, it grumbled in response to his question.
Daemon chuckled then stood. “Is there anything in particular you would like? There’s a plate of fruit and cheese on the tray if you’d like that for now.”
“I think some tea and maybe some soup could be good for my throat. Do you mind?”
He smiled, then cupped her face in his hands and shook his head before resting his brow on hers. “Whatever you need, my star. Whatever you need.”
He placed a chaste kiss to her brow, and then turned to leave.
Auraelia watched him walk through her door, and the crevice that was trying to cleave her heart in two, widened a little more.
“Auraelia!” Piper bounded into the room and threw herself onto Auraelia. “Don’t youeverdo that to me again, do you hear me?” Piper scolded her, but there were tears in her eyes, and Auraelia pulled her into a tight embrace.
“I’m sorry.” Tears flowed freely between them, and they stayed locked together for a long moment, each using the other to help bandage the wounds that had been cut so deep they would probably never fully heal.
When they finally broke apart, Xander fully entered the space. “Are you ok, sis?” His eyes were puffy, and his nose was red, and seeing him so worried and upset sent Auraelia back into tears.
“I’m so sorry, Xander. I–I shouldn’t have left you to deal with that on your own. She was your mother too. I’m so, so sorry.” Her words came out in strangled sobs as guilt slammed into her. Crossing the room in two long strides, Xander folded her into his arms and let his tears stream down his cheeks.
“It’s ok, Rae. I’m okay. I was just so worried about you.” He pulled back and palmed her cheeks in his hands, looking her over as if the wounds on her soul were visible to his eyes. “Areyouokay?”
Auraelia let out a choked laugh and shrugged. “I don’t really have much choice in the matter, do I? For the sake of our people, I have to be.”
As silence descended over their group, Auraelia pulled herself from bed and wrapped her robe around her shoulders.
When she turned back to Xander and Piper, there was a fierceness in her eyes. “Xander, there’s something that I need you to do for me.”
His brow furrowed, but he nodded. “Anything. What is it?”
She took a deep breath, then straightened her shoulders. “I need to move into the Queen’s Suite, and then I need you to shield it.”
“Shield it? Shield it from what?”
Piper’s eyes filled with sadness and understanding as she grasped what Auraelia was asking. “Not what, Xan.Who.”
Xander’s head swiveled from Piper to Auraelia, and then he sighed when he realized what she meant. “You want me to shield your chambers from Daemon? But why?”
Auraelia’s gaze fell to her hands, where she absentmindedly rubbed the shimmering green stains on their tips. “Because I need to shield my heart from him. He’s betrothed to another.”
“But, Rae. You love him.” Piper stood from the bed and walked over to her, pulling her hands apart and clasping them in her own, “Don’t you?”
“I do, but Ican’t.It hurts too much.”
Piper nodded, then turned her head toward Xander. “We need to move her now, while he’s down in the kitchens.”
The queen’s chambers–hermother’schambers–were exactly as they had always been.
