Page 2 of Of Storm and Emerald
The Treaty of Rosewood
With the end of the war between the courts of the realm of Ixora and the sovereignty of the Sapphire Isles, a new day has dawned. With the fall of King Erix, two monarchies shall rise. One of the Court of Sapphire Isles, and one of the Court of Emerald.
Each with their own duties and responsibilities to their people and the realm as a whole.
To keep the peace in the realm, no two persons destined to reign, shall share in the blessed tradition of matrimony if it should intertwine the two houses of rule. The Court of Emerald and the Court of Sapphire Isles agree to work with each other, and not against each other.
For the betterment of the whole of Ixora, there shall never be one in control. With a checks and balances system from the Lords and Ladies of courts surrounding our realm, may the goddesses shine their light down upon our people.
Every noble from the six courts of Ixora signed it.
First by Astraea and Killian, agreeing not only to become the new reigning monarchs over the realm, but to never allow their families to intertwine.
They were followed by nobles from Opal, Topaz, Pearl, and Garnet, with the hope that this treaty would stand the test of time and that peace would reign.
Chapter One
Present Day...
Auraelia
"You've got to be fucking kidding me.” Whispered words, followed by an exasperated sigh, floated through the air as cold water seeped into the leather of her boot. Removing her foot from the puddle she’d landed in, Auraelia slipped down one of the old cobblestone streets just beyond the wall outside the Court of Emerald. Sticking to the shadows and trying desperately not to be noticed by the late-night crowd wandering the streets, she pulled her cloak tightly around her body and drew her hood further onto her brow. After a sharp turn down an alley, she was forced to an abrupt halt when she nearly collided with a stack of crates. Thankful for the fact that she was in trousers and boots, as opposed to her typical skirts and heels, Auraelia sidestepped the crates. Narrowly avoiding another puddle in the process, she made her way further into the night and away from the city.
Weaving through the streets she knew all too well, Auraelia stopped for a moment to take in the scene of homes around her. They varied in size, from single-family and multigenerational homes to multi-family dwellings, but the shape and design of each house was relatively the same throughout Lyndaria. They were all made of the same light gray stone in varying gradients due to age and weather, but the harsh lines and sharp corners were softened with beautiful landscaping.
Flowerbeds of snapdragons, rose bushes, and hydrangeas could be found throughout the city in varying shades and species. However, it was the beautiful climbing vines of purple wisteria that cemented the ethereal aesthetic found throughout this part of the realm.
The sound of trickling water down drainpipes, courtesy of the summer storm earlier in the day, gave a soft and soothing background to the dark and starry night.
Her world was as serene as it was beautiful–even in the dead of night–as fireflies danced through the flowers and vines like living stars that you could touch. She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath, before continuing on her way to the one place a woman in her position should not be going…a brothel.
“Two days. In just two fucking days, my life will be forever changed. My freedom, not that I had much anyway, will be gone.” Auraelia sighed, then drained the last of her glass of whiskey before she slammed it down on the bar inside Madame Sylvie’sboarding house.
From the street it looked exactly how a typical boarding house should look. Made of the same stone materials as the rest of the homes and buildings in Lyndaria, though slightly larger to accommodate the many boarders that were sponsored by Madame Sylvie. Beautiful gardens decorated the grounds, both in front of and behind the main house, as well as purple wisteria that draped along the sides, softening the look of the stone.
The inside was warm and inviting, with dark cherry wood floors covered in plush, multicolored rugs. Beautifully intricate chandeliers hung from the ceiling giving the space a comforting, yet regal, ambiance. But for the elite few, that was not what one would be seeking out when paying a visit to Madame Sylvie’s.
Just to the left of the front entrance, in the main hallway of the house, was a door that blended in perfectly with the surrounding wood paneling. Where this door led was an entirely different world from what was presented upstairs. Beneath the façade ofMadame Sylvie’s Boarding House for Girls, was the real enterprise.
Madame Sylvie, or Vee to a select few, had transformed the lower level of her home into a luscious oasis fit for debauchery. Dim lighting set the mood while thick embroidered blood-red curtains draped the walls as both an aesthetic and to block sound from reaching the upper floors. The floors were softened by lush, woven rugs in the deepest wine-red shades, accented with gold damask patterns.
Black sheers that hung from the ceiling created individual lounge areas which allowed for the illusion of privacy as women of all body shapes and sizes wandered the space. They were all adorned in the same gossamer black gowns that draped down their bodies like pooling shadows. Though the ladies with patrons lounged in varying states of undress, the ones without walked around with so much grace that they seemed to float across the floor.
The dresses they wore were secured around their necks by thin gold chains that fell down their backs and ended in small teardrop shaped red stones. The two slits that cut through the fronts of their skirts ended at their hips–leaving little to the imagination.
In the back of the room was a small corner bar that stood out amongst all the lush and sensual spaces around it. Then again, that area wasn’t meant to be inviting.
“It’s there to supply liquid courage to those who need it. If you want to drown your sorrows, you should find somewhere else to do it.”Madame Sylvie’s words trickled back into Auraelia’s mind as she sat at the small corner bar with her head shoved into her hands, and grinned.
Vee was a petite, curvy woman, with the most beautiful ivory skin that was sprinkled with freckles. Her bright auburn ringlets cascaded down to her waist, and her ice-blue eyes held an intensity that would freeze you where you stood, if looks could do such things. She stood approximately five-foot-two and was probably in her early forties–not that she would ever tell you her real age. Regardless of her stature, she was all fire and did not tolerate disrespect from anyone. She definitely did not tolerate people just hanging out at the bar; with the exception of Auraelia, but that was only because she refused to move.
“What are you whining about this time, girl?” Vee asked on an exhale as she rolled her eyes and continued drying various bar glasses that she had just washed.
Auraelia looked up from her hands and signaled for another whiskey, her shoulders slumping as she released a long breath. After Vee poured the amber liquid into the glass, Auraelia took a sip and let the taste settle on her tongue. Woodsy with a hint of smoke, and the tiniest whisper of honey that lingered in the back of her throat.
She swallowed and let out a deep sigh. “In two days, my life will be forever changed, and there’s nothing that I can do about it.” Instantly realizing what she had just admitted to a virtual stranger, her eyes widened. Taking a swig from her glass, she tried to act as normal as possible–and not like she’d possibly just revealed her biggest secret.
Auraelia readjusted her hood to shield more of her face and continued to nurse her drink. At the same moment she sent up a prayer, to any goddess that may have been listening, that she hadn’t just revealed too much.
