Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Daemon
As his shadows slipped away, the chill of the winter air kissed his cheeks while the last remaining fragments of sunlight rained down, bathing them in the soft, peachy glow of dusk.
“Where are we?” Daemon asked as he scanned his new surroundings.
Spindly trees, with bark flaking off their trunks, stood in rows before him, their branches nearly bare as the last remaining leaves and flowers refused to fall.
Auraelia unraveled herself from his embrace and linked her fingers through his, tugging him forward as she made her way toward the grove of trees. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“I guess that’s your alternative version of ‘you’ll see’?” Daemon asked, shaking his head as a chuckle rumbled up his throat.
“You could say that. Now, come on.”
Auraelia led him through the neat lines of trees, weaving her way so effortlessly that he was certain she could navigate the area with her eyes closed. A smile tugged on his lips as he followed her blindly, the memory of her doing much of the same when they’d first met spinning through his mind.
When they reached the end of the grove, a large willow—still full of life despite the dropping temperatures—stood in their path. Daemon’s eyes widened as he took in the massive tree, its branches stretching wide in all directions.
Auraelia squeezed his hand gently, then disentangled their fingers and walked up to the ancient tree—because how could a tree as grand as that be anything but.
Daemon watched the way her hands moved gracefully over the vines.
The way they swayed in the soft breeze that followed the trail of her fingers before they were drawn aside as if by an invisible cord to reveal a narrow path that had been worn down to bare dirt.
Maintaining the magic that held the curtain of flora aside, Auraelia walked back to where he stood and relaced their fingers. “We’re almost there.”
Following her beneath the canopy of vines, Daemon’s breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight around him.
The light around them dimmed as Auraelia released her hold on the vines, and the limbs above were so dense that the waning light could barely penetrate through them.
Floating above their heads were the tiny, flickering lights of fireflies—like the stars had fallen toward the ground, only to be caught in the willow to dance and glow in the growing darkness.
When they reached the other side, Auraelia again brushed the vines aside. And as they stepped out from under them, Daemon was once more in awe.
A crystal clear lake, which he could only describe as a smaller version of Azure Falls, glistened beneath the last bits of daylight. The pastel pinks, purples, and oranges that painted the sky reflected perfectly in the water’s glass-like surface.
Bright, spring-green grass lined the edge of the water in front of him, while on the opposite side was a forest of trees so dense that he could scarcely see between them.
“What do you think?” Auraelia’s voice was barely more than a whisper, but the sound seemed to fill the stillness of the space around them nonetheless.
Daemon pulled his gaze away from the beauty surrounding him to find Auraelia looking up at him expectantly, the blue calcite of her eyes flicking over his face as she waited anxiously for his answer.
Tightening his grip around her hand, he gently pulled her into his arms. Relief flooded his veins when she went willingly, her body fitting against his like she was always meant to be there. “It’s beautiful. Is this Nefeli Lake?”
Auraelia nodded, a shy smile tilting up the corners of her mouth. “Would you like to sit?”
Daemon dipped his head in acquiescence and reluctantly released her, gesturing for her to lead the way.
She brought him to where the water broke gently against the golden shore, the sand warm beneath him as he leaned back onto his hands and dug his fingers into the soft grains of the beach.
It was like a piece of the Sapphire Isles had been dropped into Lyndaria.
And the fact that Auraelia had found it and claimed it as her own brought a smile to his lips.
Auraelia sat to his left, unlacing her boots and placing them off to the side before rolling the hem of her pants and stretching her legs to where the lake lapped against the shore. The delicate ripples came close enough to kiss her toes.
Turning his face toward the sky, Daemon asked, “So, are you going to tell me who you were talking about with Ser Aeron?”
The breath she took was audible, long and deep, as she pulled her legs up to her chest and protectively wrapped her arms around them before turning her head toward him and resting her cheek on her knees. “Do you know who Lord Caius is?”
The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. It was like peering through a thick fog, knowing something was on the other side but unable to see it. Sitting upright, Daemon dusted off his hands and turned to give her his full attention. “I’m not sure that I do.”
Auraelia met his gaze as she seemed to mull over his words, then turned her face back toward the water. “He’s the emissary for the Court of Garnet.”
Daemon let the silence linger and let her work through how much information she wanted to share with him. After a few minutes passed, and she hadn’t continued, the worry that she wouldn’t began to niggle at his mind. But just as he opened his mouth to speak, she started again.
“He also says he’s Davina’s lover.”
Shock shot straight through him.
Davina has a lover?
“Evidently,” she scoffed, a smile evident in her voice.
He hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but he was glad he wasn’t the only one who seemed surprised by that information. As beautiful as her outside may be, her insides were as rotten as the decaying leaves underfoot in winter.
Daemon took a deep breath and turned his gaze to where the sun was slowly sinking beyond the trees, the stars gradually flickering to life against the darkening sky.
“He came to Emerald,” she said as she absentmindedly traced shapes into the sand. “Showed up at the front gates in the middle of the night and requested an audience with me.”
“You’ll have to give me more than that, Princess. Why did the emissary from Garnet want an audience with you?”
Her shrug was so slight that he would have missed it if he hadn’t been so attuned to her.
“He said that he wanted to help me.”
“You’re the one person standing in Davina’s way of the throne.
And if he’s her lover like he claims, why would he want to help you?
” Daemon grabbed her hand in an attempt to pull her focus from the shapes in the sand and back to him and the conversation at hand.
Her gaze merely shifted to the sky above.
“I asked something similar. He didn’t really give much of an answer; he just said that he wanted you out of the way and that he was the only one who could help me.
I guess he’s not overly fond of her conquest to dominate and take over Ixora.
And before you ask, he didn’t tell me what he would get out of this.
He was very tight-lipped about everything. ”
Daemon furrowed his brows. Nothing about this made sense.
Why would the emissary from the Court of Garnet want to help Auraelia?
Surely, it’s not as simple as not wanting him to marry Davina.
It couldn’t be. There had to be something else behind it, and they needed to figure out what that was before Auraelia even considered making a deal with him.
“How do you propose getting in touch with Caius without Davina knowing?” he asked, laying back on the bank with his hands clasped behind his head.
Auraelia followed suit, laying down on her side with her head propped up on her hand, her elbow digging into the sand while she looked down at him. “He gave me a crystal. You know how much I love magical stones,” she jested, poking him in the ribs as she finished.
He knew she meant it as a joke, but his chuckle died as quickly as it had come as he thought back to the sapphire necklace that she’d returned. He carried it with him since that day—a continuous weight and reminder in his pocket.
Seeming to sense the shift in his mood, Auraelia leaned over and cupped his cheek in her hand, turning his face toward her. “I’m sorry. That…that wasn’t very kind. I loved that necklace, Daemon. I just—”
Her gaze fell to the sand as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth. Shifting slightly, Daemon slipped his finger beneath her chin and gently directed her gaze back toward his.
Her eyes softened. “I just couldn’t handle the reminder of everything I’d lost.”
“You didn’t lose me, Auraelia. You sent me away; there’s a difference. But I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Tears rimmed her eyes as she searched his face, her mouth falling open slightly as the words she clearly wanted to say remained unspoken between them.
Daemon rolled fully onto his side to face her.
“I mean it, Auraelia. I’m yours whether you can admit that you want me or not.
I’m not going anywhere, and it doesn’t matter how often you try to send me away, I will always come back for you.
We belong together, and sooner or later, when you’re ready to accept that, I will be right here waiting. ”