Chapter 20 #2
When she’d done that to Davina, it had burned her. Caused veins of lightning to sear into her skin. And the thought of doing that to anyone else, let alone to someone she cared about, made her stomach churn.
“I’ll do it.”
Auraelia’s head whipped toward Daemon, her eyes wide as shock and fear collided. “Daemon, no. I can’t do that to you. You didn’t see—”
“Didn’t see what?” His brows drew together as concern swirled in the mossy green depths of his eyes.
Swallowing audibly, Auraelia’s voice quavered as she spoke. “I—After you got Xander to safety, Davina charged at me. And when she got close enough, I grabbed her arms and funneled my magic into her body. It burned her.”
“Rae.” Xander’s voice was soft—pitying.
It made her skin crawl.
She didn’t want his pity. She did what she needed to do to get Davina to leave and would do it over again if she had to. But that didn’t mean that she wanted to.
Averting her gaze from Daemon, she focused on her brother instead.
She didn’t want to see Daemon’s face when she explained what happened down in the harbor.
Couldn’t bear the idea of seeing disappointment in his eyes.
“Before she vanished—with the help of Caius, I might add—I saw them…the burns. They looked like streaks of lightning burning down the length of her arms. And where my hands had been were blistered palm prints. I can’t—I won’t do that to Daemon. ”
She felt his presence at her back and turned as Daemon knelt at her side and folded her hands into his.
But instead of the disappointment she had anticipated, there was only understanding.
“That was different, Auraelia. You were angry and trying to save your brother and your people and did what you had to.” When she opened her mouth to retort, he squeezed her hands. “You won’t hurt me. I trust you.”
Auraelia let his words settle into her heart and mind.
Trust.
Trust was something that was earned. It was something that people had to work to keep.
She didn’t understand how he could still trust her after everything that she’d put him through.
But looking into his eyes, she saw it, and the words from the letters he’d sent all those months ago filtered back into her mind.
I will always come back for you.
I will always love you.
Giving Daemon a slight nod, she turned back toward her brother. “Teach me the runes.”
Ser Aeron’s brows were drawn together, lips set into a thin line, and arms crossed over his broad chest as he watched Auraelia work her way around the room, drawing runes on the floor every two paces as Xander had instructed.
She felt his eyes on her the entire time, and when she finally finished, she stood and met his disapproving glare.
“What?” she clipped as Daemon wrapped a bandage around her hand, pressed a soft kiss to her palm, and reminded her to breathe for the hundredth time that day.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this in a brothel of all places.”
“It’s not like we could have done it at the castle,” she retorted.
Madame Sylvie’s was the best solution she could come up with in the limited time she had.
It had been untouched by Davina’s tirade, was away from the prying eyes of the council, and because she wasn’t sure who was betraying her, she needed to keep this meeting between the people she trusted most—which, at that point, also included the Madame of a brothel.
Ser Aeron rolled his eyes, pushed away from the wall, and headed to the bar cart that Vee had set up in the corner.
When they’d arrived, Vee’s face had blanched at the sight of the Queen’s Commander in her establishment.
It had taken a while—and a few tumblers of whatever concoction she kept on the top shelf—to convince her that he wasn’t there to arrest or close her down.
But once she calmed, she relinquished her office and even took Auraelia’s suggestion of closing down for the night.
Though she wasn’t happy about that, she’d gladly accepted the bag of coins Auraelia had dropped onto the bar.
“Rae, are you sure about this?” Piper asked from where she stood nervously in the middle of the room.
“No, not really,” she answered honestly. “But it’s the only thing that makes sense right now. I need to know what he knows.”
Worry lined every inch of her friend’s face, and she began to second guess asking her to come along. She needed her there for moral support, but she also wanted her there in case she saw something amiss. But if Piper was unsure, she also wouldn’t make her stay.
Crossing the room, she took her friend's hands in her own. “Piper, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
“Nice try, Rae. I’m not leaving you. I haven’t seen anything that would suggest this goes awry, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t.”
“Thank you.” Tears sprang to her eyes at Piper’s unending loyalty. It wasn’t because she was the queen and she was her lady, but because they were sisters in every way that mattered. Souls bound together through whatever life decided to throw their way.
“Okay, so how does this work again?” Ser Aeron asked, stretching out his arms and tilting his head side to side like he was getting ready to fight someone.
“The runes have set a perimeter around the room; no one will be allowed in or out without my permission. If you are all willing, I will place a rune on your forearm that will grant you the ability to come and go freely. But, from what Xander said, it’s not going to be pleasant. So I understand if you decide not to.”
Daemon stepped up first, rolling his sleeve to his elbow to expose the intricate lines of ink that were scrawled along his skin.
The idea of possibly marring the beautiful artwork permanently, of causing him any pain or discomfort, made her hands shake and bile rise in her throat, her dinner threatening to make an unwanted reappearance.
When she met his gaze, it was soft and trusting. Like he knew she was spiraling and beginning to doubt herself. “You won’t hurt me, my star,” he spoke low enough to where only she could hear as he gently unwrapped the bandage from her hand. “I trust you; you just need to trust yourself.”
Nodding, Auraelia pulled her dagger from its sheath, wincing as she reopened the cut on her palm. When the blood began to pool, she dipped her finger into the warm, crimson liquid and took a deep breath.
The moment her finger touched Daemon’s skin, there was a sharp intake of breath as his muscles contracted, and she almost stopped right then. But when they relaxed, and a soft glow began to illuminate the path that her finger made, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Once the rune was completed, every symbol in the room shone brightly for a brief moment, like they were all connecting to one another, before dimming until all that was left was her blood against the black ink of his arm.
She looked up expectantly at Daemon, searching his face for any sign of pain, but all she saw was awe. “Are you okay?”
“Never better.” Daemon pressed a kiss to her cheek, then rolled his wrist around like he was working out a kink and stepped to the side. “Who’s next?”
Ser Aeron stepped forward, his arm extended, and sheer determination was in his eyes.
“Are you sure?” she asked tentatively.
He bowed his head to her. “Not a doubt in my mind, Your Majesty.”
When she finished with the commander, Auraelia walked over to where Piper was fidgeting on the couch, pulling at her fingers as her foot bounced against the floor. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I know, but I want to. I need to. I need to hear what that bastard has to say.” Venom dripped from her words, and Auraelia knew it had more to do with Xander than anything else that had transpired. Straightening her spine, Piper rolled the sleeve of her tunic and extended her arm toward Auraelia.
Taking the seat next to her friend, she gently laid Piper’s hand in her lap to repeat the process. Only this time, it was different.
With every movement of her finger across Piper’s skin, flashes of memories scrolled through her mind like living portraits.
Scenes from when they were girls running through the gardens.
Images of training on the pitch together throughout their lives.
Of countless nights staying up laughing with each other.
It was like reliving her life through Piper’s eyes. But then, the visions shifted.
The images were distorted, like staring through ice on a window or trying to peer through fog.
She could make out shapes and identify some of the people that danced across her vision.
Could recognize the sounds of clashing metal and distant screams. But it all passed by too quickly for her to discern any real information.
When the final line of the rune connected and her mind cleared, she looked up to find Piper’s eyes as wide as hers felt.
What in the…
“Did you—?” Piper’s words came out in a rush of air.
“What was that?”
“I—I’m not sure.”
They stayed that way for a few moments, staring openly at each other like they could figure it out if they just stayed still.
She could feel the eyes of everyone else in the room digging holes into her spine, but she didn’t care. They finally broke eye contact only when Ser Aeron cleared his throat. “Shall we?”
Pushing up from the couch, Auraelia walked over to the desk where she had placed the box of crystals Caius had given her.
Here goes nothing.
“Where is he?” Auraelia seethed as she paced the room. It had been hours since she’d summoned him with the crystals, and she didn’t understand what was taking so long.
Did she do it wrong?
Were the runes keeping him from entering?
Auraelia ran over every instruction that Xander had given her.
She’d done it right. Followed every step, down to the last detail.
When she thought over what Caius had said about the crystals, it should have worked.
He’d said all she had to do was hold them and think his name, and he would come. So why wasn’t he here?