Chapter Twenty-Eight
Auraelia
Rain fell softly against the window, its gentle pattering the only sound as Auraelia watched the beads of water slide down the misty glass.
It had been four days since Daemon left to go back to Kalmeera, and though she had nothing to do with the weather outside her window, it mirrored the ever-present ache within her chest.
“Are you ready to go, Rae?” Aiden asked softly, as if not wanting to intrude on her thoughts.
Over the last few days, they’d established somewhat of a truce.
The snarky comments had dropped to a minimum.
He’d finally given up on the Lightning Girl moniker when it no longer provoked the response he was evidently looking for and had instead switched to calling her by her normal nickname.
They ate meals together—albeit in relative silence.
He still followed her around like the shadow he’d deemed himself to be, but the awkwardness of having someone trailing her had abated… somewhat.
She’d even come to appreciate his presence at times.
Aiden always seemed to know when to give her space to think and was there to draw a laugh when she needed it most. If he hadn’t been such an ardent asshole to her best friend, she might have even liked him.
Auraelia blew out her breath, the warm air fogging up the glass, then turned to where Aiden stood patiently in the doorway.
“I just need to put my boots on and grab my weapons. Can you go down to the stables and ensure the horses are ready, please?” Whether it was the calmness in her tone or the fact that she said ‘please,’ she wasn’t sure, but the surprised look on Aiden’s face brought a small smile to her own. “What?”
He shook his head, a matching smile tugging on his lips. “Nothing. Ten minutes, okay?”
Auraelia nodded and turned back toward the window, her fingers absentmindedly sliding the sapphire pendant along its chain in a rhythmic motion.
The rain had slowed to a steady drizzle by the time Auraelia made it outside, the droplets bouncing off the shield of air she’d conjured to keep herself dry. They had a long ride to the army’s training field, and the last thing she wanted was to make the journey in soaked fighting leathers.
As she crossed the field and the stables came into view, the sound of arguing reached her ears, prompting her to hasten her steps. The closer she got, the more distinctive the voices became, and she stopped in her tracks to let out an annoyed sigh. Piper and Aiden.
She managed to keep their interactions to a minimum while Aiden was there, not wanting to be in the middle of whatever was—or wasn’t—between them. But the inevitability of them running into each other without her present had finally happened.
Piper had explained why she was annoyed with the man, but Auraelia had assumed that her disdain had waned…and evidently, she had been severely mistaken.
“Piper—”
The pleading sound of Aiden’s voice made Auraelia stop just outside the door to the stables.
“Why can’t you just leave me be!?”
“Please. Just let me explain.”
“I don’t need your explanation! I don’t want it! Goddess. I don’t want to play these games with you anymore! Just… Go home, Aiden.”
Footsteps echoed through the stables, and Auraelia backed up a step as the sound drew closer. When Piper stepped out, her gaze clashed with Auraelia’s, and her shoulders dropped in exasperation. “How much of that did you hear?”
Auraelia gave a nonchalant shrug and closed the distance between them. “Are you alright?”
Piper blew out a breath through her nose and briefly turned her face toward the rain.
“I’ll be fine. I just…I need some air.” When her eyes fell to Auraelia’s once more, there was a heaviness in her gaze.
“Be careful today, okay? And try not to make our soldiers look too bad. Not everyone grew up with one-on-one training from the greatest warrior in the realm.” Her lips pulled up at the corners, but the movement didn’t reach her eyes, exhaustion clinging to the swirls of green and brown.
“Do you want to come? You seem like you need to blow off some steam.”
“Goddess, no.” Piper huffed with a small laugh. “I’ll be fine, really.”
Auraelia hugged her, then released her to go on her way. When she was a few feet away, Auraelia yelled, “I love you!”
Her friend turned, walking backward as she yelled back, “I love you, too! Now go show them who’s boss!”
“I think they already know that!” Auraelia retorted with a laugh.
After a blasé shrug, Piper waved and turned back toward the castle, and Auraelia chuckled to herself as she turned to head into the stables.
Aiden was leaning against one of the posts that separated the stalls, his hands tucked into his pants pockets, head hanging in defeat. “That friend of yours is pure fire, you know that?”
Auraelia scoffed as she stroked Jasira’s nose. “Are you trying to get burned?”
“I was trying to apologize.”
“Oh?” Auraelia asked, quirking a brow in his direction.
“Yeah. Come on, you’re going to be late.” Aiden pushed off the post and grabbed the reins of his borrowed horse, leading the stallion out of the stables.
They traveled in tense silence, the heaviness of Aiden’s attempted conversation with Piper hanging like a weight between them.
When Auraelia couldn’t take it anymore, she asked, “You doing okay over there?”
Aiden glanced her way, the look in his eyes questioning as he scanned her from head to toe. “How in the goddess are you dry?”
A laugh erupted from deep in her belly, causing it to ache. “I ask about your mental well-being, and you’re worried about how I’m dry?”
Auraelia’s laugh lightened to simple amusement as she pushed the bubble of air that surrounded her out until Aiden was also under its protective dome. When she swirled a warm breeze around him, drying out his soaked clothes, his eyes widened. “Better?” she asked, a knowing smirk on her lips.
“You’re an ass, you know that? I could have been dry this whole time?!”
She shrugged. “All you had to do was ask.”
“Goddess, I don’t know how Daemon puts up with you.” Laughter filled his tone, and a sense of relief washed over her.
“Can I ask you something?” Auraelia hedged after a few beats of silence.
“Didn’t you just?” A cocky smile stretched across his face, and she couldn’t help but smile in return.
“Asshole.”
“So I’ve been told.” His shoulders slumped slightly, and he let out a long, suffering sigh. “Just ask whatever question has been bugging you since we started this journey.”
“I haven’t—” He gave her a sardonic look that stopped her rebuttal in its tracks, and she huffed out a breath. “Fine. Why were you such an ass to Piper?”
“Yep. I was waiting for that.”
“Well? Can you really blame me? From what she said, you two got all hot and heavy in the library—which I can’t unsee, by the way, and my favorite place is now tainted, thank you very much. Then you left, and she never heard from you.”
“I thought we were both under the impression it was a one-night thing.”
Auraelia cut him a disbelieving glance. “A one-night thing? Is that why you did it again after the coronation party?” Aiden’s eyes flicked to hers, then back toward the path ahead. “And if so, then why did you rope her back in when we went to Kalmeera?”
“Daemon wasn’t kidding; you two really do share everything,” Aiden grumbled.
“She’s my best friend, Aiden. I may have to drag it out of her at times, but no, we don’t keep secrets.” Auraelia tugged on Jasira’s reins, pulling her to a stop. Once Aiden did the same, she continued. “I’ve heard her side. Now I want yours.”
“Auraelia—”
“If you don’t want to tell me, then fine. We can go back to tolerating each other’s presence. But I’d really rather not.”
Aiden released a heavy sigh. “She deserves more than what I can give.”
“You don’t get to decide for her, Aiden.”
He took a steadying breath. “Did Daemon ever tell you what power I wield?” She shook her head, and he nodded.
“I’m an empath, Auraelia. I can read people's emotions better than Daemon can read the stars. For instance, right now, you’re shocked but also slightly wary—which isn’t surprising in the slightest.” He huffed out a choked laugh.
“There’s a reason the Sapphire Isles named an empath as their emissary.
I’m able to read the room and help…guide negotiations in the preferred direction. ”
“Can you manipulate people’s emotions, too?”
Aiden gave her a wry smile, and a sense of ease washed over her. A lightweight feeling filled her heart, lifting away the heavy cloak of loneliness, longing, and dread for what was to come.
“What in the—are you?”
Aiden nodded sheepishly.
“Stop!” Within a fraction of a second, the heaviness settled back into her heart, pulling her under like being caught beneath a wave. Her breath came in quick, shallow pants as she tried to breathe through the ache that had settled into her chest once more. “What the fuck, Aiden?!”
“You asked,” he deadpanned.
“A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ would have sufficed.” A full-body chill ran through her as Aiden chuckled.
“True, but I needed to prove a point.”
“Which was?”
“That I could have manipulated Piper’s emotions in my favor if I wanted to. I could take away her disdain for me in an instant if I chose to.”
“But you don’t want to?”
“No, Auraelia. I do not want to control a woman’s feelings for me.
I don’t want to control anyone’s feelings; it's not right. Who am I to say how someone should feel?” Aiden ran a hand through his golden locks, mussing up the perfect coif he always wore.
“As an empath, I feel everything. From joy to sorrow and everything in between. It’s draining.
After a while, I struggled to differentiate my emotions and feelings from those around me. So, I just…stopped.”
“So, what? You just shoved your feelings down, locked them in a tight little box so you wouldn’t have to deal with them?”
“Basically.”
“So, what happened with Piper?”