Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Auraelia
The party was in full swing when Auraelia and Daemon made their way to the ballroom.
Music filled the space, mingling in the air with trills of laughter and the clink of glasses as people reveled in the calm before the impending storm.
Auraelia’s heart clenched in her chest—an ache radiating down into her very soul—as she stopped in the doorway to watch her people.
How many of them would live to see the sunrise in two days’ time? Would they survive to see their loved ones grow into the people they were destined to be? Make it through to have children at all?
Would she?
She was as prepared as she could be. Trained until her muscles screamed for a break and her magic dimmed in her veins.
But still, there was a lingering thought in the back of her mind.
Would she be the one who walked off the battlefield victorious?
Or would Davina come out on top, finally achieving the goal she’d set out to obtain by prying Auraelia’s kingdom from her grasp?
Daemon’s hand tightened around her own, and it was as if she could finally take in a full breath.
She turned her face his way, and the love in his eyes sent flutters through her stomach.
But then he smiled that crooked smile that always made her knees weak, and those flutters grew wings.
The way he could read her body and sense every time she began to spiral into the darkest corners of her mind would never cease to amaze her.
The way he always seemed to know just what to do or say to pull her back from that ledge.
He’d always been able to read her, but as they grew closer, as their magic and souls seemed to meld together, it was as if a piece of him had seeped into her very being, giving him unfettered access to everything she was.
“Breathe, my love. They know what is to come and what they are fighting for.”
“That doesn’t make this any easier,” she whispered, turning her gaze back toward the people gathered.
“I know, but I also know that they would gladly die for you and your reign. As would I.” Auraelia’s gaze snapped to his, and his smirk shifted into a smile full of warmth. “Come on. Tomorrow will come soon enough, and I want to enjoy this night with you.”
Daemon tugged on her hand, gently guiding her further into the ballroom and the revelry around them, and she couldn’t help but return his smile.
As they neared the center of the room, he pulled her flush to his body, his arm snaking around the small of her back as he pressed a kiss to her brow. “Dance with me?”
Auraelia tilted her face toward his, watching his eyes flick between her own as if he worried she would deny him that simple request. A soft smile pulled up the corners of her lips as she cupped his cheek in her hand. “Until the stars fall from the heavens.”
It wasn’t until Auraelia stepped out into the garden for a moment of fresh, cool air that she realized how much time had passed. Stars filled the sky, twinkling against the velvety darkness that blanketed overhead with the absence of the moon.
A heaviness began to settle in her chest as reality attempted to creep in, but as she inhaled the crisp winter air, she pushed it down and smiled.
Time sped by, seconds ticking into minutes and hours, and there was no stopping it—regardless of how much she wished to.
But that night hadn’t been measured in the minutes that made up so many of her days.
She measured it in the laughter that still echoed through the ballroom and filtered out the empty windowpanes.
In the twirls around the dance floor wrapped in Daemon’s arms, and the drinks and stories that had been shared with her people.
Auraelia took a steadying breath as she stared into the moonless sky, its implications settling into her bones as resignation made its home in her soul.
Dalia—the Goddess of Fate—had already decided how the battle would end.
She’d decided who would walk away from the field victorious.
And though Auraelia didn’t know—or understand—the reasons why, she had no choice but to accept the path that had been laid before her…
she just hoped that the goddess was on her side.
The air grew colder the longer she stood outside the ballroom, but she stayed.
She let herself get lost in the formation of the stars, sought out the clusters that Daemon had shown her, and allowed her mind to wander.
She’d just found the ones that made the shape of an archer when she sensed Daemon behind her.
She kept her face tilted toward the sky and smiled as his arms wrapped around her torso. She leaned back into his touch.
“Find what you’re looking for, my star?” His breath was hot against her neck, his lips soft as he trailed a line of kisses down the column of her throat.
“I think it found me.”
She felt him smile as he pressed another kiss to her neck before gently turning her to face him. “Do you think they’ll miss us if we escape for a little while?”
Auraelia quirked a brow, her head canting slightly as she searched his face in the dim light that filtered out of the ballroom. “Escape to where?”
Daemon’s mischievous grin was infectious, and she couldn’t help but return it. He pulled her to him, and shadows whisked them away into the night.
When the shadows dissipated, Auraelia’s brows pinched as she took in the familiar line of trees. “Nefeli Lake?”
Daemon’s arms slipped from around her, his hand sliding into hers as he guided her through the trees.
“While I was in Kalmeera, I did some digging in the archives for any information that may be helpful in the battle against Davina. And though I didn’t find anything that would help you or us, I did find something interesting. ”
“Oh?” Auraelia asked, intrigued—but also slightly confused—as to where this conversation could possibly be going and what it had to do with the lake. When the silence lingered, she let out a small laugh. “Care to share what that discovery was?”
“Patience, my star.” He replied, laughing when she groaned in disapproval. “It’s worth the wait, I promise.”
When they arrived at the willow, Auraelia sent a wisp of magic to pull the vines aside and let Daemon guide her through them and to the bank on the other side. Fireflies danced in the tall grass surrounding the lake, and the stars were a shimmering reflection on the water’s still surface.
They sat in silence, staring up at the stars that twinkled overhead, but when it lingered too long, Auraelia turned toward him. “Daemon—”
“When you brought me here the first time, I remember my first thought being that it looked like a piece of my home had been dropped into yours. And at the time, it seemed far-fetched and nonsensical. But, when I was in the archives, I found a box full of journals and letters.” Daemon pulled his gaze from the stars and turned toward her, grasping her hands.
“Journals and letters from Killian and Astraea.”
Auraelia’s heart leaped into her throat, her eyes flicking frantically between his as she waited for him to continue.
“Those dreams we’ve been having? They truly are memories, Auraelia. And this place?” He released one of her hands to gesture around them. “This was a gift from Killian to Astraea.”
“I—I don’t understand.”
Daemon pulled her into his lap and cupped her face between his hands. “I don’t know how he did it, he didn’t say in the journal entry I read, but somehow he got a piece of the Sapphire Isles to Lyndaria. He gave her a piece of his home, of him, after she became engaged.”
“But, he was married… wasn’t he?”
“He was.” He nodded gravely. “But it seems that he was still holding onto some shred of hope that they could be together. That if she wasn’t married, he could still have her.”
Auraelia tracked his movement as he dropped her hand and reached into his vest pocket. When he pulled out an aged piece of parchment, her breath caught in her throat.
“Here. It might make more sense if you read it for yourself. I think it’s a draft of the letter he sent to her.”
She didn’t understand why her hands were trembling as she gently took the paper from Daemon. Tears were already welling in her eyes as she thought back to the pain she’d endured in her dreams. Pain that had felt so real…because it had been. She’d been reliving a love that had ended in heartbreak.
She unfolded the parchment with gentle fingers, smoothing out the creases before running her finger along the one jagged edge from where Daemon had pulled it from its binding.
The writing seemed rushed; some of the lines had been crossed out, and there appeared to be tear stains where the ink had run.
Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Auraelia inhaled deeply, letting it out slowly as she read the first line on the page.
Tears streamed down Auraelia’s face.
Tears for the love that was lost lifetimes ago and for the love that had been renewed between herself and Daemon.
Carefully, she refolded the parchment and handed it back to him. “How—how could she just let him go?” Her voice quavered as she spoke, and he gently wiped away the tears that continued to fall.
“She did what she thought was best for her people; they both did.”
His words struck a chord, like a bolt of lightning straight to her heart. She’d done the same thing. Repeated a history that had been lost or unknown for centuries.
“I’m so sorry, Daemon. I—”
“Have nothing to be sorry for, my star.” His finger slid beneath her chin, and he tilted her face up toward his. “You did what you thought was best for your people; I cannot blame you for that. You also came back to me. You let me in, and for that, I will be forever grateful.”
My star.
Suddenly, his nickname for her held more weight than it previously had. They’d unknowingly followed in their ancestor’s footsteps. Step by step, history had begun to repeat itself; she just hoped their ending wouldn’t be the same.
“Daemon—”
“I love you, Auraelia. Even if the stars fall from the sky. Even if the world is cinders around us, I will always love you.”
A sob caught in her throat. How he could still love her after everything she’d put him through, Auraelia would never understand. But it was also something she would never take for granted again. “I love you, too.”
Daemon’s lips pressed against hers, soft yet demanding as his hands twisted in the strands of hair at the base of her skull. When he broke away, his words were barely a whisper against her lips. “Marry me.”
Daemon
It wasn’t a question or a demand.
It was more of a plea.
Nothing in this world would have made him happier at that moment than to hear her say yes, but instead, she pulled back, confusion swirling in her slate-gray eyes as they flicked between his own.
“What?”
“Marry me, Auraelia.”
A small laugh slipped from her lips, but there was a light in her eyes that would rival the sun on the brightest day. “How much did you have to drink tonight?”
“Enough to give me the courage to beg you to be my wife, but not so much that I don’t mean every word that I’m saying. Marry me, my star. Please.”
“Daemon—” she chided gently, her thumb idly running across his cheek. “There is a war coming. It’s right outside our doors, and you’re asking me to marry you?”
“Yes, I am. Nothing would make me happier in this world than to have you by my side. To know that nothing, not even death, could tear us apart. Please,” he rested his forehead against hers. “Say you’ll be mine.”
Auraelia released a breath and leaned into him. “My love, I have always been yours. From the moment we met, you have had a hold on me. But—”
“But what, Auraelia?” he asked, pulling away once more as a heavy stone settled in his stomach.
“But now is not the time. If we make it through this war—”
“When,” he amended, and the smile she gave him had his heart skittering in his chest.
“Ask me when we make it to the other side of this. When the fate of our people isn’t hanging in the balance. Ask me when nothing else is on my mind but you.”
Daemon gave a slight shake of his head, then briefly pressed his lips to hers. “It’s not the answer I was hoping for, but it is the one I will accept…for now.”
“Thank you.” She smiled as her lips met his, and when she pulled away, she said, “Come on, we should get back.”
“If you insist,” he groaned as she climbed off his lap and stood, reaching out her hand to help him up as well.
They hadn’t been gone more than an hour by the time they returned to the castle, and it seemed as if no one had noticed their absence at all.
Though the crowd had thinned some, people were still milling about in groups, and a few remaining couples were wrapped in each other as they swayed to the music.
The ale had run out fairly early in the festivities, so as the night pressed on, it had become more of a gathering of friends instead of the party usually held in the grand room.
As they walked through the doors, Piper ran up to them, her face flushed with a broad smile across her lips. “Well?” she asked as she clasped Auraelia’s hands.
Daemon snickered as Auraelia’s wide eyes swung in his direction.
“He didn’t tell me anything, I saw it, but the vision faded before I could see your answer.”
“Piper,” Auraelia admonished playfully. “When there is something to tell, you will be the first to know.”
“You said no?!”
“No, it was more of an ‘ask me when the world isn’t ending’,” Daemon supplied, smirking at the glare the two best friends shared. It turned into a full-fledged, amused smile when Piper softly screeched Auraelia’s name.
“Piper, stop,” Auraelia said with a laugh as she dragged her friend toward the tables of food, casting a smile over her shoulder at him before giving her her full attention.
Daemon watched from a distance as their conversation grew more animated.
But the lightness that had filled him from his time at the lake with Auraelia died away as Lord Harland crossed the room to where the women stood.
When he extended his hand toward Auraelia, Daemon’s jaw clenched with painful tightness, and he was sure his teeth would crack under the pressure.
But when she took Lord Harland’s hand, her entire body stiff as he led her out to the dance floor, Daemon’s shadows revolted against the stranglehold he had on them.
How she managed to allow that man to touch her was beyond him, but he knew there was nothing he could do but watch.