The Sorrow of Shadows (Crimson & Shadows #1)

Chapter 37

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

brEYLA

“ W hat are we doing?” I whisper to Elijah, who is currently leaning on the door to my mother's chambers.

He startles, jumping back from the door. “Shit, Brey. Warn a guy when you’re sneaking up on him.”

“What fun would that be?” I scrunch my nose and grin.

“What kind of fun are we having?” Aurelius asks as he rounds the corner.

“Will you two be quiet?” Elijah whisper-yells, leveling a glare at us. He leans into the Queen’s door again, trying to hear the conversation.

Suddenly, he jerks back and ushers me and Aurelius down the hall and around the corner. Just as we are out of sight, the queen’s door slams shut, and the muttered curses of Lord Seamus can be heard moving in the opposite direction from our hiding place.

After a few more seconds, Elijah turns to Aurelius and me. I wave my hand to say, ‘Go on, tell us. ’

“The Queen summoned me to her chambers, but when I got here, it was obvious someone was already there.”

“She summoned us as well.”

“I overheard a conversation between her and Lord Seamus. It seemed...tense.”

“What was said?” Aurelius inquires.

“I didn’t catch all of it, but it might be easier to show you.” He beckons us closer, lifting a hand to each of our temples to replay the memory into each of our minds.

“Your Majesty, you cannot expect the council to continue supporting your rule when you refuse to set a date for your wedding to Lord Aurelius,” the slimy voice of Lord Seamus sneered. He sounded angry.

I wasn’t purposely eavesdropping, but it would be rude to interrupt such a juicy conversation. Eager to hear the Queen’s response, I maintained my position outside her chamber doors. The queen had summoned me to her chambers but didn’t provide a reason. I didn’t anticipate walking in on such a tense conversation.

“I expect you to remember your place, Lord Seamus. I demand for you and the rest of the council to respect your queen and the timeline in which she remarries.” The Queen’s voice was muffled, but clear enough I could hear the venom in her tone.

“Admit this engagement to Lord Aurelius is a sham; a lie meant to appease the council but lacking intention to follow through.” Lord Seamus's words were bold, bolder than I’ve ever heard anyone except Breyla use with her.

I felt the queen’s icy powers drift through the door at the same time as Lord Seamus's pain-filled hiss could be heard.

My brow furrows as the memory finishes, and I look to Aurelius.

“Did any of that make sense to you?” I ask, my voice wavering.

He shakes his head, a frustrated look on his face. “It’s nothing she’s brought up to me.” His jaw clenches, and a look of hurt briefly flickers in his eyes before he casts them downward.

“Well, since she called us all here, maybe we’re about to find out what that was about,” I muse, but I’m not entirely sure.

“Well, let’s find out,” Elijah suggests as he moves back down the hall to my mother’s chambers.

His knuckles wrap on the queen’s door a second before it flies open, like she was waiting for us. The queen’s normally bright-blue eyes are dull, dark circles framing her blonde lashes.

“Come in,” she says sternly, ushering us in.

Once we’re inside, she uses her magic to lock the door and immediately throws up a silencing shield.

“So, what’s this meeting all about?” I start.

“I wanted to discuss what you and Aurelius discovered on your journey to recover Julian’s body,” Queen Genevieve explains. I just don’t think it’s a conversation the whole council needs to be a part of.”

“Because you don’t trust them?” I guess.

“Not all of them,” she admits.

“Lord Seamus?” I push.

“I haven’t trusted Lord Seamus in years, but he’s become even harder to trust since your father’s death.”

“Do you think he had anything to do with Raynor’s death?” Aurelius asks.

“Why would you ask that? There was nothing to suggest foul play with his death; just an unfortunate, much-too-early passing.” Her voice is hard as she answers. This is a sore topic for her.

“You didn’t answer Aurelius's question, Mother.” I narrow my gaze at her .

“No, I don’t think so. Now drop it.” Her tone brokers no room for argument. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. She’s not saying something, but now isn’t the time to push .

We all take a seat in the chairs occupying the queen’s receiving area. “Now tell me everything,” she commands.

I spend the next ten minutes relaying the same information I had shared in the training room two nights before. The entire time my mother stays silent, ingesting the details and considering them all before she speaks.

“How interesting,” she finally says. “I’ve never encountered magic or a shield like you described.”

“You don’t think it could be one of our own?” Elijah asks, voice full of uncertainty.

“No, I think we would have heard of someone with abilities like that before now. You can’t hide that kind of power for long. They must have come from one of the neighboring kingdoms, but...” She trails off, deep in thought.

“But what?” Aurelius pushes.

“It doesn’t mean they aren’t working with someone within the kingdom. There’s too much coincidence for me to believe it was happenstance. They had to have knowledge that would be impossible to know without an inside source.”

Anxiety churns in my gut at the implications. There was likely someone in the castle that we couldn’t trust.

“Any guesses who?” Elijah asks.

Mother contemplates for a moment, before sighing. “It’s hard to say for sure. Only because there are several I don’t trust lurking in these halls.”

I grunt in agreement, but Aurelius asks, “Could it be Lord Seamus?”

“You really don’t like him, do you?”

Aurelius snorts. “Does anyone?”

Mother chuckles. “No, I don’t think so. But that brings me to another point. I may have found a way to end our engagement.” A feeling sparks in my chest that I don’t want to acknowledge and will have to inspect later.

“Oh?” Aurelius asks, his voice full of intrigue .

“Lord Seamus is convinced our engagement is a ruse.” She laughs, but it lacks real humor. “He has offered himself as an alternative.”

“That snake,” Aurelius hisses.

“What do you care? You’re fucking my daughter, and it would leave you free to do so openly,” she scoffs.

“I care because you’re still my best friend, Gen, and he’s a shit male,” Aurelius snaps back. “You’d be in a loveless, miserable match. He’s got ulterior motives.”

“Of course he’s got ulterior motives,” Mother says, rolling her eyes. “ Anyone who offers themselves for the job would have ulterior motives. That’s why I approached you first. I knew you wouldn’t be like them.” Her voice softens as she finishes her explanation.

Elijah's bewildered gaze finds mine, a question in his eyes. I shoot him a look that says, ‘ I’ll tell you later ’.

“I’m sorry, Gen,” Aurelius says, his voice apologetic. “You know I’d do anything to help or protect you. I just...”

“Fell in love with my daughter?” she offers softly. I stiffen at my mother’s bold words. We hadn’t named this thing between us, but apparently she had.

Aurelius reaches for my mother and wraps her in his arms. She returns his embrace as he mumbles, “Something like that.”

Unsure of how to respond to the scene before me, I clear my throat and ask, “You’re not seriously considering his proposal, are you?”

“What other option do we have?”

Aurelius pulls back from Genevieve and gives her an incredulous look. “You just said you don’t trust him! Tell me you’re kidding. You deserve so much better.”

“Aurelius, I wouldn’t really trust anyone offering themselves for the job at this point.” Her face falls at the admission. “I don’t know that I really do deserve better,” she whispers. Seeing her so vulnerable and defeated is new, and I don’t like it.

“Of course you deserve better!” Aurelius bellows.

A tear forms at the corner of her eye, and I watch as it runs down the porcelain skin of her cheek. “The decisions I’ve had to make...” she says, her voice trailing off. She catches herself, clears her throat, and sits up straighter. “Regardless, I will accept Lord Seamus' proposal. I don’t have to love him; he will be a king in name only. I’ll be damned if he thinks he can take control of my kingdom.”

There she is, my fierce mother.

“Mom, there’s something else I need to ask you about.” My voice is hesitant, not wanting to talk about this.

“What is it, dear?”

“I need to know how Father was behaving before his death.”