The Sorrow of Shadows (Crimson & Shadows #1)

Chapter 39

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

brEYLA

T he next day Elijah, Aurelius, and I leave the castle walls in search of Delilah’s family. Elijah was able to locate the part of Ciyoria they live in, but it will take some time to find their home. Having never been there, I rely on neighbors and other residents to point us in the right direction.

Today is the first day I can feel the coming autumn. There is a slight breeze that rustles the multicolor leaves that fill the trees around us. It’s the first day that I’m not sweating by midday, and I can finally let my hair hang loosely down my back without it sticking to my neck. I let out a contented sigh, relishing in the momentary peace.

“You seem happy today, B,” Elijah says, nudging me in the shoulder as we walk.

“I’m just enjoying the peace while it lasts. And the weather is beautiful,” I say with a smile.

“Autumn has always been your favorite season,” Elijah says.

“It never lasts long enough,” Aurelius adds.

“Agreed,” I say, grinning at him .

We walk a few more minutes in silence, just taking in the sounds and scenery of the capital. The area we’re going to is a less affluent and older part of the city. I hate that anyone in my kingdom would want for anything, but I’m also not na?ve enough to believe it doesn’t happen. I hadn’t given it much thought previously, but my conversation with Nameah shifted my perspective. Her family had struggled, asked for help, and were denied by the people sworn to protect them. I couldn’t continue to live in denial. This kingdom isn’t perfect, and there are people that struggle, but I want to change that.

The houses gradually decrease in size, the paint more weathered, and some showing signs of damage. I wonder how much of it is truly neglect and how much is due to the owners not having the resources to fix their homes. We reach the section of the city that Delilah was from and split up to speak with the people who live there.

I knock on the first door I come to. The paint is chipped away, and the glass in the windows is cracked. I make a mental note to send masons into this section of the city to make repairs before winter arrives. A thin female with wispy brown hair answers the door. There’s a baby on her hip and a toddler hiding behind her legs.

“Can I help you, Your Highness?” she asks, her eyes cast downward.

“I hope so, miss...?” I ask, waiting for her name.

“Emilia, Your Highness.”

I smile, trying my best to put her at ease. “Well, Emilia, I’m trying to locate a family that lives in this area of the city. Do you know the Howards?”

“I’m afraid I don’t. There’s a lot of us in this neighborhood. Hard to know everyone.” She shrugs, shifting the baby from one hip to the other.

“Of course, thank you,” I say, and she nods, moving to close the door .

“Can I ask you one other thing?” I ask, using my hand to stop the door from closing.

“Of course, Your Grace,” Emilia says respectfully.

“Is there anything you need help with?”

“I don’t understand what—” she starts with a confused look on her face.

“Like anything that needs to be fixed on your house, more food, or clothes for your children? Anything like that?” I clarify.

“I, um...I don’t...” Her voice trails off.

“You can be honest with me, Emilia.”

“Yes. We always need more. My husband works from sunup to sundown every day and still we struggle to make it. But we aren’t the only ones. Everyone here—in this part of the city—we could all use more. We’re hungry, and cold, and tired.” She finishes, and my face falls at her response.

“Thank you, Emilia. You’ve been a great help. I hope you have a good evening,” I say solemnly.

She closes the door, and I continue to the next house. I talk to several more people, but none know where the Howards live. After a few more I catch up with Elijah and Aurelius.

“Have you found anything?” I ask them both.

“I talked to one male who said he didn’t know where they lived but had heard they had left town suddenly. No one has seen them in at least a week,” Elijah supplies.

“I spoke with one family who said they lived a few streets over and several others who have complained about the smell of this area,” Aurelius adds.

“Well, both of those are far more than I found. Let’s start with the houses nearby. Not sure what we can really do about how this area smells. I can’t say I’ve noticed anything, though.”

They both shrug, and we head toward the street Aurelius indicated. As we approach, I start noticing an odor, but I can’t place what it is. I ignore it as we knock on the first door .

An older male, with graying hair and bright eyes, answers the door.

“My Lords, Your Majesty, how unexpected. Is there something I can help you with?” he asks.

“Yes, sir,” Elijah says, smiling at him. “We’re looking for the Howard family. Have you seen them?”

“Not in several days, I’m afraid. The others say they came into some money and disappeared into the night. Off to better places, I suppose.”

“Can you tell us which house was theirs? We’d really like to locate them, so maybe they left something behind to let us know where they went.” Elijah just has a way of getting people to open up to him.

“Sure thing, they lived in the house three down from here. The one with the red door,” the male answers, smiling at us.

“One last thing—does it always smell like this?” I ask.

“No, not usually. That’s a pretty recent development.”

“Very well, thank you so much for your time,” I say.

As we near the house he specified, the smell intensifies. It’s rather unpleasant and has my stomach rolling. I don’t bother knocking, since everyone here seems to think they disappeared. The door opens easily and swings open. The stench becomes unbearable, and I suddenly realize what it is we’re smelling.

It’s the scent of decaying flesh, and I don’t know why I hadn’t recognized it sooner. I gag, trying to keep the contents of my stomach from coming back up. Raising my arm to my face, I try to block out the smell of putrid flesh. My eyes water as I attempt to breathe through my mouth.

“Dear gods, this is awful,” Elijah remarks, covering his nose as we enter the home.

“It doesn’t matter how often you smell rotting flesh, you never get used to it,” I remark.

“I wouldn’t want to...” Elijah’s voice trails off as he bends over, dry heaving. Luckily, nothing comes up, but I can tell it’s a fight to keep it down.

We move toward the bedrooms at the back of the small house. I push open the door and reach for the wall to balance. The sight that greets us has my heart sinking. “I think it’s safe to say we found the Howard family. But we weren’t the first...” I sigh.

A male and female I assume to be Delilah’s parents lay in bed, their throats slit and eyes closed. From the looks of it, they were probably slaughtered in their sleep, completely unaware they were being hunted. Red soaks the sheets below them, the blood long dried. Flies buzz around their bodies, the skin bloated.

I move onto the next room with Elijah and Aurelius behind me. This room belongs to the Howard children. The body of a teenage female lies on the floor, eyes open and staring at the wall. It appears she was not as lucky as her parents.

"She saw her death coming, and from the looks of it she tried to fight. Her throat isn’t slit cleanly like her parents. There are stab wounds in her chest and crimson blood has pooled down her nightgown and on the floor beneath her body.” I nearly choke on the words.

Moving further into the room, I lose the battle to keep my breakfast down. The contents of my stomach reappear on the floor before me. I’m bent over, heaving as tears stream down my face.

“My gods...” Aurelius’s voice trails off in horror.

“They slaughtered them all in their sleep, even...” Elijah starts, but can’t seem to finish his sentence. The contents of his stomach join my own on the floor.

“Even the babes,” I whisper through sobs as I stare down at the body of a female infant and male toddler in their beds.

“Who would do this?” Elijah asks, his voice full of dismay. “ What could they possibly have known or done that would put a target like this on their backs?”

“I doubt there is anything that could ever justify this.” My voice is quiet as tears continue streaming down my cheeks.

Aurelius pulls me into his chest, turning my face away from the scene before us. Silent sobs wrack my body, and I mourn for the lost lives of my people. His hands trail up and down my back in a soothing motion.

We say nothing more until we’re back outside the house. “Who do you think is responsible, Breyla?” Elijah asks.

“Who I think is responsible and who actually wielded the blade are two different things.” I chew my bottom lip as I work to puzzle it all out. “We need proof before we can accuse Lord Seamus of this, but I need to pay a visit to a certain king. This wasn’t carried out by soldiers. This is the work of mercenaries. Of that, I am sure.”