The Sorrow of Shadows (Crimson & Shadows #1)

Chapter 42

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

brEYLA

W hat I’m doing is undoubtedly the most reckless thing I’ve done in a long while. But I’m desperate, and I need to know what Prince Ayden is up to. Even if I don’t believe he’s responsible for the slew of deaths and attempted murders recently, he is up to something. It’s just a matter of finding out what. My mother plans to announce that she’ll marry Lord Seamus instead of Aurelius tonight, so I’ve run out of time.

It’s midday, and the eyes I have on him show him in the library with his cousin, Charlotte. They are elbows-deep in old parchment and weathered leather books. I’m not sure what they’re researching, but it’s given me the opportunity I need to break into his rooms.

I didn’t tell Aurelius about my plan because he reacted so strangely anytime Ayden was mentioned, and I don’t trust him to not try and stop me. He was busy trying to convince my mother not to accept the engagement to Lord Seamus, so that left me free to do what I needed.

I stand in front of Ayden’s door, letting my shadows out just enough to fill the lock on the door. Once they’ve entered every crevice in the lock, I will them to take a more solid state, essentially creating a shadow key. It works like a charm as I twist my hand and the lock clicks, the door swinging open.

I slip through the door and shut it behind me. When I was in here before, I had noticed Ayden had large stacks of scrolls and letters scattered across the desk in the corner. Fate shines on me as I notice that nothing has changed. The papers still lay in haphazard piles on the desk, devoid of any clear organization.

I get to work shuffling through the documents, trying to find anything of interest. Most of them are letters I’m familiar with—reports on his army and any battles. I’m unaware of any conflict between Prudia and any kingdoms outside of my own. Still, there are numerous reports from who I assume to be his general.

There isn’t time for me to look through those reports fully, but I make a mental note of it. I continue looking through the papers until something catches my eye. A familiar seal and signature sit at the bottom of a letter that makes my blood boil. It’s unaddressed, but as I read the contents my heart sinks at the words.

The King is dead. Though untimely, the people believe it was of natural causes. We know the truth. The princess hasn’t returned home, and the people are restless. I have taken steps to ensure the throne will be ready for you. Now is the time to strike.

Lord Seamus Delencourt

The breath catches in my chest as I read it over and over. Prince Ayden has been working against me the entire time, and I was too stupid to see it. I let the brief moments and small acts of kindness cloud my judgment when it came to him. He’s been working with Lord Seamus to take over my kingdom. Was he behind the attempted assassinations of Aurelius and me? Was Lord Seamus behind my father’s death? I still had so many questions, but one thing I knew for sure. Neither Prince Ayden nor Lord Seamus were to be trusted. They were actively working to take the Rimorian throne.

Not bothering to look through the rest of the papers, I fold the letter neatly and tuck it into the front of my bodice, ensuring it is out of sight.

I exit the room, my heart full of despair and fury.

I arrive at dinner dressed in my leathers, much to my mother’s disappointment. But I know what is about to happen, and I don’t expect it to happen smoothly. This court is full of vipers, and I will not underestimate any of them.

My mother is dressed in a fine navy-blue dress, her strawberry-blonde locks pinned back with a golden crown sitting on top. She looks put together, proper like one would expect from the Queen. But I can see the purple that haunts her under eyes and the red that rings them. I see the weight she’s lost and the way her cheekbones are more prominent. I see her sorrow, and I feel how it echoes my own.

Everyone is present now, each person in their respective seats. I sneak a glance at Lord Seamus out of the corner of my eye. He’s wearing a smug grin, knowing he’s won and eager to let the rest of the room know as well.

As the main course is served, I raise my glass and tap my fork on the side to capture everyone’s attention. Everyone, including my mother, turns their gaze to me.

“I have something to say,” I smile sweetly, trying to fake my excitement.

At my words, the doors open quietly and fully armed guards step in right on time.

“Since my return to the capital there have been three murders and assassination attempts on my and Lord Aurelius's lives. I have evidence to suggest it was all in hopes to usurp the throne of Rimor.” I pause, and startled gasps sound around me. I turn a malicious grin at Prince Ayden.

He’s smirking back at me as I give my next command, “Guards, arrest Prince Ayden II of Prudia for conspiring against the crown and the attempted murders of Lord Aurelius and me.”

The smirk on his mouth doesn’t even falter as he stands and offers himself over to my guards. He even winks at me as they yank his arms behind his back, shackling them in place.

Lady Charlotte stands abruptly with a furious look on her face. “This is preposterous! What proof do you have that Prince Ayden is behind any of this?”

“Stand down, Charlie,” Prince Ayden commands.

“Yes, Charlie , sit down,” I growl. “Before I find charges against you as well.”

With that, she sits, glaring daggers at me.

I pull the letter from Ayden’s room and unfold it. “This letter was recovered from Ayden’s belongings. I think you’ll find the evidence damning.” I recite the letter word for word, finishing it with a “Oh, and guards. This letter is signed by Lord Seamus Delencourt, so arrest him as well.” I say it as an afterthought, but this is the part I’m most excited for.

The smug look from Lord Seamus's face is gone, but a look of pride shines on Ophelia’s. The letters she and Elijah recovered from her father’s study were the final piece of evidence I needed to arrest him. While none of them were ever signed from or addressed to Ayden, it was enough for me to make the connection.

I pull the letters and throw them down in the center of the table. “These were recovered from Lord Seamus's study.”

Lord Seamus stands abruptly, the chair falling backwards and hitting the floor with a loud thud. He opens his mouth to speak, but I’m not done.

“Oh, and the servant that died from eating the poisoned food meant for Lord Aurelius? The poison was water hemlock slipped into the produce shipment from the farmlands owned by Lord Seamus. That took some digging to find out, but you have Lord Craylor to thank for helping me discover that.”

Seamus is apparently too stunned to speak, so I continue, “I discovered the servant we found in the river—her name was Delilah in case you were wondering—had been reassigned from the kitchens just days before her disappearance. What I found interesting was when I tried to pay a visit to her family, the neighbors were under the impression that they had all disappeared in the night. But when I entered their supposedly empty home, I found them all right there. Slaughtered in their beds, even the babe.”

“There is no possible way you connected all of that to me,” Seamus spits. “Especially not from a few letters stolen from my study.”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot that because I’m female, I’m somehow less intelligent. That I couldn’t possibly read your ledgers and piece together that the large sum you paid to ‘M’ was the standard fee that the Midnight Brotherhood charges for mercenary services.” I pause for added effect. “Please, My Lord, do not insult me. You may have paid them well, but I pay them better.” It also helps that the head of the brotherhood was an old friend of mine who owed me a favor.

“You think you’re so clever, Princess. You know nothing,” Seamus snarls.

“Wrong, I know I’m clever. I may not know everything, but I know enough to have you executed for your crimes.” I smirk at him. “Kind of like how you executed Commander Nolan for coming too close to the truth.”

The guards close in on Lord Seamus, pulling his arms behind his back, but he won’t go easy. He thrashes in their grip, desperate to not be shackled.

His eyes dart to the letters on the table, and it finally clicks how I was able to gather this information. Electricity dances in his eyes as he turns his gaze to his daughter.

“You traitorous bitch,” he spits at Ophelia. She doesn’t even recoil from him, just meets his stare and crosses her arms.

“No, Father. You’re the traitor, and I’m done living in fear of you.” Her voice is steady and full of a confidence that wasn’t there when I first met her.

“You will pay for this!” he screams as lightning bursts from his hands into the bodies of my guards. They drop to the floor, their hearts no longer beating.

Everyone else takes a few steps back, not wanting to be his next target. It’s pointless though, because the next target is the raven-haired beauty standing next to Elijah.

Before I can process what’s happening, Lord Seamus pulls a blade I didn’t know he had and throws it straight at Ophelia’s chest. With expert precision, it hits the target with a sickening crunch of steel piercing flesh and bone.

Ophelia’s scream echoes through the room, but it’s not one of pain. I blink rapidly, trying to make sense of what I see before me.

The dagger is protruding not from Ophelia’s chest, but Layne’s. He had stepped in front of the blade to save his sister from their father. Layne drops to his knees, then collapses completely on the floor, blood pooling around him.

“Aurelius!” I shout, and he seems to read my mind. His Hemonia Gift instantly seizes hold of Lord Seamus's body, keeping him immobile and unable to use his power.

I turn back to Ophelia who is on the floor with Layne, tears streaming down her face.

“Why did you do that?!” she screams, but he just stares up at her and smiles.

“I will always—” he chokes on blood pooling in his lungs, “protect my baby sister.” He reaches up and brushes a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“I’m going to save you, okay?” Determination set in her eyes, she reaches to remove the dagger from his chest. Since he was considerably taller than Ophelia, it didn’t hit him directly in the heart, but rather just below.

I notice a familiar scent surrounding the blade, and my shadows dart out and halt her hand before she can touch the handle. “Ophelia, stop.”

“Breyla, I only have minutes before he bleeds out. I have to act now.”

My heart sinks at the words I utter next, “No, you have minutes to say goodbye. That blade is laced with the same poison that claimed Nameah. I’m so sorry.”

Her beautiful gray eyes fill with tears as she turns back to Layne. She cradles his head between her hands and sobs.

“You promised me a grand adventure, brother,” she whispers, tears streaming down her face full force. “You can’t leave me yet.”

“You’ll still go on a grand adventure, O. You’ll just have to do it without me,” he chokes again, blood spilling from the corner of his lips.

“I love you, Layne. How am I supposed to do this without you?”

He shifts his eyes behind her until they land on me, then moves to Elijah’s next. I understand his unspoken words and nod at him, tears filling my eyes. “I love you, too, little sister. So much.” He coughs again, more blood spilling from his lips and covering Ophelia’s face in small splatters.

“No no no,” she cries, and I swear I can hear her heart break in her chest. She leans down until her forehead rests against his.

In the softest whisper, Layne’s final words to her are, “I’ll be waiting for you in Amara.”

Sobs wrack her tiny body as he takes his final, pained breaths. When she pulls back, I see vacant blue eyes staring at the ceiling. Ophelia closes his eyelids and lays one last kiss on his brow. A pained wail crawls out of her shaking body. It’s a sound I’ve never heard at such intensity before.

Elijah reaches for her hand as she passes, but she pulls it out of his grasp and continues moving past him. She rounds the table and stops in front of her father, still immobilized by Aurelius's power.

“Consider this your final lesson in life, Father.” She grips him by the throat, thin fingers digging into the flesh below his jaw and drawing blood. “You never should have underestimated me,” she says as a black glow wraps around her fingers.

It’s reminiscent of the glow her hands take when she heals, but this is black where her healing is white. The black aura spreads down her arms and covers her body in an ethereal, dark glow. Her raven strands lift and float around her, her eyes emanating the same black aura.

Lord Seamus gasps as if struggling for air. His skin begins to lose color and whither as if he’s aging in front of our eyes. The color leeches from his hair next and the muscles on his body sag until his body goes completely limp in her grasp.

A heavy thud sounds as Ophelia drops her father’s dead body to the floor. When she turns to me, the dark has receded, but she’s still glowing. I’m not sure if it’s just me or if she somehow looks healthier. Younger even, perhaps. Something snapped in her and released a new power. Or had she always had this ability ?

Many of the faces in the room look at her in horror, but she doesn’t even notice them. She makes her way back to the other side of the table, everyone giving her a wide berth. She reaches Elijah, and he stares at her in awe.

“My dark goddess,” he whispers reverently.

She stares into his eyes, her own grays glowing as she takes him in. “Not a goddess, but still yours.”

Elijah pulls her into his chest, wrapping an arm around her lower back to hold her close. She relaxes into his grip and goes limp in his arms. The overwhelming use of a new power drags her to sleep.

“So, Lord Seamus and Prince Ayden were behind all the recent deaths? Even the King’s?” Lord Jaeson questions.

I nod. “I believe so, yes. I?—”

“No,” my mother’s voice echoes into the room.

“Mother?” I turn a questioning look to her.

“At the risk of causing more death, I need to set the record straight,” she says as she stands and clears her throat.

Lord Craylor steps up to her, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. He hands her a wine goblet and whispers something in her ear. She nods and takes a sip of the wine before continuing. “The only one responsible for the king’s death...is me.”

Chaos erupts around me as a chorus of voices ring out, all indecipherable in the cacophony that fills the room. The guards look to me for direction, but I have nothing to give them.

I stare at the female who birthed me and try to piece together what she just said. She killed Father? How could that be possible?

I move toward her, desperate for her to say she’s lying, that she had nothing to do with his death. Before I can ask any of my questions, she drops to the floor.

“Mother!” I scream and drop to my knees before her. In the next beat, Aurelius is on her other side, holding her left hand in his own .

Blood trickles her mouth and nose. I know what Aurelius is going to say before he opens his mouth. “It’s the same poison, Breyla. It’s coursing through her veins. She must have ingested it.” He looks at me with panicked eyes.

I hold his stare as we both grapple with the reality that we have to hold another person as they die from this mystery poison. There’s nothing we can do but watch our hearts die before our eyes.

When my mother opens her mouth, she calls out a name I wasn’t expecting. “Elijah,” she croaks.

He’s next to her a heartbeat later. She reaches a shaking hand to his cheek, and he grasps it. Elijah says nothing as she shares something with him. He nods at her, tears in his own eyes.

She turns her gaze to me next and strokes my cheek. Tears are falling full force down my face. I brush a strawberry-blonde curl from her face as I tell her, “I love you, Mom. I’m sorry I never said it enough.”

“I love you, too. We were both so proud of you, keep making us proud.” Her breath is wheezing, and it’s growing harder for her to speak.

Slowly she turns her head to Aurelius. “I love you, too. Take care of my daughter, or I’ll find a way to haunt you.”

Aurelius trembles and strokes her hand still clutched between his. “I love you, Gen. I’m sure you’ll haunt me, regardless.”

She takes another wet, choking breath and looks back at me.

“I’m going to make it stop now, Gen,” Aurelius says before looking at me. “She’s choking on her own blood, Breyla. Let me give her peace.”

“Just like falling asleep, okay?” I nod to him but keep my eyes on her.

He lays a hand on her chest, and her eyes fall closed the next moment, her heart slowing to a stop. As her heart ceases beating, I feel my own crumble in my chest. That gaping wound left by my father, Julian, and Nameah is ripped open. The female who had loved me longest, who had given me life and been there for me even when I didn’t want it—is just gone.

The next sound I register is the slow clap coming from the other end of the dining room.

“I must say, I’m impressed that you figured out as much as you did, Princess.” Prince Ayden’s voice grows louder the closer he comes. I’m filled with confusion as I try to understand how he’s walking free, not shackled. “You missed a few key facts, though. I didn’t have anything to do with the murders or the botched assassinations,” he says, picking an invisible piece of lint from his shirt. “In fact, you’ll find that the one Seamus was working with is much closer to home than you might have imagined.”

He turns his gaze to Aurelius, and his next words shake the foundation of my world. “But we can fill my fiancé in on that during our trip home. Can’t we, brother?”