Page 65 of The Call of Crimson (The Crimson & Shadows #2)

Before Aurelius can answer, I cut in, “He’s harmless.”

“Elijah is harmless. Cillian is a menace,” Aurelius says, levelling me with a look I am all too familiar with. Cillian is harmless to me , but he’s far from safe for others. “Actually,” he mutters to Ayden, “the two of you might get along swimmingly.”

Dark shadows bind themselves around Aurelius’ mouth, silencing his whining. “Play nice. It’s Solstice,” I scold.

Yes, Mommy.

I startle, knowing that thought wasn’t my own.

Shaking it off, I turn to Ayden. “Cillian owes me his life. Regardless of how dangerous he can be, he’s not a threat to anyone here.

I’m positive he’s just ensuring Elijah and Ophelia make it to safety because he knows I would legitimately murder him if anything happened to them.

” I twirl a dagger made of shadows for emphasis.

Smirking, Ayden twirls the illusion of a dagger. “You’re kind of intimidating when you want to be.”

“Nice party trick,” I mock.

“You’re getting pretty good at identifying illusions,” Aurelius notes.

“He wasn’t even trying with that one,” I scoff.

Ayden shrugs, letting the illusion evaporate.

“Good morning and Happy Solstice,” Rowina chimes as she breezes into the room. Out of the four of us, she’s the only one dressed, albeit casually, in leggings and a long purple sweater.

Not long after, Charlotte and the queen flow in, both dressed impeccably.

“Is that really what you’re wearing?” The queen asks. Though Ayden, Aurelius, and I are dressed similarly, I somehow know the question and utter disdain in her voice is directed solely at me.

Unbothered by her venom today, I simply shrug and ask, “Would you have preferred I wear less?”

“No,” Ayden and Aurelius say in unison, while Rowina blurts out, “Yes.”

The queen shakes her head. “Insufferable, the lot of you.”

That has the entire room, with the exception of the queen, laughing. It’s true, we are insufferable. Eventually, our laughter catches, and the corner of her mouth quirks up in the faintest smile.

Hours later, we’re seated around the table when Rowina slaps a deck of playing cards in the center. “I thought we could start a new tradition, or rather incorporate an existing one from our new family members, this year.”

My face lights, the corners of my mouth tilting upward into a smile.

“I didn’t have time to collect a bunch of sweets like you told me about,” she explains, setting two trays of leftover cookies in front of us. “But I figured this would do.”

“So, we’re playing cards… and wagering cookies?” Charlotte asks.

“Yes,” Aurelius and I answer as one, pure joy in our reply. Perhaps he is as desperate for a glimpse of home as I am.

“It seems childish,” the queen muses.

“That’s the fun of it,” I explain. “It’s far more entertaining to wager sweets over real coin.”

The queen doesn’t seem convinced.

“One year, Breyla stole a flask of rum and got so drunk she fell into the middle of the desserts, smearing key lime pie all over her leg.” Aurelius’ eyes shine with mischief. “That was actually the highlight of the evening.”

“First, I was fifteen and had never been drunk before. Second, it was Elijah who stole the rum,” I say, ticking off the numbers with my fingers. “And third, it was your rum. So really, this one’s on you.”

Baffled faces stare at me until finally, Charlotte says, “That logic doesn’t track. If anything, you should blame Elijah.”

“Elijah will forever remain blameless in her eyes,” Aurelius grumbles.

I shove him playfully. “Hush, that’s not true.”

Deciding this battle isn’t worth fighting, Aurelius changes the topic. “What about the top wager? Usually, we each gather what we think will be the most decadent dessert to use as our ‘all in’ bet.”

“What about a favor?” Rowina suggests.

“A favor could work,” I agree.

A wicked glint shines in every eye at the table, even the queen’s.

“A favor it is,” Ayden declares before dealing the first hand.

Several rounds later, I slam the cards on the table, yelling a triumphant “Ha!” at Ayden, calling him on his bluff.

With a deep chuckle, he says, “What a clever girl you are.”

My body stiffens at his words, a rush of familiarity pebbling the skin on my neck.

Aurelius narrows his eyes. “What’s wrong, Breyla?”

Ayden gives me a questioning look, gathering the cards to shuffle them. “You okay?”

“You know, there was something that struck me as odd about the conversation I had with my father’s ghost,” I start.

“Wait,” Aurelius interrupts. “You spoke with Ryanor’s ghost, too?”

I snap my attention to him, a brow arching. “Are you telling me you also spoke with my father’s ghost?”

“Do you have a lot of ghosts in Rimor?” Rowina asks.

“No, not many,” I reply, fixing my gaze back on Aurelius. “When was this? What did he tell you?”

“A few weeks after you arrived at court. He asked me to protect you, told me he was murdered, and that he suspected Lord Seamus was behind it. What did he tell you?”

“He told me pretty much that… except that he suspected it was you who killed him.”

Aurelius’ brow furrows. “Why would he tell us…” His voice trails off, his gaze hardening before turning to Ayden.

“You know the curious thing about what he said to me, he called me clever girl ,” I say, my eyes narrowing on Ayden.

The jovial expression has dropped, and he wisely keeps his mouth shut as I continue. “My father never called me that.”

“But you’ve called her that twice now,” Aurelius growls at Ayden.

The whole room is so quiet, I’m not even sure they’re breathing.

“If you have something to say, just say it,” Ayden grits out.

Standing from my chair, I take my time circling the table until I’m next to Ayden. He stands to meet me, and I bring my hand to his cheek, stroking softly as I ask, “Did you use the illusion of my dead father to turn me against Aurelius?”

Ayden takes a deep breath before answering. “That wasn’t exactly the intention, but yes. Your father’s ghost was my illusion.”

I drop my hand from his face, my eyes darting to the side. I can’t look at him right now. My gaze meets Aurelius’ stare. His expression is pure fury on my behalf as I tremble. He nods ever so slightly, letting me know he’s with me.

Curling my hand into a fist, I pull back from Ayden.

“Breyla, I can—” Ayden starts, but is cut off by the punch I throw straight at his nose. Bone crunches beneath my fingers, and I can’t tell if my fingers are broken, but his nose definitely is.

“Fuck,” Ayden seethes, hands flying to his nose to stop the blood flow.

“Breyla!” The queen shouts, outrage filling her tone as she gets up to rush for Ayden.

Ayden throws up his hand, halting her in her tracks. “No, Mother. I quite deserved that.”

Aurelius stands silently behind me, his hand resting supportively on my shoulder. “Do you feel better, little demon?”

“A little. You should give it a try.”

His grin is devilish as he rears back, landing a punch on Ayden’s jaw.

Ayden groans, rubbing at his aching jaw as blood continues running down his face. “Bloody hell, that hurt. Are we done with the punching?”

“Tell us why you’ve been fucking with our court,” I demand. “Did we not have enough going on already?”

Rowina holds out a napkin to Ayden, and he drops back into his chair with a groan.

“Your own ignorance was going to lead to your death,” Ayden starts, his voice muffled by the bloody napkin. “I had to open your eyes to the corruption in your court without directly involving myself. You wouldn’t have even known about the threat of the Fae if it weren’t for me.”

I hate that he’s right. It doesn’t excuse his actions, but it does explain them.

“So you thought impersonating my father’s ghost was the way to do it? Why not just tell me?”

Ayden sighs. “Again, I couldn’t directly involve myself, and be honest, love, would you have actually trusted a word I said?”

Until recently, I believed him to be an enemy seeking vengeance for his father’s death. “Probably not,” I admit.

“What you did was fucked up,” Aurelius says, his lip curling.

“I know,” Ayden says, rubbing his temple.

“If you ever pull something like that again, I will make sure your balls are well acquainted with my dagger,” I threaten.

“I won’t, I promise,” Ayden says sincerely.

I grab all the sugar cookies in front of him. “And I’m taking all of these. You don’t deserve them.”

Ayden stares at his diminished pile of sweets and frowns. “Very well,” he sighs.

I fall back into my chair, shoving a cookie into my mouth. “You seem more upset I took your cookies than you were over being punched.”

“I really like sugar cookies,” he grumbles.

“I could punch you again, if you prefer,” Aurelius offers, and I snicker.

“No, no, I’m okay,” Ayden says, throwing up his arms placatingly. “She can have whatever cookies she wants from me.”

“Deal the next hand,” I demand as I lick the sugar crystals off my fingers in an exaggerated motion meant to taunt him.

Ayden deals the cards, doing his best to ignore my childish behavior. “At least you only have one illusion left to identify,” he says casually.

“What have you identified so far?” Aurelius asks.

“When I had him arrested in Rimor, he wasn’t actually in the room. We arrested an illusion as he watched from elsewhere,” I explain.

Aurelius contemplates the answer a moment before saying, “The forest on the way to Prudia.”

“Come again?” I ask.

“Think, Princess. What did you see that no one else did?” Aurelius asks, and Ayden stiffens. He’s onto something.

I think back to our time in the woods, fighting a blush at the thought of what we did there while Ayden watched. What had I seen that led me there?

“Lord Craylor,” I realize. “He was never really there, was he?”

“Lord Craylor was gone long before we left for Prudia, love,” Ayden confirms. “I needed to see what you’d do when confronted with your mother’s murderer.”

“If I ever see him again, I’ll slit his damn throat,” I growl.

Aurelius slides me a chocolate cupcake and pats my hand gently in reassurance.

He pulls his hand back when the queen shoots him a seething glare.

I bite off a piece of cupcake and look at my cards.

I will not let this information ruin our solstice celebration, even if I have to eat all my cookies by the end of the game.