Page 9 of A Curse of Breath and Blood

Caiden collapsed onto one of the plush couches. “Young love is a powerful drug. I only wanted the best for Aelia. I didn’t know what her mother was.”

Lucius clicked his tongue. “The blood binding should have given you a clue.”

Roderick entered the room carrying three mugs of mulled wine. “Your honor gets you in trouble, my friend.”

“I can’t change. It’s been ingrained into me since birth. You know my father. His honor is his life. Besides, it’s my fault we’re in this situation in the first place. I’m the one who sent Baylis out into the wilderness. I’m the one who should rescue her.”

Caiden fiddled anxiously with the rings on his fingers.

Both men fell silent. Five years ago, Caiden put Baylis on a horse and sent her into the night—never to be seen again until now.

“You did what you had to,” Lucius said, “She would’ve been killed, and Aelia would have never forgiven you.”

Caiden braced his elbows on his knees, staring into the fire. “She hasn’t forgiven me now.”

Lucius shrugged. “True, but at least her sister is alive.”

“I guess the Fates wanted us to end up here.”

Roderick handed Caiden a mug, and he gratefully slugged it down. The acidic taste of the wine and spices sent a fuzzy feeling through his body.

“Or maybe we upset their plans.” Roderick drained the mug of mulled wine. Not even a blush reddening his face.

Caiden rolled his eyes. “Let’s get back to the task at hand. Baylis Springborn rides with Gideon. There’s no telling what kind of monster he’s made her.”

“Yeah, look what he did to Aelia,” Lucius mumbled under his breath, not bothering to look up from the book he was pretending to read.

“Bite your tongue, Lucius. We may have our differences, but she’s one of us.”

Fire burned in Caiden’s chest.

“She lost that privilege when she burned her kingdom to the ground and abandoned us… abandoned you.”

Lucius pointed at Caiden, shoulders rigid with anger.

Blood boiled in Caiden’s veins. Despite their history, Caiden did not hate Aelia. Life took her down a different path. True, he could not forgive her for some of the things she did, but she could be redeemed. “That was a long time ago, Lucius. Let it go. We just need to get Baylis back, and then we can all go our separate ways.” His heart ached at the thought of their last meeting.

I never loved you, Caiden.Leaning back on the couch, he swallowed the lump in his throat.

Pushing his round spectacles up his nose, Lucius gave Caiden a knowing look. “Promise me you will not fall in love with her again.”

Caiden choked out a laugh. “I’m married.”

“Your wife would understand. People fall in love with people who aren’t their partners all the time. Especially lords.”

“Yeah, I used to fall in love with every man and woman I met,” Roderick chimed in.

“We’re not all honey tongues, Roderick,” Lucius snipped at him.

Roderick shrugged. “Maybe I’ll woo Gideon into giving us Baylis back.”

Raising his mug of mulled wine, Caiden said, “Now, that would be a sight.”

The men clinked their drinks.

As the evening progressed, the three friends gradually fragmented their separate ways. Caiden retreated to his shared room with Lucius only to lay awake.

Tapping his hands on his chest, he thought about how his lifehad come to this point. Once in line to command all the sylph armies, a fateful arrow ended his career. Now, he spent his days managing the Stromland kingdom with his brother while their father sat on the High Council in the capital city of Vantris. An honorable life, but not the one he dreamed of.

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