Page 10 of The Call of Crimson
The grief turns to guilt as I contemplate the question. Since my mother’s death, I had been neglectfully absent. Glancing around the room, I try to read the faces of my companions. “I-I don’t know. I haven’t left my chambers until now.”
“We haven’t been able to locate Lord Craylor,” Jade offers.
Gratitude for her flares in my chest.
“I’ve never trusted him,” I say with disgust.
“Your mother didn’t trust him either,” Elijah adds quietly. “In the months leading up to his death, your father met with Lord Craylor often. And always alone. I remember him making several questionable decisions, skipping council input entirely. I’d bet Craylor was somehow connected to the corruption in the king’s mind.”
Ayden cuts in, voice smooth and inquisitive. “Tell me, darling—what was Lord Craylor’s Gift? Why was he chosen as the court’s spymaster?”
He’s fishing. I know it. But I play along.
“He always knew everything. Court gossip, military secrets, foreign whispers—he had information no one should’ve had. But I guess that’s not strange for a spymaster.”
“Yes, but what was his actualGift?”
Realization hits me, and I grow pale. “I don’t actually know.”
Ayden scans the group. “Does anyone here know?”
Everyone shakes their head.
“How is it possible that no one knows what thespymaster’sGift is?” I ask.
“Because his Gift is unlike any you’ve ever seen before,” Ayden answers.
“Explain,” I demand, voice sharp.
Ayden smirks. “Simple, darling—he’s Fae.”
The room erupts. Voices rise in a cacophony of disbelief, anger, and confusion.
“Silence, all of you,” Jade snaps. Her compulsion Gift rolls through the room like a wave, dousing the noise. She nods to me. “Go ahead, Breyla.”
“How is that possible?” I ask Ayden. “The Fae have been gone for nearly a millennium.”
He raises a brow. “Have they?”
“I know cryptic is kind of your personality, Ayden, but just give us a straight answer,” Aurelius grunts.
“There’s not enough time for an entire history lesson, but the short story is that most of the Fae are gone from this land, but not all. No one alive has seen one in Rimor, so you wouldn’t know if they stood right in front of you.”
“At least that wassort ofan answer,” I say sarcastically.
“She is beautiful, brother. The glimmer in his eyes tells me that Ayden is trying to provoke Aurelius. “But I really don’t understand how that temper of yours ever tolerated her attitude. You two makezerosense together.”
“We make perfect sense. Would you like a demonstration of how well we work together?”
Innuendo and seduction drip off Aurelius’ tongue as his eyes meet mine, heat flaring in the crimson pieces of his dark irises.
“Maybe later,” Ayden winks.
I groan, throwing my head back in frustration. “What have I gotten myself into?”
“I don’t know,” Jade muses, “but I wouldn’t complain if I were stuck in the middle of it.”
I blink at her, startled—and relieved. Her humor is returning.
