Page 66 of The Call of Crimson
I sink into a chair across from Aurelius, flipping open the heavy book.
“You know,” I mutter, “it’s a little ironic you’re suddenly the most well-adjusted of your siblings.”
Aurelius raises a brow at me. “Does that include your father?”
“I mean, he raised me—have you met me?”
“Touché,” Aurelius chuckles, a rare lightness in his voice.
I leaf through pages, scanning centuries of names, physical descriptions, their Gifts, their deeds.
The Mordet family had ruled Prudia for more than fifteen hundred years. Very few had ever thought to challenge or unseat them. Formidable didn’t begin to describe the family.
I’m not sure whether it’s been minutes or hours that have passed when a name catches my attention.
Elythia.
A frustrated grunt escapes me as I try to recall why it feels familiar.
“Something interesting?” Aurelius asks.
“Just… a name. Elythia. I know it, but I can’t place it.”
“Perhaps you're thinking of Elentia—the capital?”
“Maybe that’s it,” I say, but I’m not convinced. “What have you learned?”
“Other than my sister needs better taste in books?” he deadpans.
We both laugh lightly.
“This reads like a history text,” he explains, “but with sections on lore and the Hemophilia Gifts—well, just one of them, actually.”
“Let me guess,” I say, arching a brow. “Yours?”
He nods. “According to this, the ability to manipulate or control blood is incredibly rare, but it passes through bloodlines.”
“That can’t be.” I frown. “Gifts aren’t inherited.”
“Not according to this. Have you noticed the Mordets all carry Gifts from the Anima and Vizie families?”
“The thought had occurred to me, but I wrote it off as a coincidence.”
“Is it, though? Even I carry an Anima Gift. Does your book list Gifts?”
“It does,” I confirm.
“What does it say King Ayden’s Gift was?”
I flip forward, searching for the most recent history.
“King Ayden of Prudia carried the Anima Gift of Empathy and the Vizie Gift of Illusion,” I state. “So if the book is telling the truth, then your Hemonia Gift was inherited from your mother, whomever she may be.”
“It would seem so.”
“Well, it can’t be that hard to narrow down.” My brow furrows. “Like you said, it’s incredibly rare. We find a female with the same Gift, and that’s her?”
“It’s not that simple, Breyla,” Aurelius sighs. “Have you metanyoneelse with my Gift?”
