Page 94 of The Call of Crimson
“This isn’t how it’s told in Rimor,” I whisper. Shame and sadness fill me thinking of what my ancestors had allegedly done.
Aurelius returns from his search, new book in hand. “Not how what’s told?”
“Your grandmother’s tragic origin story,” Ayden explains.
“Excuse me?” I stutter, just as Aurelius says, “You know who she is?”
“Perhaps we should start over from the beginning,” Ayden suggests.
He spends the next several minutes recounting the story I had just read. My stomach drops when he gets to the part about them murdering Olivia and Finn.
If the story were true, there is nothing I can use to justify my ancestors slaughtering innocent children just because they might one day be powerful enough to challenge the ruling family.
“Why should we believe you?” Aurelius finally asks.
“You would know if I’m lying, and you can tell I’m not right now.”
“I know you believe this to be the truth, but that doesn’t mean it actually happened. History can be altered.”
“And it has,” Ayden replies, rubbing his temple. “Rimor’shistory was altered. What reason would I have to fabricate this?”
“I don’t know,” Aurelius sneers. “I don’t pretend to know your reason for a lot of the things you do.”
“To the best of my knowledge, this is the factual account of what happened to Myer and Elythia nearly eight hundred years ago.” Ayden sighs. “But it doesn’t stop there.”
“There’s more to this horror story?”
I had taken countless lives, both on and off the battlefield. Never an innocent, never on purpose. The thought of murdering babes in their cribs has me stifling a sob.
“There are details I’m unclear of, but I am relatively certain that Elythia had another child with another Fae and that child grew up to be your mother, Aurelius.”
“W-what?” Aurelius stammers.
I narrow my eyes. “Why would you say that?”
“Because it was the last thing our father confessed before he died.” Ayden pauses, a heavy silence filling the room. “I had to put some things together, but that was the most obvious conclusion.”
“It’s not obvious to me, so explain how you came to that conclusion,” Aurelius replies.
“Father admitted that he had created a child with a beautiful traveling female, but held regret that you had become lostto him. Shortly after finding out she was carrying you, she disappeared, leaving my father heartbroken.”
“What was her name?” Aurelius breathes.
“He never told me,” Ayden admits. “But he said she was the most beautiful female he had ever seen. Long, raven black hair, violet eyes that almost seemed to glow red when her emotions were high.”
The red in Aurelius’ irises always seemed to glow when he felt strongly about something, be it pleasure, fury, or joy.
“The most remarkable thing about her was that she carried the Hemonia gift, which?—”
“Is incredibly rare and passed exclusively through bloodlines,” I cut in, the pieces clicking together in my mind.
“Clever girl.There’s that beautiful mind at work,” Ayden praises, causing a slight growl from Aurelius. Ignoring him, he continues, “As far as I can tell, there is onlyonefamily line recorded to have the Hemonia Gift—Elythia’s.”
My attention snags on the way he purrs the wordsclever girl.There’s something so familiar about it that I can’t place.
Aurelius runs a hand through his hair, mussing the loose black waves around his face. “So, what? You’re saying I’mFae?”
“Half-Fae,” Ayden corrects.
