Memories of those times surfaced. Of him rolling out dough with a rolling pin almost as long as he was tall, Yvaine helping mix the ingredients together, covering both of them with flour. The memories were almost strong enough to counteract the hurt from the ones he had with Auraelia. Almost, but not quite.
They stayed for a while, listening while Jodie prattled on about the gossip in town. But when the conversation shifted to Davina, Daemon stiffened.
“What are you planning on doing abouther?” Jodie asked, the sneer on her face showing exactly how she felt about the woman.
Aiden and Yvaine exchanged a look before their gazes fell upon him. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Daemon blew out an exasperated breath. “Auntie—”
“Don’t you‘Auntie’me, boy. And don’t you dare sit there and tell me that you’re going to go along with it. She’s running this city into the ground, and it won’t be long before the court falls, too.”
Daemon’s eyes snapped up to Auntie Jodie’s. The moss green of his locking onto the soft browns of hers.
“You haven’t seen it yet, have you?” she asked, disbelief filling her gaze.
“We’re heading to the market as soon as we leave here, Auntie,” Yvaine interjected.
Jodie’s gaze flicked between the three of them, her eyes narrowing before she gave them a quick nod. “Off you get, then. Don’t sit there yammering on with me; there are more important things to deal with than visiting my old self.” She dusted her hands off on her apron and turned back toward the kitchen.
Yvaine and Aiden headed for the door but stopped when Daemon hadn’t followed. “I’ll be right there, just…give me a minute?” They both nodded, then slipped through the door of the bakery.
Auntie Jodie was busy wiping off her already spotless counter, and Daemon gently wrapped his hands around her wrinkled ones.
She sighed heavily, her shoulders sagging under an invisible weight. “You can’t—” She stopped mid-sentence like she couldn’t force the words to form on her tongue.
Daemon squeezed her hands gently, and her gaze moved to meet his. “I know. And I won’t. I promise.” He held her gaze a moment longer, hoping that she saw everything he couldn’t say aloud in his eyes. When she nodded, he gently kissed her brow and headed toward the door.
Chapter Ten
Daemon
“Where is everyone?” Daemon whispered through clenched teeth.
Empty wasn’t the right word to describe Kalmeera’s marketplace. Desolate would have been much more accurate. The stalls that lined the streets were nearly barren. The walkways were devoid of people, and trash and debris littered the ground.
This wasn’t the Kalmeera Daemon knew. Not the one that he would lay down his life for. Davina’s influence on his court had caused this, and in turn, something dark began to build inside of him.
Daemon walked down the street that usually held vendors from every corner of Ixora. Tents, typically full of gems or wares from other courts, stood empty with their tables overturned. Theonly vendors whowerepresent were those from the Court of Pearl and a few from Topaz. Even Kalmeera’s own merchants were absent.
Interesting.
Yvaine and Aiden were close on his heels as they slowly crept through the chaos covering the ground. Neither answered his question until they were far enough away from prying eyes and listening ears. He hated that he no longer trusted the ones who resided inside his court. But he also knew that there were some that had been influenced, or whose loyalty had been bought, by Davina.
“As I said earlier,father–” Yvaine said his name like a curse, “let her roam around unaccompanied. Evidently, on one of her little outings, she came here. Announced herself as the new princess and future queen—not just of the Sapphire Isles, but of all Ixora—and then closed the market. Only the courts and people who have aligned with her are allowed to sell at the market now.”
Daemon’s shadows spilled from the tips of his fingers as his rage grew.
“That’s not all, D,” Aiden said, clasping the prince’s shoulder. “She tried to throw the ones who questioned her in the dungeons.”
“What?!”he seethed. His shadows wrapped around his arms like serpents, the darkness that fed his magic filling his vision as his breath came in harsh inhales. How dare she throwhispeople in the dungeon. She had no right. Betrothed to the heir or not, these were not her people. They would neverbeher people if he had any say about it.
“D?” Aiden’s voice was wary.
Yvaine stepped into his line of sight, her brows furrowed as her eyes trailed over his body. “Daemon, they’re fine. No one is in the dungeon… You—you need to calm yourself.”
He couldn’t think, couldn’tbreathe, around the anger that was coiling through him.
Yvaine gripped one of his shoulders, then his chin in her other hand, forcing his gaze to hers. Worry laced the vibrant greens of her eyes before sheer determination replaced the emotion.
Streams of blue that reminded him of the bioluminescence in the tunnels leading into the city gradually penetrated the moss green of her iris’. Then, ever so slowly, a sweet melody seeped into his mind. Lulling the anger that had wrapped itself so tightly around his insides to sleep. It was like the breeze whispering through the trees or a mother’s lullaby.
