AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Primrose joined us at the table with a smaller trunk in her hands. She flicked open the locks and eased back the lid. “Is that why you’ve come by for a visit after so long? Your father has passed, which leaves you to prepare for the Council and their tasks?”
A wooden tray shimmered onto the surface before me, solidifying seconds before Asher had a small chunk of the dough separated. He didn’t set it down until our host had sprinkled both of the trays with a thick layer of flour.
I eyed it with a hint of excitement and curiosity. “Are we making homemade pizza?”
Primrose uttered a delighted chuckle. “I prefer not to weigh the circus down with too much of that modern bullshit. We make all of our meals from scratch while we honor our roots. As long as it can cook over the pit, it will be done.” Her silver eyes honed in on the prince when he gestured for me to simply mimic what he was doing. “Are you sure you remember how to do it, il mio ragazzo? You’ve been quite spoiled by your father’s preferred method of raising.”
The prince arched an eyebrow at her. “Just because it has been quite some time since I’ve done pizza from scratch doesn’t mean that someone else makes my meals. Do you really think I would bring someone into my personal home when Quinn was still getting used to our…original arrangement? I can cook and I did ensure she was fed.”
“Before or after you got me on the counter?” The words escaped my mouth before I had a chance to stop them. Where the lingering boldness had come from, I didn’t have the slightest clue. My cheeks were burned with an embarrassing heat. From the way Primrose was cackling, even Asher’s cheeks had turned red. I rested the back of my hand against my forehead while the other hand remained lodged in the dough. “I am so sorry. I don’t know what’s with me tonight.”
“There is no need for you to apologize,” his aunt chastised me. She laid out all the fresh ingredients on another wooden board nearby with a large pizza peel just waiting for the first one to be finished. Slapping her hands together, she started working on her own dinner. “I am fully aware of how the two of you crossed paths. Asher’s…playboy ways weren’t unknown to the rest of the family. It is, however, very exciting to see how much things have changed and the strong bond that now connects you. That was all I had hoped to see with Brielle and Salvatore.”
I noted the way her aura became flooded with sorrow, which was immediately mirrored by Asher. Nibbling on my lower lip, I worked on getting the flour into the dough so that it would quit sticking on my fingers. Only when it lost some of the moisture did it finally start spreading like I wanted. “Brielle sounds…amazing. I wish I could’ve met her.”
“You and I both, bambina. I was very close to my sister, even after Salvatore forced her to sever ties with us.” Primrose cocked her head to the side while she worked. “There’s no doubt in my mind that she would’ve accepted you immediately, taking you under her wing. She would be very proud that Asher is doing his best to show you our ways. The comfort level you’ve displayed tonight goes to show you have come a very long way. You should be proud. Both of you.”
I flushed under the weight of her praise. “Can I…ask about Brielle?”
Asher’s golden eyes flickered to me for a moment. Although it quickly became clear that he was using his focus on spreading the dough as a dominant distraction to conceal just how deep that sorrow swirling within him went, he made no verbal rejection to end this conversation immediately. He seemed content to let it go where it would.
Even Primrose seemed delighted by the request. “Of course!” She beamed. “You are family, Quinn. I’m sure that part of Asher’s…plan for today was ensuring that you no longer felt isolated. It isn’t easy having a foot in two worlds as a child.”
Pressing my lips together, I offered a grateful smile while I struggled to pull together the proper choice of words. My mind was running a mile a minute, leaving me frazzled and not sure where I could even begin. This was uncharted territory. It wouldn’t take much to say the wrong thing and turn a magical evening into one from hell. “What…happened? It sounds like Brielle was heavily involved in the circus. How did she go from being a part of the show to…all ties to you severed?”
Her silver eyes locked on me. “Do you remember my act tonight with the ribbons, Quinn?”
I managed a small nod. “Yes…”
“That was originally done by Brielle. No partner, just…her. She was very fond of the way it made her feel like a majestic beast hovering in the air. Demons don’t have wings, much as some of the humans like to believe we do. It was the closest she could come to actually flying.” Primrose tilted her head and her lips curled into a small smile. “It never mattered if we had a full house or just a few loyal customers in the stands. She was always lost in her dance.”
“Is that how Salvatore saw her?”
“Yes, it is.” Her lips curled into a small smile, although the gentle action quickly faded as the heavy weight of the memory came down upon her. “Brielle was happy performing in the circus. Sol and Dario never enjoyed it as much as the rest of us growing up, but they gave it their all until it was decided they could go in their own direction. For Brielle and I…That was all we needed. Family…the performances…our loyal customers.” She chuckled softly. “I can still remember hearing that the new king had decided to come see one of our performances. From the way the others spoke about it, his own right hand convinced him to come.”
My fingers stilled and I wasn’t the only one that seemed to struggle keeping my body busy. I threw a quick glance at Asher, noticing how every part of his body had tensed. Granted, neither he nor his sister would have been born if this union hadn’t taken place. That didn’t stop how obvious it was which parent he’d been closer to.
Releasing a weary sigh, Primrose managed to pry her pizza dough off the wooden tray and started working on spinning it on her fingers to ensure it had been stretched out enough. She didn’t continue speaking until she flung it down onto the pizza peel. Her hand shifted over toward a glass jar filled to the brim with a red sauce. “Once Salvatore saw Brielle perform, he became…addicted to her presence. He demanded an audience with her and requested her hand almost immediately.”
“What did she do?”
His aunt’s eyebrows furrowed. “What can you do when the new king of demon kind wishes for your hand in marriage? She had no choice. For a little while, she seemed to enjoy the lifestyle Salvatore brought and she attempted to maintain a part of the circus. That…ended when she learned she was pregnant with Asher.” She tilted the jar sideways, allowing the sauce to escape out directly onto the dough. A simple flick of her finger and it was smoothed by an unseen force.
“Mother would bring me to the shows whenever the circus came back into town,” Asher spoke softly. “I was always fascinated by the acts, although it didn’t quite beat getting to go behind the scenes. Seeing some of the animals up close, watching some of the others practice something new…I was young, but I could see that she missed it. She’d always have sorrow in those eyes. It didn’t matter how often I asked what was bothering her, she’d brush it off and claim everything was fine.”
Primrose reached out to set the sauce jar down close to us. “You were very observant, even as a child. Brielle just wanted to spare you of the toxicity of our world for as long as she could manage. Being heir to the throne would suck you into it eventually. She didn’t want that light put out if she could prevent that.”
Don’t snuff out his fire.
I didn’t stop myself from nibbling on my lower lip while my mind struggled to process everything that had been admitted so far tonight. “With your father…passing on…will you be coming back to watch the shows more often?”
His golden eyes rose up to meet my gaze, his aunt doing the same - only she had her attention fixated on him. Although it felt like an eternity had passed for me by the time those lips parted, it was no more than a few seconds in reality. The edges of his lips curled into a slight smile. “Would you accompany me if I did, pet?”
“Are you really asking me that?” I teased. Dipping a finger into the sauce, I reached out to tap it against his nose. I couldn’t stop the mischievous grin from crossing my face when the prince pulled back immediately with a stunned expression. “Getting to watch the performances tonight was such an amazing experience. I would love to come back any time your heart desired.”
Primrose snickered softly as Asher worked quickly to wipe the sauce away with a blush already working away on those cheeks. “Xiather was quite pleased to hear you were coming tonight.”
With a quick glance in my direction, that silent promise to punish me for my little rebellion swirling within those golden eyes, Asher offered a small nod. “We’ll be coming to more of them, zia. As many of them as Quinn wishes.”
