***
Following an early breakfast, I made my rounds to my somnolent parents and siblings. Gently kissing each of their foreheads, I renewed my vow to break the curse. Their bodies were warm, chests softly rising, eyelids flickering dream-furious. I wondered what they dreamed of, whether a part of their spelled minds knew that they were bewitched and was trying fiercely to be released. ...I knew, didn’t I? Or perhaps I had and forgotten...
Sighing, an odd foreboding bubbling in my stomach, I proceeded to Auralia’s tower bedroom. I took the steps slowly, feeling a fond nostalgia for the Selene who scrambled up the stairs on her hands and feet. As I walked in, I blinked against the white-gold burst of sunlight, momentarily blinded. Once my vision had adjusted, I saw Auralia, lying in her bed, a bulge protruding from beneath the blankets. Rushing to her side, I pulled back the covers, hoping against hope it was a misplaced cushion, something, anything. My mind thrummed, fingers numbed.
She was pregnant.
She was pregnant.
She was pregnant.
Anger, bright and strong, searing and ready to scorch, felled me to my knees. My eyes clouding, I screamed, a guttural, throaty sound, loud enough to rouse an entire wing of the palace. Heart pounding, I stormed down the stairs. I wanted to rip, to tear with my bear hands. Kay appeared before me, saying something, seeming concerned. Not hearing his words and possessed of an inhuman strength, I grabbed him by the collar, knocking him against the wall. His head cracked against the stone and when I saw his fear, I did not feel sympathy. I felt vindicated, I felt strong. And since I was his queen, he could not raise a hand to defend himself.
“What have you done to my sister? What have you done?” I screamed.
“Your Majesty…I do not know what you mean.” The obvious honesty and befuddlement of his voice calmed me for an instant.
“Bring Farzal. How can it be possible that my sister is pregnant and none know of it?”
Shock widened Kay’s eyes. Raising a hand to his mouth, he said, “Your Majesty, I swear to you by the Seasons that I knew naught of this and that I had no part of it.”
Farzal appeared, trailed by a group of servants, attracted by the noise. “What is happening?” he asked softly.
Turning to him and feeling my anger turn to ice in my veins, I spat venomously, “My sister has been impregnated while you manage Aquia.” It had been almost a full year since the curse had fallen. There was no way...No way....
Although he paled, he displayed none of the shock that Kay had shown. Beads of perspiration popped onto his forehead.
“You knew,” I whispered. Fury surged again and I grabbed his hair, yanking him towards me. “You knew.”
Despite being manhandled, he was calm. “I confess your Majesty, I knew. The maids who changed the sheets told me. I assumed it was the product of an, ahem, indiscretion, prior to her bewitchment.”
Trembling with rage, my hands dropped away. “And you did not think it appropriate, regardless, to inform me of her situation?” I breathed malevolently. “You did not think it appropriate to investigate this? Did you not think at all?” He opened his mouth to answer, but I continued. “No, you did not think. And for this dereliction, you are stripped of your position as steward of Aquia. All familial holdings in your name are now property of the crown. Be thankful you are not paying with blood, but I swear, you will pay in tears. You and your lady wife have an hour to gather what scant goods you can carry in your hands and depart. On foot.”
Shaking, he bowed low. His forehead nearly grazed the ground. “Your Majesty,” he murmured and scurried off.
As Farzal backed away, satisfaction washed over me alongside the sense that, at the very least, I had control over something. Yet, even as I banished him, I wished I could rescind the order. He had valuable information that Quenela and Hadil would find useful, should he choose to turn his tail to them. I should have cut out his tongue. “The rest of you, leave me. Oelphie, I will be in Auralia’s room. Please bring me a goblet of warm wine.”
Turning away, I climbed back up the stairs, laboriously this time. Perhaps there is some good to be had here…Perhaps Farzal was correct and this child was borne of Auralia prior to the enchantment. Perhaps it is a child of love. And if that is the case, then perhaps if I can solve the mystery of the child’s paternity, then I can find a way to break the curse. My spirit thus leavened and hope beginning to blossom again, I entered Auralia’s room once more, only to have a moment from the past swim before me, like a tickling mist, gone in an instant, but not before I knew the truth.
Oh Seasons, no. I fell to my knees at Auralia’s side, clutching her warm hand. The clouds of optimism vanished replaced by cold darts of fear and anger and impotence. His threats, made that night nine months ago when we had newly arrived in Aquia. I can find my pleasure elsewhere. Your sister for instance is quite lovely, even in repose. With sharp and unforgiving clarity, I remembered the sheets. They had been slightly mussed and I had straightened them and not given it a second thought.
It made sense. Seasons help me, it made sense.
I should never have denied him. Why? Why had I been so foolish? Why had I thought he would not have made good on his evilest threat?
Of late, Gwydion had proven to be kinder and more amiable, but I suddenly recalled with merciless sharpness his early cruelty, the violence, murder of Erina, the high-handed way in which he had sought to control my life. In spite of all that, my heart had begun to slowly thaw, but this, this was too much. This I could never forgive and I felt foolish for ever trying. I knew that despite what he was and what he did, we were bonded, but I also knew that he was an unfit, despicable bastard.
I could forgive him his assault on my person, but his attack on my unconscious sister?
Never.
A dark cloud of cold madness settled over me.
Auralia was no longer safe here. I would take her away. Hide her. Protect her. Keep her somewhere no one could hurt her, could find her, without my knowledge.
I would take Auralia’s child, and raise it as my own, letting no one know, but those few had already witnessed what had passed.
Oelphie appeared at my elbow with the chalice of warm wine. Downing the drink rapidly, I turned to her. “Pack our bags, order a carriage. You and I are departing from this place. Have it done in secret.”
She looked ready to protest, but bit her tongue. She look resolute. “If I may ask your Majesty, where are we going?”
“To the lands Auralia and I inherited from our grandmother, to Carez.”
As Oelphie departed, I squeezed Auralia’s hand and whispered, “No one will ever touch you again, I swear. I will keep you safe.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight