Chapter 1 To Wear Silence #2
My eyes followed them, my mind working as hard as their wings. I needed a better plan. A way to escape, to protect Josslyn and Brumous. A way to finish the protection ward before Arabesque siphoned me to death.
The first time it happened, that day at the cemetery, the pain had been unbearable. Like I’d been tossed into a bonfire. Worse, though, was the helpless, horrifying realization that she was taking me. My magic. My power. Myself.
My stepsisters had watched, of course. Amabel and Eluned, those twin devils, had looked on with cruel grins and eager eyes.
“Oh, stop snivelling,” Amabel had sneered afterwards. “You’ll be fine.”
But I wasn’t fine. Each time after that, the siphoning left me weaker and weaker until I could barely muster enough energy to lift Josslyn, let alone challenge the woman who kept us both prisoner here.
My stepmother frightened me like nothing else ever had. Her cold indifference. How she would watch me like a hawk circling its prey. How her pale green eyes held no warmth, no tenderness.
Each day blurred into the next, my mind clouded by exhaustion and fear and pain, but I at least realized Arabesque was tightening her grip, keeping me confined, keeping me unable to fight back or even think clearly.
I’d considered reporting her, but who would I tell?
Mama used to talk about how just the wolf kings were, but the world outside felt like a distant fairy tale.
This is what happened to Papa, I’d understood at last.
And would happen to me, too, if I didn’t find a way to stop it.
#
After dinner, I stood at the sink, moving mechanically as I scrubbed a pot that had seen better days.
The suds stung my raw hands, but I forced myself to finish the job.
Brumous lay by the back door, his blue eyes never leaving me, a silent guardian in a place where no one else watched over me.
I hummed to myself, a soft tune my mother used to sing when I was a child.
It was a fragile thread to the past, one I clung to when the present felt too heavy.
Then the sound of laughter made me pause, my heart sinking.
Again? Couldn’t they torment each other instead of me? I groused silently.
My stepsisters ambled in, as unwelcome as a storm on a harvest day. Amabel watched me with a smirk that always spelled trouble for me.
“Looks like someone’s finally hard at work,” she crooned, her voice as smooth as honey, but tinged with poison.
I didn’t look up. I didn’t need to. I knew the game. Their words were barbs designed to prick and bleed. And I could never understand it. They had everything: Freedom, confidence, and the unwavering support of their mother.
I didn’t dare respond to them. Not when I had Josslyn and Brumous depending on me. Not when I knew how quickly their taunts became weapons. One whisper to Arabesque, and my world shattered into pain, so I’d learned to wear silence like armor, to let their words glance off without leaving a mark.
Only they did, no matter how hard I tried to guard my heart.
“Enjoy your little home here while you can, Serafina,” Amabel went on. “The rogues are going to have fun with you, although I’m sure you won’t be able to say the same.”
“What do you think they’ll do, worthless? Keep you as a pet? Or tear you apart?” Eluned’s laughter was high and brittle before she broke into one of her creepy sing-song nursery rhymes.
“Hark, hark,
The dogs do bark,
The orphan is coming to stay.
Rend her apart, eat her heart
And bury her quick today.”
My legs trembling, I set the pot down and reached for a tea towel, drying my hands so they wouldn’t see them shaking. I knew they were waiting for a reaction, a crack in my armor, but I gave them nothing. Not a hint of emotion, not a word.
“Mother says peace has a price, dear stepsister,” Amabel said after a moment. “And you’re going to pay it for us.”
I froze. There was something in her tone, an edge deeper than her usual venom. What was changing? What were they plotting? What had I missed? Brummy moved closer, his eyes watchful, as if he sensed the fear crawling up my spine.
Finally, I raised my eyes to Amabel’s, and her smirk widened. It was a gamble, but I’d hoped her face would reveal some hint of what she’d meant. Unfortunately, her dark eyes held nothing but the usual spite and hatred, and I couldn’t stay silent any longer.
“I never did anything to either of you,” I whispered. “Why are you always so mean to me?”
“Because we can be, of course!” Eluned shrieked with laughter. Amabel, however, wasn’t so pleased, and the sharp slap to my cheek reminded me of ‘my place.’
“How dare you talk back to us?” she hissed. “Mother will hear of your defiance!”
She stalked out of the kitchen, Eluned scurrying after her, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Brumous whined softly, and I wanted to, already dreading how Arabesque would punish me for ‘hurting Amabel’s sensitive feelings’ this time.
Trying to ignore the pain in my cheek, I knelt beside him and hugged his neck.
“It’s okay, Brummy,” I whispered, even though I wasn’t sure which of us I was reassuring. “We’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out.”
But as my face ached and weariness tried to pull me under, I knew in my heart that I wouldn’t be able to protect either of us for much longer.