Chapter Twenty-Four – Thea
Chapter Twenty-Four
Thea
I was surrounded by too many people, too fast. After three days of mostly being with my thoughts, to hear so much chatter was overwhelming. My ankle hurt, and I was feeling ill, with a headache and a stomachache. I tried to smile and answer questions, but all I wanted was to be left alone.
“I’m fine, it’s just a scratch,” I answered one of my friends who was a bridesmaid.
“It hurts a little,” I answered another one who noticed I was limping.
“I’m exhausted. Yes, I need a bath, please,” I answered my mother, who got hold of my shoulders and was studying me from arm’s length.
“You look terrible,” she said, then pulled me aside, shielding me from the throng of bridesmaids and wedding guests. “Thea needs to get ready,” she told them. “Please give us some space.” She took my hand and pulled me after her.
“Let me help,” one of my friends, Fiona, said. I’d known Fiona since we were little. We were close enough that my mother nodded and motioned for her to follow us.
“Where is Soren?” I asked.
“Darling, he can’t see you before you get married,” Mom said. “He’s around somewhere, entertaining the guests. Don’t worry about him.”
“I can’t believe you’re alive and well,” Fiona said. “I almost died with worry.”
I smiled and squeezed her hand. “Thank you.” She sounded genuinely concerned.
“I would’ve never done it,” she said, leaning in. “You’re a saint, Thea.”
“Come,” my mother said. “I’ll run you a bath. You have to get out of those clothes.”
We were in a spacious room with a bathroom attached. Everything was white and grass green – the colors of the Celestial Pines Sanctuary. There was a four-poster bed, and on it, a big, white box was waiting. Atop it, there were two more boxes. My heart sank. That was my wedding dress, my wedding shoes, my veil and jewelry.
“Give me this,” Fiona said, taking the walking stick from me. She saw my ripped sweater and gasped. “That’s not just a scratch. You need a doctor.”
“I’m fine. It’s almost healed.”
“What happened?”
I opened my mouth and closed it. It wasn’t like I could tell her how I’d had to break a window and run for my life.
“Mrs. Everhart, Thea needs a doctor.”
My mother rushed into the bedroom, eyes wide. “What? What happened?”
“It’s nothing, Mom. Really. I just need to clean up.”
“Show me.”
I rolled my eyes, but there was no getting around it. I pulled my sweater over my head, and both my mom and Fiona gasped and covered their mouths with their hands. Such drama. It was weird to think, though, that if I were in their position, I’d have reacted the same. The three days I’d spent in the woods with Taran, chased by a bear and attacked by two assassins, had changed me.
“See? They’re healing. They’re just scratches.”
“Those look like cuts,” Fiona said. “How did you cut yourself so badly?”
I shook my head. “Can I just get into the tub?”
Seeing how they weren’t getting anything out of me, they helped me into the bathroom and out of the rest of my clothes. My ankle was tender. I’d taken off the splint Taran had made for me and left it with him. There would’ve been no way to explain it. I sank into the hot water and let out a moan that was almost lustful. For the past three days, I’d washed with freezing cold water. To have access to a real bathroom and a hot bath was a blessing. I was never going to take anything for granted again.
“Do you want me to wash your hair for you?” Fiona said.
“No, it’s okay. Thank you.” I smiled at her, so she knew that I appreciated her. “Can you bring me something to eat, though? Today, it’s been only energy bars and I’m starving.”
“On it!”
She hurried out of the room, leaving me and my mom alone.
“What can I do?” she asked. “How can I help you?”
“Can you sit down so we can talk?”
She looked surprised for a moment, but then brought a chair from the bedroom and sat next to the tub. There was something in her eyes... on her face... I couldn’t quite read it. She looked older than the last time I saw her, which was literally three days ago. But she looked at least a year older, her wrinkles deep and her eyes cloudy.
“Mom, I need you to tell me what Matthew did.”
She pursed her lips and waited a few seconds, but of course she wasn’t going to give the information away so easily. She looked away from me, and I knew I’d have to push.
“Is he here?”
“No.”
“He’s in rehab. Okay. I’m glad he’s getting help, but sad he won’t be at my wedding. It doesn’t feel right, does it? For my own brother to miss my wedding.”
“It is what it is, Thea. Matthew has had a rough year.”
Sure. What else was new?
“Please tell me what he did. What’s so horrible that I need to sacrifice my life to save his reputation?”
That got her attention. She looked at me as if she were seeing me for the first time.
“Sacrifice your life? Thea, you’re not... That’s not what you’re doing.”
“No? Because I don’t want to marry Soren.”
“But you said... You agreed.”
“You and Dad were desperate. You called me into his office, sat me down, and told me that Matthew’s future would be ruined if I didn’t marry Soren. What was I supposed to say? No? I could never say no to you or Matthew. You know that.”
“Thea... Darling...” She took a deep breath, released it, and steeled herself. “Soren is a good man. He comes from a good family, he has money, influence, everything a bride could wish for. Yes, he’s a little old, but not terribly old. And he’s handsome.”
I shook my head. “I’ve just told you that my life would end if I married him, and I don’t want to do it, and you’re trying to sell him to me?”
She stood up and started pacing the floor. “I don’t understand. You... you never said anything. You’ve met Soren once or twice, right? He’s always had a thing for you, and you didn’t seem to not like him.”
“I was always perfectly indifferent to him.”
“I...” She made a wide gesture with her arms. “I’m at a loss.”
“I’m sorry, but the truth is I don’t want to do this. I know I made a promise, but I’ve had a lot of time to think, alone in the woods, fighting for my life. And I realized that I love my life, and I don’t want to spend it with someone I don’t care for.”
“Thea, it’s too late. I know you’re exhausted. I’m so sorry. You will feel better after your bath, and once you eat something.”
“Really, Mother?”
She sat down and sighed. She was rubbing her hands as if she was an actress in a cheap movie.
“Everyone is here,” she said. “The pastor is here. We’re all getting ready for the wedding. Your father will walk you down the aisle. Soren can’t wait to see you. He talked about you all day long, saying how he knew you would make it. That you’re strong, and you’re the perfect woman for him.”
I rubbed my tired eyes, then turned to her and fixed her with the most serious gaze I could muster.
“Tell me what Matthew did. I need to know.”
“Thea...”
“You owe me this, Mom.”
“It’s not pretty.”
“I don’t care. I need to know what he did.”
After another pause, she steeled herself again, as if being honest with me in this moment was the hardest thing she’d ever done.
“Your brother perused the services of a brothel.”
For a good few seconds, I didn’t react. It was like I had a brain glitch.
“Excuse me, what?!”
Mom nodded. “You should’ve never heard it from me. Or anyone, for that matter.”
I sat up in the tub to grab onto the edge. Water splashed onto the tiled floor.
“Mom, what?! A brothel? So, Matthew went to see sex workers. In a perfectly safe, legal, and regulated environment. How is that the end of the world?!”
She looked pained. Crushed. “It wasn’t just a brothel, Thea. It was... the sex workers were monsters. It was a monster brothel.”
My eyes went so wide that I was surprised they didn’t pop out of my sockets and rolled at her feet.
“Somehow, one of Soren’s editors got wind of the story. We’re lucky he didn’t just go with it and went to check with his boss. Soren called your father, and that’s how we found out.”
“And then he blackmailed you.”
“No, it wasn’t like that! He truly wanted to help. He promised he would kill the story, and then your father asked what he could do, because Soren was doing us such a big favor, and Soren asked for your hand in marriage. Your father couldn’t say no. It’s a good marriage for you, Thea.”
“Oh my God, I can’t believe this!” I covered my face with my hands. “This is the most ridiculous story I’ve ever heard!”
“Thea!”
“So what if Matthew had sex with monster prostitutes? It’s his business! He did nothing illegal. Amoral? Yes. Questionable? Maybe. But to go to such lengths to kill a scandal?!” I grabbed the edge of the tub again and looked her in the eye. “To sacrifice my freedom for this?”
“Thea, this is the first time I hear you call it a sacrifice.”
“Because I was stupid! And too loyal for my own good!”
“Darling, please...”
“Don’t ‘darling’ me.” I got up abruptly and grabbed a towel. “Don’t.”
She got up and followed me to the bedroom. “The story can’t get out, Thea. No one can know that Matthew is into... monsters.”
“And what’s wrong with monsters, Mom?”
“They’re different from us. We don’t mingle.”
“Seriously? Because they’re not second-class citizens, you know. They have the same rights as we do.”
“I know, it’s not about that.”
“Then what’s it about?”
“Our family... We don’t mingle with monsters. Other people... they can do what they please. It’s just not for us. It’s... shameful.”
My mouth opened and closed. Today, my mom seemed to have a talent at leaving me speechless. Fortunately – or unfortunately, because this discussion wasn’t over – there was a knock on the door. Fiona walked in, carrying a food tray.
“I come straight from the kitchen,” she said. “Everything is fresh.”
I had half a mind to ask her to come back later, or leave the tray and go, but then realized it wouldn’t have made a difference. I wasn’t going to change my mom’s mind in five minutes, with all the guests waiting.
As I sat down to eat, Fiona went to take the wedding dress out of the box.
“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? Mrs. Everhart chose it.”
Mom shot me a look that was clearly charged with one question and one question alone. Was I going to go through with it?
“I’ll help you put it on,” Fiona said, oblivious to the tension in the room. “And I’ll do your hair and makeup. Nothing complicated, I promise. You’re a natural beauty.”
“Yes, thank you,” I said. “I need all the help I can get.”
“Oh, you don’t need that much help,” Fiona waved me off. “You’re perfect, as always.”
Later, after I was done eating, my mother offered to take the tray back to the kitchen, saying she needed to find my dad and let him know we were on schedule.
The moment she was gone, I pulled Fiona closer. “I need your help with something.”
“Sure. Anything.”
“But no one can know. It’s a surprise, you see... For Soren and the guests.”
She bounced on her feet in excitement. “I love surprises!”