Chapter 3 #2
“Well, you see…” Enid hesitated, wringing her hands together as fear ruled over her.
It was a frequent effect their aunt had on her.
After years of ridicule and unwarranted reprimand, Enid had resorted to remain small before the cruel woman.
As if that would ease the wrath she would receive.
Anelize was not the same in that regard, if anything she rebelled against being seen as malleable before someone who would take great joy in it.
Which was probably why she’d received the brunt of such mistreatment for the both of them for so long.
To keep their secrets, to keep them safe, she would have endured anything. There had never once been a question about it.
Anelize declared outright rather than watch Enid attempt to make her agonizing confession, “The Dobrin boy has asked for Enid’s hand. They wish to be married in the Old Church.”
Magda’s hand froze before she could pluck another ruen from the velvet pouch in her hand.
The silence that followed was a practiced art in inspiring apprehension in both the women.
It had two entirely different reactions from them as one openly glared down her nose, while the other shifted nervously, only stopping when their hands intertwined in silent reassurance.
When Magda spoke, it was with a snide remark. “Have you now? And what makes you think you have any voice on the matter when you live as my wards?”
Magda looked to Anelize with a glimmer of cruelty in her eyes, as if she knew she wouldn’t be able to argue with that fact.
Except she could. Logic was the one tool at Anelize’s disposal that made her a worthy adversary to the woman before her as cunning and wicked as she was.
They both knew it which was precisely why neither knew peace in each other’s presence.
Why they were often caught in a game of bargains and debts.
“She may have been your ward years ago, but you have done nothing to earn the title of guardian. I’d say your claim of ownership on either of us is moot by now.
If Enid wishes to marry the boy, then so be it.
” Anelize shrugged at Magda’s pointed glare.
“But if you look at it from my standpoint, it would be one less mouth to feed, something which you always made a fuss about up until now.”
A scoff came in answer. “What could that boy possibly offer us? The Dobrins can hardly be considered a respectable family. They run a tavern full of drunks, for saint’s sake.”
“Magda, please—” Enid started only to be silenced at the angry scowl shot her way. It made Anelize’s jaw clench at the sight of her sister flinching beside her, and how quickly their aunt relished at the sight of it.
A cruel smile crept across Magda’s lips. “Be that as it may, you both still owe me a debt. And unless the Dobrins can pay off Enid’s portion, there will be no wedding. Not if I have a say. Argue all you want, but that is the truth that you and I both know, Anelize.”
Confusion riddled Enid’s face as she shifted her attention toward her sister, squeezing her hand as if gathering the courage to speak. “But…our debts are almost paid off entirely. Surely you can make an exception. I-I can continue working the shop in the meantime. That will not change.”
“And make excuses after you marry? You must take me for a fool. The moment you leave this place, you’ll never return.
You’ll hide yourself away with the Dobrins and let them dote on you just as your sister has.
Well, I won’t be easily swayed by your tears or pleas, Enid.
I made the mistake of being merciful before.
I was generous enough to grant your father the money he needed to keep this forsaken shop and you two alive.
Given his unfortunate demise due to his own foolishness, the debt naturally passed down to you girls.
As he’d promised me. And it will remain so until every last ruen is dropped into the palm of my hands.
Until then, I own you. Unless of course…
” Magda rounded the counter and reached for a lock of Anelize’s ebony hair only to smirk when she shrugged her touch away with a look of disgust. “You wish for the debt to double itself. There’s no use in sparing Anelize from taking on your half given that you so willingly want to leave this place. ”
“You can’t…” Enid murmured.
“It’s either that or you both leave the shop, and I do with it as I see fit.
Keeping you both was merely out of convenience, and a sense of duty to my dead brother.
In truth, being rid of you would ease my constant headaches.
” Magda glanced at Anelize, her cruelty only growing further when she knowingly said, “What say you, Anelize? Will you give up everything your father worked tirelessly for?”
Anelize clenched her jaw hard enough that her teeth hurt.
Since they’d been children, Anelize and Enid had done everything in their power to preserve their father’s memory by tending to his shop, his life’s work.
They’d struck a bargain with the woman before them for his sake, knowing that if they ran off to join the rest of the orphans on the streets begging for food, for an ounce of kindness, there would have been nothing left of either of them.
Or they would have ended up being tormented by Watchmen.
It wasn’t a chance Anelize was willing to make where Enid was concerned.
Enid’s voice shook both in frustration and sadness, heartbreakingly placating, “Magda, why are you so cruel? We’ve done everything you’ve asked all these years. Tried to make you happy. Can’t you do the same for us, just this once?”
If her sister expected to crack Magda’s cold heart, she’d been sorely mistaken.
“Your selfishness will only lead to your sister’s hardship growing. Can you truly live with yourself by doing such a thing, Enid? Or do you truly care only about yourself?”
Enid flinched, and released her sister’s hand with a look of guilt and mortification.
“Cease speaking,” Anelize snapped at her aunt, watching her cheeks turn red as she glared at her incredulously.
But the damage had been done. Before Magda could say another word, Enid spun on her heel and ran for the stairs.
The sound of the door of her bedroom slamming shut, echoing through the small shop.
Magda turned to continue counting the day’s earnings, speaking as if she hadn’t just crushed the illusions of the young girl upstairs. “Now that that’s over with, you have a handful of orders waiting for you that need to get done by tomorrow. Best get to it. I want you out first thing.”
Anelize tore her gaze away from the stairs, and slowly faced her aunt. “You truly are a vile woman.”
Magda waved a dismissive hand. “Think what you will of me, girl. We both know that I’m right.
I’m doing you a favor by keeping Enid on a tight leash.
I realize the error of my ways now by letting you take on everything, coddling her as a result.
Letting her fill her head with dreams of love.
Enid has been spoiled for too long, and her docility is a result of your coddling.
You should be thanking me. Otherwise, you would have her become as delusional as my brother, may saints rest his soul. ”
Anelize was silent as a wraith as she approached her aunt.
Her movements were precise as she watched the woman who was so unlike Enid or her father, an utter stranger in every sense of the word.
That had to be why Anelize despised the woman.
Because they were both entirely too similar.
Too angry and full of loathing. Prideful to a fault.
It was why it was so easy to snatch the pouch from Magda’s hand, tossing it onto the counter, letting the ruens scatter to the floor, singing like dozens of chiming bells.
Magda gasped and whirled, her anger potent as she raised her hand. “You insolent child—”
Anelize gripped her wrist before her hand could graze her cheek, though her skin had already anticipated the sharp sting.
It had grown so accustomed to it over the years one would think she’d grown used to the feeling by now.
But not today. Anelize’s fingers sank into the flesh around her wrist until she felt the bones beneath, so fragile she was sure one tug would snap them in two.
Magda cried out in pain, glaring at Anelize as she tried to pry her off.
Something dark slithered into her voice as she said lowly, “I let you have your fun long enough. Should you continue to torment my sister the way you did now, or mention my father’s name in ridicule after all he did for you, and I’ll ensure you never know a day of peace for the rest of your miserable life.
I will gladly let this shop fall to ruin if it means bringing you unhappiness.
And then you’ll be the one out on the streets begging for food. ”
“You would dare threaten me?” Magda seethed through gritted teeth. “After all I’ve done for you? The secrets I’ve kept for you?”
“They are yours just as much as ours now after all these years. You are just as complicit as we are. If there’s anything that you deserve from us, it is our ire for all your ingratitude and cruelty.
You should expect nothing more and nothing less.
The fact that you do, demonstrates your ignorance, aunt. ”
Magda swallowed, staring up into Anelize’s eyes as if she were seeing a feral creature, not a woman fueled by years of resentment.
Days full of working until her hands bled and trudging through snow until she could barely feel her legs, barely warding off the bite of frost. Nights of worrying how she’ll make ends meet to ensure Enid was shielded from more suffering.
All of it, leading to this very moment of reckoning.
“Do we understand each other?” she murmured darkly.