31 Dove
DOVE
The carriage, supplied by Zephyra, dropped us off at the front door of the manor and swiftly sped away with silent wheels and hoofbeats.
Somehow, this horrible night was almost over. I’d made it home. For now, at least.
Don’t think about that yet. You’ll come up with a plan. We have to.
Limbs heavier than marble, I stumbled up the stairs. Maerryl caught my arm, steadying me. Her familiar, peppery scent filled my nose, and my senses suddenly flooded with her nearness.
She dropped my arm, stepping back. “Dove… there’s so much I want to say.”
“Then say it.” I wrapped my cloak around me, huddling for comfort more than warmth.
Maerryl licked her lips, then said in a rush, “I wasn’t honest with you. Things got so out of control. And I never meant for this to happen. I’m sorry, so—just so sorry. But if you let me, I want to help fix things here. And make it up to you. All of it.
“I don’t blame you one bit if you doubt me. After what I’d done… but everything I’m saying now is true. Everything I said back at the guild was true. You are the best person I’ve ever known. The person I want to spend every day of my life with. Please give us another chance.”
I looked her over, searching every centimeter of her dear face for an indication of what she felt, what she thought. Earnest love, pure and true, shone through Mae. I still hurt from her betrayal—I couldn’t deny that.
But I didn’t doubt her. Not anymore. What she’d done for me at the guild, facing down Zephyra and offering herself up… it meant more than any words could.
Stepping closer, I cupped her face with one hand. The tight tension throughout her body shuddered, a hopeful light coming into her eyes. I opened my mouth—
And then, from inside the manor, a shriek pierced the air. We both froze, on high alert once more.
“WHERE. ARE. MY. PAINTINGS!?!”
As I made my way inside, practically dragging my feet to delay the inevitable, Father’s bellowing shouts and Mother’s furious shrieking grew in volume. They echoed through the manor’s high halls, and I braced myself.
Spotting me at the door, Father yelled, “Dove! There you are! What has happened?!”
“What is the meaning of this? Have you completely lost all your sanity and sold off our collection too?” Mother added, throwing her hands in the air. They both looked as if they’d arrived in a rush, hairpins and hats askew, still wearing fancy evening clothes from some ball.
I took in the foyer’s bare walls, peering around in the flickering candlelight.
I’d been so frantic when Petra hustled me downstairs hours ago, near frenzied at the sight of Mae slumped on the ground, that I’d hardly noticed as we passed through here.
But everything was gone. Every piece of artwork my parents had painstakingly collected over all those months—using the coin they’d gotten from my magical jewels—had disappeared.
I stepped closer and turned around in a slow spin. Empty walls, just like before.
Mother clapped her hands sharply in my face, bringing me back to the present. “Dove, explain this! Right now.” Father crossed his arms, mustache quivering dangerously, as he too glared at me.
“I’m afraid we’ve been robbed,” I said. An uncontrollable giggle burbled up my throat, echoing off around the high, bare walls. My parents stared at me as if I’d sprouted a second nose.
“Robbed? ROBBED?!” Father shouted, face apoplectic.
Mother raced to the front door and triple-locked it. “Dovenesdrea!” she cried, shaking my shoulder with the sharp claw of her hand. “What happened here?! What did you do??”
I stared at her, jerking out of her firm grasp. “What did I do? What did I do?”
“We leave you for one week and come back to find everything in pieces. The manor broken into, our collection gone, and you’re attempting to sell off our lands!” Father said. “The help, for goddess’s sake, inserting themselves in our affairs!”
He gestured to Choia and Mae, standing nearby and looking like they were about to dive into the fray of our argument.
They both bristled indignantly. Choia’s grip tightened on the frying pan she clutched, staring my parents down, which for some reason made tears start to drip over my cheeks again.
Standing close to Choia, Mx. Bottlecoat frowned sternly at Father, as bald in their disapproval as I’d ever seen them.
“ARE YOU TWO AS BLIND AS BATMONKEYS?” Maerryl, spitting mad, stomped over to stand between my parents and me, forcing them back a bit. Mother gasped.
“Mae, don’t bother—” I started to say.
“Dove does everything around here. Everything for the estate and her employees, her friends, herself, and most of all—for you.” Arms akimbo on her wide hips, Mae practically shouted, every ounce of her growly ferociousness directed at my parents.
“Not that you deserve it. All you do is waste money, buying heaps of art, food, and baubles you don’t need.
Slaver after society’s ridiculousness, trying desperately to get back to your former station—guess what!
It’s never going to happen! And every day causing Dove endless strife—belittling her, cutting her down, heaping responsibilities on her and not even trying to help anymore. ”
Mae’s chest heaved. But she wasn’t done.
Voice tight and hard, she said, “Worst of all, you don’t even appreciate her.
It’s like you can’t even see Dove for who she is—the amazing, brilliant, talented, bighearted person who you are lucky enough to know.
How can you not see her, when she shines so fucking brightly? How??”
My heart pounded in the shocked silence of the hall.
Father coughed awkwardly, while Mother’s face paled to an ash-brown I’d never seen on her before. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times, but nothing came out.
I stepped up to Mae’s side, forcing myself to roll my shoulders back and face them straight on. After everything I’d dealt with tonight, I could do this too. Mae pressed her upper arm gently against mine.
“Mother. Father,” I said, steeling myself.
“The land sale is happening. It is a fraction of our holdings, and Mx. Bottlecoat and I have researched everything thoroughly, along with several experts. This is essential to the health of our estate, and our future. It is not up for debate, and I implore you to see reason. To trust me.”
Mother opened her mouth again, and I hurried on, “With the sale, I will be able to purchase a modest home for you in Talon, as well as set you up with monthly spending money. I think it’s time that we make a change in our lives.
Permanently. I will remain here and retain full ownership and responsibility for the estate; we can sort out the papers with Mx.
Bottlecoat tomorrow. You can embrace the return to your former life in the city.
Or travel! Or we can set you up in a nice beach house on the coast! Whatever you wish.
“But this is happening. I need it to happen. And furthermore, it’s clear that our relationship needs it too. Some—some space. Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t be able to continue, um, supporting your lifestyle. Financially.”
Going somewhat paler, Mother exchanged a heavy look with Father, who had begun to purple. I braced myself. Stiffening my spine, I picked a spot on a marble column off to the side to gaze at as my words sunk in, leaning slightly more against the comforting solidity of Mae’s warm upper arm.
Mother finally cleared her throat, and I just barely managed to keep myself from jolting.
“It’s very late, Dove. This is all a great deal for your father and I to take in tonight.” She paused, sighing. “But perhaps a change might be best. For all of us.
“Mx. Bottlecoat, send a raven to the nearest constable station and report the burglary. We will deal with them in the morning when they arrive. Now, we’re retiring for the evening,” Mother said in a tight voice.
With one look back at me, exhaustion and annoyance warring—along with something that almost seemed like respect—she pulled Father toward the stairs and their rooms.
Mx. Bottlecoat nodded to me before hurrying off in the other direction, looking relieved to have gotten out of that unscathed. Choia patted my arm with a proud smile, hefting up her pan upon one shoulder as she headed toward the kitchens.
Suddenly alone but for Maerryl, my legs wobbled dangerously. All the nerves, the adrenaline of the night and this unexpected showdown with my parents, had me shaking like a sapling in a thunderstorm. I plopped to the floor on my ass, strong hands moving quickly to help guide me.
Mae sat cross-legged in front of me in the middle of the big, empty foyer. I pressed my trembling palms into the cool, smooth surface of the marble floor, feeling myself calm gradually.
“What are we going to do now?” I said quietly, staring in exhaustion at the stone’s veining. “There’s no way we can get what Zephyra wants. We’re going to fail.”
Mae didn’t move closer, but her firm voice soothed me all the same. “We’re not going to fail,” she said. “I have a plan.”
“You do?” I risked a glance up at her, but she was staring off into the distance, looking as tired as I felt.
“Yes. But first, we are both going to get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll make your parents head back to the city for a while. And then you and I are taking a ride.”
“A ride? Where?” I asked.
“To the priory. We’re getting that stone.”