Chapter 27 #2
When I recovered my voice and my calm, I remembered a question I’d thought of while lying in Gareth’s arms early that morning, all the worries of my own life wiped away by his touch.
“Gareth has told me that his parents were cruel,” I said quietly, “especially his mother. But he hasn’t said more than that. I assume you know the story?”
“I do, but it’s not my story to tell. Please be patient with him when you ask him about it. Those are old wounds, and humiliating ones.”
“I know a thing or two about old wounds.”
Farrin blew out a quick, sad breath. “I wish I could take all of that away from both of you.”
I moved closer to her, relishing the feeling of her warm body next to mine.
Memories of my childhood at Ivyhill were so often muddled, but this I remembered perfectly—this closeness, the warmth of my sisters’ bodies.
I remembered whispering to Farrin under the covers after a bad dream and chasing a squealing Gemma through our mother’s ivy-crowned hallways.
I remembered little, but I remembered the most important things.
“This helps,” I said to Farrin. “This helps more than you know.”
***
Later that night, after supper, I sorted through Mother’s bountiful supplies to gather what we might need in Vauzanne.
Everything Gareth and I had brought from Rosewarren remained at the Falkeron monastery, including his glasses; while I didn’t expect to miraculously find a spare pair at Wardwell, I was nevertheless disappointed not to.
We would have to watch him carefully in Vauzanne.
His eyesight wasn’t dreadful close up, but he could still confuse things from a distance.
I sat on the floor of Mother’s storeroom, thinking through logistics—what we would take from Wardwell; what we could borrow from Talan’s friend Kirsa, at whose house we would stay in the Vauzanian town of Westry; what food I should eat over the next twenty-four hours to ensure that I could run all the way from Briarcourt to Vauzanne’s southeastern coast, if it came to that.
My body was strong and fast, but it was still a body and needed fuel.
I’d have to eat like a horse between now and then.
Suddenly a cry of terror shattered the storeroom’s quiet, followed by the sound of something crashing to pieces. I bolted to my feet and made it to the kitchen a few seconds before Father did.
Mother stood beside the kitchen table, shards of plates at her feet and her face white, frozen. Her mouth was open in a silent scream, and she held her head in her hands. Everything in the cottage rattled quietly, as if some great beast were thundering closer and closer.
I hurried to Mother, pried her hands loose, and shook her a little. “What is it? Speak. Are we in danger?”
When she blinked, silent tears spilled down her cheeks. “It’s Neave,” she whispered. “She’s in terrible pain. Someone is hurting her. Someone is making her bleed.”
I heard the others hurrying into the front room but kept my eyes fixed on my mother.
“We need more information,” I told her. “Think hard. What can you see? Who is hurting her? Where is she?”
“A house,” she whispered after a moment. “A grand house in a dark wood.”
“Briarcourt,” Ryder muttered behind me.
“What else?” I demanded. “Every detail is helpful.”
Mother’s wide-eyed gaze was far away. “A towering staircase. A pretty room and a pretty bed. A man with rings. And music.” Her gaze shifted, and she found Farrin, who stood stiffly at Ryder’s side. “I hear music. A piano, and it’s making such a racket.”
Her dazed expression crumpled, and her hands flew up to cover her ears. “It’s so loud. He thinks no one can hear her over the sound of it, but they can.”
Father moved past me and helped her sit, murmuring to her in his low, gruff voice. Mother blinked and looked at him. She leaned her forehead against his.
I turned away from them, my throat closing with anger.
The thought of them here, together and safe in this beautiful house, while the rest of us ran straight into certain danger, made my skin crawl.
Suddenly I understood why the first thing Farrin had done upon seeing our mother after all those years without her was to break her jaw.
“As soon as Mother gets hold of herself and has the strength to transport us,” I told the others, “we’ll leave.
I’ve made a list of supplies to take with us.
Talan and Gareth, if you’ll gather the food items, Ryder and I will handle the weapons.
Farrin and Gemma, you should train as much as you can in the time we have left.
Use your powers and make sure they’re ready, but don’t overtax yourself.
The three of us especially will need to be at our best.”
I looked at each of them in turn, saving Gareth for last. His bright, ready gaze made me feel a bit stronger. He believed that I could do this, and he was right. I was a Rose, and I’d led soldiers into far more dire situations than this.
I squared my shoulders and marched past my parents into the kitchen. Before anything else happened, I needed something to eat. Already my body was humming, preparing itself. It wanted to run. It wanted to fight. And soon it would get its chance.