Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Outside of the Tearoom, trepidation thundered in my chest as my fist clenched at my side. I fiddled with Silas’s heavy ring, the metal cutting into my finger. I drew the umbrella down, the sun kissing my brow, took a breath in, and opened the door to the shop.
It was as I remembered, tables clustered in the shop with ladies engaged in chatting, enveloping the space in cacophony.
Steam rose from hot cups of tea nestled in fine china.
Waves of lavender, rose hips, hibiscus, and earthly roots crashed into one another, turning about the establishment as spirits.
There were earnest looks as I entered from the women sitting at the packed tables.
It was not that long ago I was one of them, listening to gossip and converging with the masses for the simple hope of what every young lady in high society wanted, a love match.
That had been off the table for quite some time during these meetings.
I glided to an open table, and a cup was turned over.
A lady rushed over, her service uniform a mess of wet stains all in variance of hues. “Apologies, ma’am. Hope I was not keeping you long. What can I get you?” She clasped her hands in front of her, wryly wringing them.
Her shoulders were pensive as she bit her lips, waiting for a lurid of harsh words to be hurled at her again.
I inclined my head toward the tea bar as glittering bottles and jars beckoned from their glass case. When I spied a bottle of green, a smile crept upon my lips. “Tell your barman that I’d like la fée verte.”
The server’s eyes widened. “Oh, no, ma’am, we do not serve that sort of drink here. I do not know where you are from, but liquor, especially la fée verte, has been banned for quite some time.”
I leaned closely, dropping my voice. “I think you’d make an exception for me.
After all, to any untrained eye, they might be a well-disguised jar but dangerous to one that knows.
” I pulled a coin from the pouch, sweet elation pulsing.
“Here is something to sweeten the deal. Tell your man there is one with his name if he were to look the other way.” The server frowned to where I pulled another coin from my satchel.
“Some advice is to make the bottles indiscreet by putting them in brown bottles and out of the limelight. Would be ashamed if this place were to close due to a little issue such as that.”
The server took the coin and flipped it over to examine its validity, then deposited it into her pocket before striding to the bar with her mission.
I leaned back and watched the exchange between her and the bartender.
The man’s gaze flickered toward me, brow raised as he argued with the woman.
He did not appear to believe her until she pulled out the lone coin.
He glanced back, and this time, I smiled and waved.
The man quickly worked, pouring the green drink into a glass.
Setting a sugar cube upon a silver spoon, he dripped water onto it and into the aphrodisiac, spiriting the glass body until I was face to face with its shape.
I placed the other silver coin into the palm of the server. She only nodded before slipping back to the bar.
I sipped the absinthe, the taste of black licorice and anise dancing upon my lips. I tried to push the thought of the possibility of Silas being here, sipping the delightfully banned drink alongside me. The ache clung to my heart and my empty left hand.
I swirled the green around the glass, watching the door for Miriam.
I had not the slightest clue what I was to say, and in the months I had been away, there had been many things to say.
She did not have to worry about my health or my safety, the books I had read, the lessons I had learned under Ayla and Silas’s instructions had filled my days in ways that mattered.
Delightful ways I had often yearned for more so than for any man.
I was a corpse when I left, and upon returning, I was alive again.
For so long, I had been made to be someone I was not. That I had to be for the sake of Miriam and the fate of our family in the wake of Father’s death. I had to take the role of the older sister and take the brunt. Feed the ostentatious lies Mama had hoped would save our family.
Now, the person that sat in the tea shop sipping absinthe was no longer the same quiet girl.
This woman had venom.
“I would have thought you a stranger if it wasn’t for the fact that you seemed so familiar.
” Miriam clutched a small bag, jaw clenched as she took in the scene of the shop.
Golden curls spilled from her neat bun, tickling the nape of her alabaster skin, likened to that of a porcelain doll.
Her cerulean gaze trained on the glass in front of me.
“Didn’t take you to partake in forbidden activities. My—how the tables have turned.”
I smiled, gesturing to the empty seat in front of me. “Please.”
She sat, prim and proper as a lady does—beckoning a server who never asked for her order but deposited the teapot without another word and went about his business.
“We thought you were dead after not hearing from you in so long after that brute of a man whisked you away from us.”
I sipped idly. “He is not much of a brute as he is out of practice. I’d written sooner, but there is not much of a mail system in which he lives.”
“And now, what’s changed?” Miriam’s lips thinned. “As I have said we do not hear from you—Mama was beside herself.”
I chuckled, imagining Mama’s cunning plan fall apart as Silas had uttered those words in the place of worship.
Miriam brought her cup to her lips with a pout. “I do not know what you had to do—are you back for good? Are you marrying William?”
I nearly gagged. “William—what makes you think that I am back to marry him?”
She lowered her head, a grim look casting upon her frightening in the twenty years we had shared the same spaces was one that’s beyond terrifying.
“Please, you need to help me. I can’t—I can’t—I’m not like you.” Miriam reached across the table, grasping my hand with such urgency. A familiar gaudy ring adorned her finger. “Mama arranged it shortly after you left. We are to be married in a few weeks, and I-I . . .”
Her hand shook, releasing my arms and lifting the scalding liquid to her lips, sloshing out of the cup and onto the white tablecloth.
The door jingled opened, the sound of familiar footsteps clamoring our way, then stopping at the head of the table.
The absinthe was working its magic, and the overwhelming thoughts of the last six months disappeared in a single moment.
I was back to the wall erected between the horror of society and Miriam, the little angel.
Envious little angel incapable of stains upon her delicate feature.
Mama stern eyes stooped to the green of my glass before setting upon my face. William’s devilish smirk was that of a sword speared through me. William placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing tightly.
Miriam’s eyes pleaded, sorry that they were here. That she was going to drag me back to a life I never wanted. But it was her deal, after all, my life for hers.
It was not fair I was living carefree, when she had to take my place.
Why did she have to marry the brute she once had called handsome and admirable?
I bit my lip. “I’d say congrats are in order, but I am guessing it isn’t what you had thought it would be.” I gripped William’s hand, sliding it off, not daring to glance up in his direction.
“I see that you are well, Valeria. It appears your color has returned. I am sure that everyone is happy that you are home,” Mama huffed, having felt indignant for the last six months.
It was as if I had never left—that Silas had never existed.
I swirled the glass, the contents a reflection of my own head.
There was not much I could do to help her, not without outright killing the man.
The fact I did want this man dead shivered through my warmed body.
Not that Silas would oppose murder. But I refuse to commit to bloodshed.
Miriam glanced expectantly at Mama and at me, lips pursed as frustration knitted her brow.
William enjoyed the show he was promised to, and judging by his presence, he wanted to ensure we were not getting out unscathed.
I lifted my narrow gaze upon Mama. “What is it that you want, Mama?”
“You, to come back. What else is there, child?” she mused, shooing away the waiter and anyone else in the vicinity.
“I am not coming back, Mama.”
“Oh, I think you are. After all, you did run out on William. You were the talk of the town for quite some time. Not only did you embarrass yourself but him and the rest of this family as well. Think of your sister, Valeria.” She cocked her head, graying strands spilling over her shoulder in simple elegance.
Mama was putting forth her best class act. Our conversation in the church spooked her—this, I was sure of. Since then, she was creating a farce in the public to gain sympathy, a game she was often used to and on that may have worked months ago.
I growled, “You know damn well that is not what happened. If anyone ran, it was this fool.” I nodded toward William, his smirk transforming into a harsh scowl.
“Mrs. McCallister, I was promised to wed one of your daughters in exchange for my assistance. I hope you do not intend to break that agreement.” With a click of his tongue and a tug of his lips, he added, “A woman such as Valeria is one that has had challenges especially with living with a beast for so long. I doubt she would have a proper prospect if anyone were to find out the circumstances of her disappearance and possible defilement of another man.”
“I am sure some arrangements can be made. After all, we had agreed upon our terms, and I see no reason to change since Valeria has returned.” Mama fanned herself, watching the heads of ladies giving her nods of approval.
As if the matriarch of the illustrious McCallister family had any worth left and was not the fraud she truly was.
“Yes, and I do not like to let go of my toys.” William cocked his head with an awful sneer.
Blood shrilled in my ears, my stomach bottoming out. Under the table, I shifted Silas’s ring on my finger, not even registering the words until they hung heavy on their grim faces.
“I am sure that will be no problem.” I whipped my hand from under the table, showing them the band. “I am sure I can ask my husband to ensure the welfare of my family and not depend on a man who would rather be in the company of prostitutes than of a proper lady.”
William sent the chair flying back, shaking. Fury raged in his gaze, a vein popping out of his forehead becoming clear as he lowered himself to me, finger pointed high.
“You say another word, and I will not hesitate to kill you,” he whispered. “You may have gotten away from me once, but I will not let that happen again or your sister, such a submissive woman—you should take after her lead.”
I pondered, knowing everyone within the business is watching with eager eyes, frothing at the mouth for the drama. I let the burn of the absinthe coat my throat, pulling myself to my feet, for all I had endured the last six months—this small man meant nothing to me now.
I raised my head, lips curled. “You are mistaken, William. You ever touch me or my sister again, you will die. That, I am sure of.” I dug through my coat, brandishing a pouch of gold and silver with more than enough to live a comfortable lifestyle.
I tossed it toward Miriam. “Take it and find yourself someone who is worthy of you.”
Miriam swiped the pouch from off the table, quick enough before Mama or William had a chance to take it from her. She opened it and gasped. “Valeria . . .”
I glared at Mama, letting the next words ring out into the space. “If you sell Miriam to this abusive man, Mama, you will have sealed not only William’s but your own deaths. I nor Miriam are to be pawns. Is that clear?”
Mama scowled.
Miriam’s eyes widened, nodding in appreciation.
She would have never fought Mama in the matter.
Never saying a single word about objecting to the notion of saving our reputation—our money for the sake of this man.
No, she would have gone on to marry William, enduring the daily abuse only to become burdened with a child, unable to leave or worse.
Dead.
This was the one thing I could do for her, this one small mercy. She’d find someone, maybe not from Endovier or someone rich, but one who’d keep her happy for the rest of her days. That is the best gift I can give her before walking out of her life for the last time.
For the last time, I took in Miriam’s soft features—always the opposite of me.
The light to my dark, the soft to my harshness—innocent and pure more than I ever can hope to be.
The last tie I had to this side of the mortal coil.
I strode to the door of the teahouse, aware of the eyes upon me, but I dared not to look.
I twisted the ring, heat singing under the band. Silas was waiting. One foot after another, the path opened for me, becoming clear and unhindered. Whispers of both the past and future collided with one until they were one voice, urging forward through space and time.
I would not dally any longer. I had a promise to keep.
Mama cleared her throat, catching me off guard as my hand rested on the knob of the door, the mist closing in on the city streets. The simple sentence laced was with venom.
“Happy birthday, Valeria. May you live long and happy.”
I stumbled back through the mist and onto a familiar dirt road. The castle greeted me as the ring upon my finger seared onto my hand with the pain barely registering. I walked the long path up to the grand wood door.
Ebony greeted me with open arms, but I just opted to travel up the long staircase up to my room—to the darkness that was eager to either greet me or to feed off on.
I shouldn’t have been rattled.
Miriam was saved from a life of torture and pain. I should’ve been happy about that. I tossed myself onto the soft cushion of the bed, the scent of Silas having faded on the silk sheets. I yearned for the simpler times when I had thought I knew what was right and what was wrong.
It was my birthday, a day of supposed blissful happiness to celebrate the turning of another year. I survived to see another year turn and no longer thought to be at death’s door. So why did I already feel as if I were dead?
The evening sun set in the west and the darkness greeted me eagerly as it always has.