Chapter 34 - Pearls
Rosaline sat beside me on a couch in a room far away from any listening ears.
I looked at my Hyton Blue skirt pooled around my feet. That was all I had ever wanted—to be a Hyton, to have Derrick’s heart and mind in my hands, and to have real power.
Riyan gave his life for me and how had I repaid him? By getting lost in my own desires!
Rosaline wrung her hands. “Daigen was very specific about timing. If you didn’t get this gift at the right time, everything could go wrong.”
I glanced at the box with the pink ribbon in Rosaline’s lap. “Is that the gift?”
She shook her head. “Captain Mydina said this arrived at the Fortress a few days after you left. He brought it because he never got a response to his message and was worried.”
“Because that was the message that got Brandt killed.” I dug my nails into the couch cushion and bit down on my shame. “I am a failure. And a disappointment.”
Rosaline let out a quiet breath. “He used to say that too.”
I looked up at her. I had forgotten that Rosaline was Riyan’s childhood friend. She knew him.
Her full lips turned up in a smile and suddenly a white light appeared between her eyes. The sound of a gentle wind through flower stems traced my ears.
She held out her hand. “ This is the gift.”
I stared at her palm and my stomach twisted. Was I really ready for what I was going to face?
But Riyan once said I was the bravest person in the Dukedom. I had failed so many times over the past three weeks, but I could at least try to prove him right.
I closed my eyes, my magic forming the connection between Rosaline’s mind and mine as I took her hand.
A flurry of blue and yellow flower petals swept my mind down the tether and placed me in the middle of a field of wildflowers outside of a hovel. A young girl, no more than eight and thin as a twig, picked flowers beside me.
The girl’s mother stood on the side of the road. Her lips were painted bright red and she bared her calf to the road, her draped skirts failing to hide her pregnant belly.
“Rosaline!” called a boy.
I turned to see a large blonde boy running toward us.
Riyan. He was so young.
Rosaline smiled, but then her eyes widened with fear when Riyan ran up to her. His hair was past his shoulders, his sleeves were in shreds around his arms, and he was barefoot like he had burst out of his shoes.
His face looked nine years old, but he was over six feet tall.
Riyan’s eyes were full of tears. “Rosie, I…I grew.”
Rosaline gripped the flower stems. “What happened?”
“There was an accident with Grandmother and…” Riyan ran a hand through his long golden hair. “No time to explain. Grandfather is sending me away. To Hyton.”
He handed her a small leather pouch that clinked as it moved. “Here, ten marks. That should be enough to get your family to Hyton Palace. Grandmother says they’re always looking for maids.”
Rosaline’s eyebrows flew to her hairline as she weighed the pouch in her hand. “Ten whole marks…are you coming with us?”
A tear rolled down Riyan’s cheek. “No. I have to…I have to go, but I want you to be all right. Thank you for being my friend when no one else would.”
And then he leaned down and kissed her.
The memory ended as the two children said goodbye. I pushed out of Rosaline’s memory. I left Rosaline’s mind behind and returned to the feeling of my palm in hers.
I opened my eyes to find her crystal blue ones shining back at me.
“Bloodstone had the coldest winter in a generation that year,” she said. “My family wouldn’t have survived it. He…he saved our lives.”
A chill crept along my shoulders. Riyan’s selflessness and caring was never just a push from a corrupted blood bond…that was just who he was.
Beneath the blood on his hands and the magic in his veins, there was always a good man.
Regardless of what anyone had tried to make him—a beast, a monster, an heir, a rival, or a threat—Riyan was good. He was good, and kind, and…and…
…and what did that make me?
I pulled my hand from hers and my throat trembled. “Should I even know what is in the box?”
Rosaline’s fingernails tapped on the edge of the white box. “I can’t see into someone’s mind like you, but I was with Fraleigh long enough to learn how to read what is never written down.”
Her eyes met mine. She could see me.
But somehow I did not mind it.
She smiled and gently pushed the box into my lap. “You don’t need this but…maybe it will finally put a real smile on your face.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. My fingers pulled at the pink ribbon and I lifted the lid of the box. On top of rippling black satin was a large and slightly crumpled note. The handwriting was nearly illegible, but I was still able to make out the message.
Serafina,
I know I’m not what you wanted. I know none of this is what you wanted.
I made a mess of your Presentation dress, but I can fix it. Hopefully I can fix everything and give you the life you deserve.
I’m glad I chose you. I hope one day you will choose me too.
—Riyan
The tip of my nose stung as tears lined my eyes. My hands shook as I set the note aside and lifted the black satin.
A soft gasp escaped my lips. Inside the box was a golden headband with two rows of shining pearls.
Did Riyan even have the gold all those pearls must have cost? Father had drained the Ravenwood treasury just buying the pearls on my Presentation dress!
But if the pink ribbon on the box meant the gift came from Hyton square, Riyan had to have ordered the piece during the two days we were in Hyton. And why would Riyan try to fix my Presentation dress? Unless…
My heart stilled as my thumbs ran over the cool pearls—the pearls from my Presentation dress.
Riyan had saved them.
Tears dripped onto my cheeks. I thought my precious dress was ruined, but no, Riyan was thoughtful enough to save it. He was also thoughtful enough to feed me, care for me, and love me with every part of his mind and body.
But was that enough for a monster like me?
I blinked back tears as guilt coated my stomach like pitch. I did not deserve Riyan, or his love, and especially not his sacrifice.
I did not even deserve the magical gift in my heart. What was I even good for? Why did I even have it in the first place?
And fuck was I tired of asking questions with no answers to satisfy me.
I hissed out a breath and gently placed the note and the pearls safely in the box.
“Thank you Rosaline.” I slowly shut the lid on the box as my heart pounded, the diamond in my heart sparkling with the need for the truth. “If you will excuse me, I need to have a word with a very old man at the bottom of a very dark pit.”