Chapter 66-Enemies at First Sight #2
That alone made her seem different from her sister, who had apparently decided silence was a threat to her interests and continued complaining from the physician's embrace.
The quiet twin's face remained small and pink beneath the blankets.
Damp dark hair clung softly to her head.
Her eyes had opened only slightly, unfocused and heavy as she attempted to adjust to a world far brighter and colder than the one she had left.
She looked like a newborn.
A tiny one.
A tired one.
Nothing more.
Then her brows drew together.
Only slightly.
It could have been the light.
Or discomfort.
Or the simple effort of existing.
Her lips pursed faintly, and the expression gave her face an unexpected seriousness. She did not look angry. She did not look afraid. She looked as though something about the room had failed to satisfy her.
Elias nodded.
"There."
Veronica stared at him. "There what?"
"That expression."
"She is tired."
"She is assessing."
"She cannot assess anything."
"Then explain her face."
"She has been alive for thirty-two minutes."
"That explains her age." He leaned forward slightly. "It does not explain why she looks disappointed."
A maid turned her head away. Her shoulders moved once. Then again. The physician beside the bed pressed her lips together so tightly that the color disappeared from them.
Achille lowered his eyes toward his daughter again.
The severity in his expression softened instantly.
It happened so quickly that I almost missed it.
His brow relaxed. His shoulders lowered.
Something warm entered his face as the baby shifted faintly against him.
His thumb brushed once over the edge of the blanket near her cheek, not touching her skin, only reassuring himself that she remained there.
The baby's face relaxed.
Elias made a quiet sound.
Vindicated.
"There."
Achille's head lifted.
"There what?"
"She likes you."
"She recognized my voice."
"I know she secretly plotting to ruin my life."
"She a baby she can't plot anything ."
"She just did."
Achille looked at him in complete disbelief
"She cant even clearly see you."
"She does not require vision to plot her evil plan"
Veronica stared at him. "You are really making this about yourself."
"I have not."
"You are trying to have a rivalry with a new born."
"I didn't start it ." He gestured toward the baby. "She did."
The smaller twin cried louder from the physician's arms, her tiny face reddening further as one fist escaped the blanket.
Elias immediately pointed toward her instead.
"That one is reasonable." The physician looked down at the screaming infant. "She has been crying almost continuously."
"Exactly."
"That is your standard for reasonable?"
"She is honest."
Veronica's mouth twitched.
Elias continued, gaining confidence now that no one had stopped him quickly enough. "She is upset. She tells us she is upset. There is no mystery. No hidden judgment. No strange silence while she studies everyone."
He pointed toward the child in Achille's arms again.
"That one is evil."
The baby blinked.
Slowly.
Elias leaned backward.
"Did you see that?"
"No," Achille replied.
"She threatened me."
"She blinked."
"Very slowly."
"All newborns blink slowly."
"That one had intention."
Veronica looked down at the baby. Then at Elias.
"She can barely focus."
"Then her instincts are remarkable."
"You are arguing with someone who has not discovered her own hands."
"She does not need hands to judge me."
Achille's eye narrowed.
"Elias."
Elias looked toward him.
"What?"
"You are accusing my daughter of beginning a personal vendetta against you before she can hold up her head."
"I am not accusing her."
"What would you call this?"
"Preparing everyone."
"For what?"
"My inevitable suffering."
I felt laughter threaten. It hurt before it escaped. My body reminded me immediately that hours of labor had made even breathing too deeply an unwise choice. I pressed one hand lightly against my stomach and tried to hold the sound inside.
Veronica noticed.
Her expression softened briefly before she turned back to Elias.
"What exactly do you believe she intends to do to you?"
"I do not know yet."
"Then there is no evidence."
"There is plenty."
"Name one thing."
"She looked at me."
"She looked in your direction."
"She lingered."
"She cannot focus her eyes from that distance."
"Then she sensed me."
"How?"
Elias gestured vaguely at himself. "Presence."
Achille looked down at our daughter.
Then back at Elias.
"You are describing yourself as a disturbance detectable without sight."
"I have always possessed a strong presence."
The baby made a quiet sound.
Not a cry. A soft exhale, almost like a sigh. Elias froze. He slowly turned his head toward her. Everyone watched him do it. His remaining eye narrowed.
"There."
Veronica looked down. "Oh my God shut up."
Achille closed his eye. His head lowered slightly. For one hopeful moment, I thought exhaustion had finally convinced him to ignore Elias.
Then he handed the baby carefully to Veronica.
Every person in the room watched.
He did not simply pass her over. He adjusted the blankets first. Checked the support beneath her head. Waited until Veronica's arms were fully positioned. Only when he was completely certain his daughter was secure did he release her.
Then he began rolling up one sleeve.
Slowly.
Elias watched the movement.
His confidence weakened.
"What are you doing?"
Achille folded the fabric above his forearm. "Preparing to choke you the life out of you."
Elias took one step backward.
"That seems excessive."
"You have spent the last ten minutes inventing an argument with my daughter."
"She started it."
Veronica's head turned.
"She started it."
Elias nodded.
"Yes."
"She was born thirty-five minutes ago."
"And has spent at least twenty of those minutes looking vaguely dissatisfied with me."
Achille took one step forward. Elias retreated. The movement was small. Almost dignified. If not for the fact that he was backing away from the emperor because he had offended an infant.
"You know," Elias said carefully, "violence in front of children creates lasting impressions."
"They cannot see clearly from that distance," Achille answered.
The room went silent.
Elias looked betrayed.
Achille advanced again. Elias moved around the foot of the bed. He attempted to maintain the dignity of a man making a strategic retreat rather than fleeing a furious father.
Veronica watched him circle.
"You understand," she said, adjusting the baby against her chest, "that all of this is happening because you could not leave a newborn alone."
"I am concerned."
"No, you are offended."
"I can be both."
"You believe she dislikes you."
"I believe she has excellent instincts and has used them against me."
"That sentence does not help."
"It's not my fault she evil."
Achille rounded the bed.
Elias moved in the opposite direction.
One of the physicians quietly stepped aside to prevent becoming part of the pursuit.
I watched them.
My husband, exhausted enough to collapse, moving with cold purpose around furniture. Elias, older and suddenly demonstrating remarkable speed.
Veronica standing between them with my daughter, looking disappointed in everyone.
It was absurd.
Completely absurd.
And after hours of screams, fear, blood, and the terrible uncertainty of whether any of us would survive the day, absurdity felt precious.
Elias pointed toward the physician holding the smaller twin.
"That one is my favorite."
Veronica stopped.
Achille stopped.
Even the baby seemed to pause between cries.
"You cannot have a favorite," Veronica said.
"Of course I can."
"You have known them for less than an hour."
"Time does not determine connection."
"You have not held either of them."
"I have observed."
"You accused one of them of plotting against you."