Page 34 of Dagger’s Shield

She didn’t look at me or respond.

“Maman? When were you meant to begin?”

“I have not.”

“You said it’s aggressive. When did the doctors say they should start?”

Again, she didn’t respond.

I rose so I was directly in front of her. “Why are you ignoring this?”

“Your father believes it will pass.”

I was incredulous. “Pass? It will not pass. If you don’t get treatment, you will die.” I turned to leave, and she grabbed my wrist.

“Don’t.”

I jerked my arm away. “He needs to understand, Maman.”

“Wait. I have more to say.”

I sighed and waited.

“The day I begin treatment is the day this house stops being a home and becomes a sickroom. You would have given up your life to come here to care for me. I didn’t keep this secret out of pride, Maëlle. I kept it so that when you finally did come home, it would be to see your mother and not a patient.”

“When was your last doctor’s appointment?”

For the third time, she didn’t reply. I’d had enough. “Answer me, Maman. When?”

“Maëlle—”

“You haven’t seen him again, have you?”

She didn’t need to respond for me to know the answer.

“First, I’ll call and make an appointment for the soonest you can be seen. Then we’ll plan and begin treatment.”

“I have conditions.”

It shouldn’t have surprised me. I was very much like her, after all. “Go on.”

“There will be no hovering. You will speak to me as my daughter, not my caregiver, and you’ll treat me as an adult, not a child.”

“Maman—”

“If you agree, I will see the doctor. Otherwise, I will not.”

“Very well. I agree.”

“Now, let’s talk about happier things.” She squeezed my hand.

“Like?”

“The man you brought home, who cannot take his eyes off you. Tell me more about him.”

I hated that I couldn’t tell her the truth about the engagement. What I could share was that, after only two days in France, I was seeing Dagger so much differently than I had before.

“He makes me laugh, Maman, even when I am furious with him. Nothing gets past him. He knows what I need before I say it, and he does it without asking for anything in return. In all the time I’ve known him, he has never told me what to do. He lets me decide.”