AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m just tired, Gothel. I’m fine.”
“You’re getting so thin. Can you please eat, just a little bit? Isn’t there something I can tempt you with? Is there something I can have Jacob fetch for you?”
“No, Gothel. I’m fine. I think I’ll go to my room and lie down. I have a headache.”
“Okay, Hazel, rest well.”
Gothel watched nervously as her sister left the room. Never in their lives had any of them been ill. It just didn’t happen. Gothel didn’t know what to make of that. She decided she would spend the day in her mother’s library and see if there was something she could do to help Hazel.
“Prim, I’m going to Mother’s library. Do you want to put some of those red hearts on the t
ree? I had them made for you.”
“Yes, I think I will. Can you ask Jacob to send someone up to help with the boxes?”
“Really? I didn’t think you’d want any of Mother’s creatures in here.”
“I feel a little differently now. Some of them were destroyed while protecting us from Mother. They’re our creatures now.”
“I’m happy you see it that way. I’ll have Jacob send someone up to help you.”
As Gothel made her way out of the morning room and down to her mother’s private library, she ran into Jacob, who was supervising the renovations in the dining room.
“It’s starting to come together in here,” she said, looking around the room.
“Hello, Lady Gothel.” Jacob always addressed her as such when they were around the other minions or her sisters. Otherwise he would call her “little witch,” which she had started to find very endearing. Gothel honestly didn’t know what she would do without him. “Lady, I had some questions for you about this room. You said you wanted shutters on these windows?”
Gothel was awestruck by the majesty of the room now. It still had its stone carvings of harpies and ravens in flight and its many large windows cut right out of the stone, but the minion workers had installed hinged windows so the room could still be open to the elements if they chose. It was brilliant the way they had done it, with the frames of the windows painted to match the stone, giving the room the illusion of looking as it had before. The contrast between the dark stone and the grayish-blue sky was remarkable. “I’m not so sure I do now.”
“I thought you might feel differently. I hope you don’t mind I had the windows fitted. It seemed a shame to shut out the view and the light.”
“You’re right. And I love the new table, chairs, rugs, and red tapestries. Oh! And the chandeliers and new wall sconces! Thank you, Jacob!”
“My pleasure,” said Jacob, betraying some pride in his work.
“Jacob?”
“Yes?”
“Are you truly happy with all this work? Hazel and Primrose have been worried about you.”
“I am quite happy, my little witch,” said Jacob under his breath. “But I am worried about your sisters. I don’t wish to alarm you, but I’m afraid your mother caused them permanent damage during the attack. I don’t wish to overstep, little witch, but I think it’s time to explore the situation.”
“I was on my way to do just that. I’m heading down to Mother’s private library now.”
“It’s your library now, lady. Don’t forget that.”
“Thank you, Jacob. I’ll be there if you need me.”
Gothel had taken one of her books into the dense part of the woods near the city of the dead, just as she used to with her sisters in the days before she killed their mother. She wanted to be somewhere quiet away from the main house and the sound of the renovations. Her sisters were napping, but she had made sure to leave them their favorite pastries and fruit to try to tempt them to eat if they woke before she got back to the house.
She was lying on one of the empty graves, her back against a tombstone. The sun cast a pattern of light on the pages of her book through the dead weeping willow branches. She watched the patterns dance and change as the breeze swayed the branches, distracting her from her reading. She made it her custom to lie only on the graves of those who were at the house doing work. Now that she’d met many of her minions, it somehow felt disrespectful to disturb them while they were sleeping.
She was reading a book written by her mother on various remedies and counter spells. She was desperately worried about her sisters’ health and hoped she could find something in one of the many books her mother had left behind. She had thought in the beginning they were just traumatized and exhausted by the entire ordeal with their mother, and to some extent she still thought that might be the case, but it had been several months and they weren’t better. She had to admit there might be something terribly wrong with them, and she was determined to find out what it was.
Gothel had always been a quick study, but she knew she would never have the knowledge of her ancestors—not after the confrontation she’d had with her mother—so she figured she’d better read as many of her mother’s books as she could. She had been to the vault where her mother’s blood was kept only to get the gold coins Jacob needed for supplies. Now, with everything going on with her sisters, she wondered if she should just share the blood with them to save their lives. But she couldn’t help thinking about the things her mother had said, about having to hide parts of herself from her sisters. If she gave them the blood, they would know her completely. Lately her sisters were always sleeping, and Gothel was pretty much left to herself to do as she wished. She had to admit she enjoyed having that freedom.
No, that doesn’t mean you wish them dead, Gothel.
