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She had no intention of ever seeing her father again. That decision left her feeling so free that sometimes she forgot how trapped she was.
She washed her face and straightened her clothes and studied herself in the mirror. She wanted to look wise and thoughtful, not nervous and sad. She wasn’t sure she had come close to succeeding.
Two people were in the atrium as she descended the stairway—Jayla and the lanky young woman who was Cody’s sister. Madeleine paused long enough to present her daily code word to the courier, then headed again to the unfriendly formal receiving room. She was too restless to sit, and the chairs were too uncomfortable anyway, so she spent the next fifteen minutes just standing at the window watching traffic rattle down the gridway. Her back was still to the door when she heard it open and the footman announced, “Dona, someone from the temple is here.”
“Thank you, yes, show him in.”
There was the tap of footsteps, but not the click of a latch engaging. Jayla had insisted that there should never be a closed door between Madeleine and the guards any time there were visitors in the house.
“Good afternoon, Madeleine,” someone said, and she whirled around, because that wasn’t Harlo’s voice.
“Benito,” she said, making no attempt to hide her surprise. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“The patri was so sorry he was unable to keep his engagement,” Benito answered. “He sent me to make his apologies in person and to beg you to receive him tomorrow at around this time.”
She could hardly imagine any commitment Harlo could have that would be more important than this one, but in truth she was relieved that she would not have to face him today. “Yes, of course,” she said. “I hope nothing terrible has happened.”
Benito made a graceful gesture with one hand. His dark, serious face was so handsome that it was distracting. She had always believed the rumors about him and Harlo were true. “Many terrible things are happening all the time,” he replied. “The patri’s role is to try to make them a little less dire.”
She found herself wanting to ask this question of everyone she met. “Did you know?” she said. “About me?”
He watched her solemnly from those deep, liquid eyes. “I did. I thought it was a heavy burden for the patri to bear.”
“For the patri!” she said indignantly. “What aboutme?”
“As long as you did not know, it was no burden to you at all.”
She came a few steps closer, feeling suddenly combative. “So you agreed. You thought it was best I did not know.”
“From what I understand,” he said, “in the past there were women who knew the truth and women who did not. Those who were aware of their fates were angry and desperate and afraid. Those who were unaware led gentler lives, though marked by mysterious tragedies.” He shrugged. “I can understand why the decision was made to keep you in the dark.”
“What happened to those women? The ones who knew the truth?”
“Sadly, they are all dead.”
“Killed in childbirth, I suppose,” Madeleine said spitefully.
“The last one was murdered by Reversionists.”
Madeleine caught her breath. “I didn’t realize—I thought the fanatics had never been successful in their attempts—” She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, feeling a sudden chill.
“They have been responsible for quite a few deaths,” Benito said, “including that of the last remaining woman who knew what her destiny was supposed to be.”
“What was her name? What happened to her?”
“Villette Rowan. Her throat was cut and her house set on fire. At least one of her guards was also found dead in the house.”
She almost gasped. “There was a fire last night—”
He shook his head. “Oh, no. This happened fifty years ago.”
Madeleine spared a moment to wonder about that woman—Villette, he had called her—who had died at the hands of fanatics. Had that other woman railed against the terrible destiny that had been laid out for her, only to meet another end that was even worse? She must have been related to Madeleine in some fashion. Maybe they even looked alike. Would their fates be similar?
She tried to keep her voice cool. “So the Reversionists have been around for decades,” she said. “Did they ever seek to harm my mother or my grandmother?”
“Not as far as I know. Harlo says everyone believed the cult had died out after Villette’s death.”
“I wonder what caused them to rise up again.”
