AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A cloud of steam billowed out of the bathroom as Briar reappeared, wrapped in a towel and looking exhausted.
I nodded toward the bedroom. “I left some clothes on the bed for you. Do you want some tea?”
She nodded, giving me a tired smile. “Thanks, C.”
My heart tugged a little at hearing her name for me after all this time. We’d taken to calling each other by our initials when we were small, even though it risked our mother’s wrath, but it had been a long time since our relationship had broken down. It was almost surreal to hear it now.
Please, gods, don’t let this be an act. Don’t give me my sister back only to lose her again.
We settled onto the wide couch a few minutes later and I tucked my legs under me as I really looked at my sister. She took a sip from the mug that she cradled in her hands, her eyes slipping briefly closed as she centred herself.
“I was nine years old when Mother first hurt you because of me,” she said, her eyes shining with emotion. “I hadn’t slept well, so was struggling to pay attention to our lessons. When she asked me to list some potion ingredients back to her, I couldn’t do it.”
She shuddered a little, holding the comforting warmth in her hands closer. “I’ll never forget the look in her eyes as she realised I didn’t know the answer. She reached out a hand and suddenly you couldn’t breathe, and then she threatened to hurt you worse if I even made a sound. Once you had blacked out, she told me that my weakness was loving you. That loving anyone just gave my enemies a way to hurt me.”
She swallowed some tea and I took the chance to speak.
“She always hurt me, B, that wasn’t your fault,” I murmured, but she shook her head.
“It became her way to punish me. Anything I did wrong, you suffered for it,” a tear slipped down her cheek as her eyes held shame and remorse. “Why do you think you spent so much time locked away? Even when I pushed you away and created distance between us, she kept taking it out on you.”
I grabbed her hand and squeezed. “She would have hurt me anyway. She enjoys hurting me. She was just manipulating you.”
She scoffed. “Well it worked. It wasn’t until I started actively being cruel to you that she seemed to lay off. She loved it when I treated you like shit.”
“I’m so sorry, Cordelia,” she said on a sudden sob, and I slid the mug out of her shaking hands before she could drop it. “I couldn’t see another way to keep you safe from her.”
“I get it,” I whispered, struggling to speak through the clog of emotion in my throat. “I would have done the same for you.”
She gave me a watery smile, squeezing my fingers. “I’m glad you got away from her.”
I huffed, wiping my eyes. “Did I? Doesn’t feel like it.”
She hummed sadly and I dragged in a calming breath. “B, I need to know everything else. What is going on? Why are you covered in bruises? How did you get through the portal gate?”
She gave me a drained look, running her fingers through her long, ebony hair as she worked out the tangles. “Oh, that’s pretty simple. She caught me eavesdropping. It’s how I knew to warn you, but she saw me listening and lost her shit. She started screaming at me and then ordered her guards to beat me. When I woke up the next day, they had already left the castle, so I broke into her vaults and took the portal magics. I knew she had based her guards at one of the bigger trade portals for weeks, sending them to search for something, so I guessed that was you and that was where to come through.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “I wasn’t expecting a hulking great shifter to grab me as soon as I landed though. Especially when I couldn’t fight him off. What the hell is wrong with the elements here?”
I grinned. “Yeh, they’re all asleep. It took me a while to really tap into them.”
She looked impressed. “You can use your power here?”
I shrugged. “I can now, but I’ve been here for months. You could too, with time.”
“Well time is something we don’t have. The meeting is on the next new moon,” she answered, worry in her eyes again as she looked at me. “C, you can’t die. Not after everything.”
I nodded, trying to hold back the panic now. I didn’t have the luxury of breaking down over this. We had to face the Queen and stop her, for all our sakes. Crumbling would only let her win.
“Can you get me back through the portal?” I asked, wincing when she suddenly pinched my arm. “Ow!”
She glared at me. “Us, Cordelia. I can get us through the portal. If you think you’re doing this alone, I have news for you.”
I huffed a laugh, memories flooding through me of how often my sister used to pinch me when we argued, before shaking my head at her.
“No, I can’t ask you to face her for me. You’re a mess. It’s not fair.”
She stood, planting her hands delicately on her hips as she glared down at me. “Cordelia. You are not getting home without me. So deal with the fact that I’m with you on this.”
