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My mother gestured to the woman. “Wren, this is Lydian Larkspur. She’s the executrix of your grandmother’s will.”
Before I could reply, Lydian barked out a command so suddenly that I jumped. “Well, don’t just stand there gawking, girl! Come closer so I can get a good look at you. These eyes aren’t what they once were.” Her voice, which I’d expected to be as high and fluttery as a butterfly, was a powerful boom.
I shuffled awkwardly forward until I was standing only a few feet in front of her. She leaned forward and stared at me with milky blue eyes magnified by cat-eye glasses encrusted with multicolored jewels. She seemed to have shrunk inside her skin, so that it hung from her, crinkled and crepey. Wisps of fine white hair stuck out haphazardly from her bright, pink velvet turban, and she was draped in a loud floral caftan that clung to her bony shoulders and pooled around her feet, which were encased in white orthopedic sneakers. She reached out a gnarled, blue-veined hand and snatched at my wrist, yanking me forward so that I was almost bent double. She examined my fingers and the palm of my hand minutely before looking back up into my face and nodding once, sharply.
“You look like a Vesper,” she proclaimed after this lengthy assessment was complete.
“Thanks,” I muttered, gently pulling my hand out of her grip. “Um, it’s nice to meet you.”
“No, it’s not,” Lydian barked. “No one likes meeting old people, not even other old people, and I should know. I’ve been old longer than you’ve been alive, child. These are my granddaughters, Selene and Vesta.” She waved a careless hand at the women on either side of her in turn, and each of them nodded solemnly.
“Nice to meet you,” I repeated lamely, because I could think of nothing else to say as my brain struggled to take in this piece of information. These women were hergranddaughters?They were easily close to seventy years old! How old was this woman?
Lydian clucked her tongue impatiently. “All right, we’ve dispensed with the niceties. Now find a seat, little Vesper, so that we can get on with this.” She waved her hand vaguely across the room.
I spotted Freya curled up on a little cushioned footstool in the corner near my mom, so I crossed the room, scooped her up, and sat on the stool myself, replacing her on my lap. She grumbled a little at being disturbed, sniffed curiously at my clothes, and then resumed her napping in the nest of my crossed legs. My mom reached out a hand and squeezed my shoulder.
“How was downtown?” she asked, and though she was trying to sound casual, there was an edge to her voice, like she was afraid to hear the answer.
“It was nice,” I told her, glad that I didn’t have to lie. I had enjoyed my ride downtown… despite the rather odd reception I received from a few of the locals. And of course, that Twilight Zone moment with the painting… not that I was about to tell her that.
She gave me a searching look and then bit her lip and nodded, as though not sure she could trust my words. But there was no time to reassure her further, because Lydian cleared her throat and every eye in the room turned to her. Rhi had returned to the room during this exchange and had perched herself tensely on the corner of the sofa.
“As you all know, we are here to carry out the final wishes as laid out in the last will and testament of Asteria Vesper. I was her friend for many years, and I see it as my solemn duty to make sure that every last syllable is carried out to her specifications. It was her wish that all members of her immediate family be present in the same room here at Lightkeep Cottage for this to be carried out. You have all come. Let us proceed.”
She leaned toward the table in front of her, and in perfect synchronicity, the two women on either side of her leaned forward also, their hands hovering anxiously on either side of Lydian as though expecting to have to support her at any moment. Lydian seemed not to notice, however, nor did she seem in need of them. Instead, she placed her hands on the box and slid it closer to her. Then she lifted the lid off of the box and set it aside.
Everyone leaned forward to get a better look, even Persi, who was still trying to act disinterested from her distant corner of the room.
The box contained a sheaf of paper, thick and creamy and more like parchment than the kind of paper you’d expect to see a legal document printed on. The bundle was tied with a wide purple satin ribbon, and I spotted a purple wax seal on the bottom of it. Lydian lifted the bundle out of the box, revealing a second something underneath it wrapped in rich, dark blue velvet with strange symbols burned into the cloth. I leaned forward to try to examine this second object, but Lydian replaced the cover on the box, shielding it from my view. She began muttering something under her breath as her arthritic fingers fumbled with the bow on the papers now sitting in her lap. Then, the ribbon fell away, and she cleared her throat, ready to read. The air was thick with tension—I could practically taste it on my tongue. Over in her corner, Persi had pulled a rose-gold hip flask from her cleavage and was taking a generous swig.
“I, Asteria Artemis Vesper, being of sound mind and memory, do hereby make, publish, and declare the following instrument as my last will and testament,” Lydian began in her quavering voice, “and I revoke all other wills and codicils previously made by me. I direct that any debts incurred by me during my life, secured and unsecured, be paid and settled as soon as is possible after my death.”
Here, Lydian raised her head and looked at my mother and her sisters each in turn. “I have a list for you. She has requested that you handle them together and has left instructions for you.”
“I don’t understand. Did Mom have a lot of debts?” my mom asked, her brow furrowed.
“Not of the kind you’re implying,” Lydian said pointedly.
“But… oh.” My mom obviously understood something in those words that went right over my head, but I didn’t want to interrupt by asking her what that “oh” meant. After all, it wasn’t really any of my business. I looked from my mom to her sisters. Now that the reading had begun, all three sisters’ faces were solemn, their eyes wide, their complexions pale and drawn. As different as they all were, they suddenly looked, for the first time, unmistakably like sisters. Lydian cleared her throat to continue.
“I direct that my executrix and beneficiaries abide by the following written list directing the disposition of tangible personal property and assets as follows.”
Lydian sniffed and shoved her glasses up her long, crooked nose, so that the gold chain they hung on swung wildly on both sides of her face. They reminded me of the reins on a horse, and I suddenly had to fight down a mad, inappropriate desire to laugh out loud. I pressed my lips together and waited desperately for the moment to pass.
“To my daughters Persephone and Rhiannon, I leave Shadowkeep and all of its contents, with the hope that they will carry on the family business with pride and perseverance.”
Rhi sniffed quietly and fumbled in her pocket for a bandana, which she used as a handkerchief. Persi’s face was set and white, and though she did not cry, her lips were trembling.
“To my daughter Kerridwen, I leave my collection of books currently residing in my library, in the pages of which she can find her way back home, if she so chooses.”
Here, Lydian’s head snapped up and she eyed my mother beadily from behind her glittering glasses. My mom pressed a shaking hand over her eyes and did not speak. I reached a hand out toward her, but then let it fall in my lap. Whatever she was going through in that moment, it felt too private to interrupt with my awkward attempts at comfort.
“To my granddaughter Wren,” Lydian went on, and my heart immediately began to thunder in my chest. Shehadremembered me in some way. A multitude of random objects crossed my mind—everything from one of her jingling bracelets to pouches of gemstones, even one of her gauzy scarfs she used to tie around her hair. I wondered if it would smell like her, and if it would help me remember her face more clearly…
“…I leave Lightkeep Cottage and all associated property and contents.”
I blinked. “Wait. What?” I whispered.
