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Her mother shot from her seat like it was on fire and shuffled around the small kitchen table with a full plate of food still in her hands. Then she dropped it into the basin of dirty dishes.
“Mom, please leave that alone.” Thalea’s clenched jaw distorted her words. Was it the topic of conversation that had upset her, or the waste of a good meal?
Her mother’s affectionate smile returned just as quickly, pulling up the folds of loose skin on her gaunt face but never reaching her empty gaze. “This day has wrung me dry!” She laughed, wrapping one arm across her stomach. “It was such a pleasure meeting you, Gavin. You’re so handsome! I can’t wait to hear about the wedding… I’m so tired now, though. I will retire to my room.”
“You flatter me, Ms. Elder.” Gavin’s expression remained pleasant. The only thing that gave away his discomfort was the whitening of his knuckles as he pressed his hands against the table.
“Please, call me Cora, and before you ask. Yes, we do have the same name.” Her mother’s coffee-colored eyes met Violet’s, softened with hope. “I quite like that we share that, every time someone called me by it, it reminded me of you. It’s a connection that I cherish.”
What on earth was she meant to say to that? What was this—another one of life’s cruel jokes? She squirmed in her chair, feeling panic grip her anew. Gavin’s polite smile spread across his face. Such a brilliant actor. And she’d thought him unable to mask his emotions before?
Both her mother and sister wanted to stay in this distorted reality, a broken pair hiding behind falsehoods. Violet knew she was bitter and angry—but she’d rather be that than lie to herself and pretend everything was all right when it was falling apart right in front of her face.
“Wait.” She stumbled out of her seat, attempting to follow her mother, but Gavin grabbed her by the wrist.
“Not now,” her mother said. “Tomorrow, we can talk some more then–if you don’t want to stay in the inn, your room is still there.” And she shuffled down the corridor, the soles of her shoes rasping across the rough wooden floors.
“Why did you hold me back?” Violet muttered under her breath. “I would very much like some answers.”
“And I believe you’re owed them, but I don’t think that Cora can give us any in her current state.” He frowned at her sister. “How long has your mother been starving herself? She is so badly nourished and sick. I doubt she’ll make it a month if something doesn’t change.”
“I know that!” Thalea pushed away her own plate and grabbed the carafe of wine that stood in the middle of the table. “Who gave you the right to say anything about this either way?”
“Well, as your mother pointed out, I’m your family now. And I care about Violet. Even though there are bounty hunters in town, she came to see you. So you can drag it out and put us all in further danger, or you can tell us—why was your father in that mine? Why were you there? It’s been years since he died.”
Thalea paused with the cup touching her lips, her nostrils flaring. Her complexion had turned ashen with guilt. “Mom is living in this fantasy world that makes her feel less dead inside. She sleeps a lot, and I prefer for her to be happy instead of being angry or sad all the time. I have forced her to eat, and it didn’t end up well. The last time I’ve successfully made her eat, she got so sick, she almost died. We’ve all been a mess since the Crows killed dad.”
“I understand it’s hard, maybe she needs to be hospitalized in a larger city, with magical healers. If she doesn’t eat something, she won’t live for much longer.” Gavin’s voice didn’t waver, and his expression was stern yet remorseful.
Her sister wine spilled over her long, trembling fingers. “Last time I took her to the healer we used up the last of their savings. I don’t have more gold to take her.”
“At least you know people might show up searching for me here,” Violet said. “My record has this place as my birthplace. It should’ve been sealed from anyone who isn’t my family, but it’s not.” She leaned across the table and pushed past her own fear. “Gavin and I have to leave, which means we won’t be able to help you—not unless you come with us.”
A forced laugh flew from Thalea’s full mouth. “Mom can only walk from her bedroom to here. We have no money left, and since I’m the only one working, I barely sell any fish. You know how people in this town feel about me.”
Surely things had changed? It had been over a decade. There was no way the township still treated Thalea like she was a walking mad child.
“What do you mean, they won’t buy from you?” Gavin’s frown deepened. “Why not?”
“Because they think I’m crazy, all right? Or that I’m haunted by evil, or that I deal in black magic. They fear me or they hate me. You take your pick.”
“You can do magic?” Gavin raised his eyebrows before he reached for his blackberry wine and drained the glass in one gulp. She couldn’t blame him for only focusing on that aspect of her sister’s words. Not when it was also all her simple mind heard.
“No, of course not. They’ve mocked me since I was little. I used to talk to my imaginary friends. Mom and Dad urged me to stop, to avoid any backlash from the people in town.” Thalea shrugged.
The silence that followed was absolute. It settled heavily in the room, and a bitter taste built at the back of Violet’s throat.
“Why was Father in the mines?” she asked for the second time this morning. Thalea pressed her palm to her chest, right over her heart. The movement called attention to the necklace that shimmered against her skin, half hidden beneath the folds of her dress. The glint of a dark gem peeked past the edge of the fabric. “Is that—Thalea, is that a god stone?”
“He was determined to get a magical stone for me. He assured me it wasn’t because he was ashamed of my broken mind. He believed the Crows would take me, just like they did you.”
Luelle’s warning settled like a pile of rocks in her stomach. “Violet, you have been betrayed and betrothed, and you will escape Dargan’s claim over you by the end of this journey, but it won’t be what you hope for. You can find a way back to her in the old libraries of the world.”
The room spun around her. She sank into her chair again, her knees weak with the news. If Violet’s father had given her sister a god stone five years ago because he suspected she was a sorceress, that would mean Dargan hadn’t been able to sense her.
Thalea was the second magical-born from her bloodline. The child promised to Dargan. Except that Violet would rather die than let that bastard take her sister with him.
“I told him I didn’t need it because I can’t use magic like you.” Her eyes shimmered with tears. “It was the same as it has always been. The spirits visit me sometimes, mostly at night.”
