Foretell (33 page)

“Go ahead and humor me.”

“Time,” she told me seriously. “It takes lots and lots of time. A broken heart won’t mend itself in a day. And when a heart heals from its first love, the pieces are never put back together quite the same way. The loves of our pasts always manage to leave scars.”

I scowled at her. “You’re right. I hate that answer.”

Aurelia chuckled again. She wrapped an arm around me, leaning her chin on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, my love,” she assured me. “It does get better.”

I shook my head, smiling a little. “Thanks, Aurelia.”

We both sat there for a while, keeping still, and staring ahead. It surprised me when Aurelia sighed again. It was a sorrowful sound, full of distressed emotion.

“Estelle, I haven’t been fair to you,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

She scooted away, moving to sit across from me. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

I braced myself, praying to God that Aurelia wouldn’t tell me she’d only been using me this whole time. I’d only known her a couple of days, but I’d already felt so comfortable around her. I didn’t want to lose her, too.

I waited while she fidgeted, prying at a blade of grass. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, “Rex Constantin is my son.”

I absorbed Aurelia’s news slowly at first. After I thought about it though, it all seemed to click together, making complete sense. Her gray eyes, just like Gabe’s. The expensive jewels she wore, probably from her time spent living as royalty. The reason why she was here in the first place, helping me…

“You know the painting you told me about?” she continued. “It was
me
. I lost the portrait several decades ago, thought it was gone for good. Anyway, Rex painted it.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Rex called me a few days ago, asking me to look after you,” she admitted.

My mind reeled over that. I suppose he still cared enough to have his mother check on me, just not enough to do it
himself
.

“I wanted you to trust me, Estelle,” Aurelia continued. “But I knew you wouldn’t be able to do that once you knew who I was.”

I swallowed. A wave of betrayal washed over me as everything fell into place. “Because I knew you lied about your murder,” I surmised.

“Exactly,” she confirmed, nodding. “Rex told me what happened with Salazar. I didn’t want to talk about something so heavy after just meeting you. I wanted you to know me first, to know I wouldn’t lie about something like that unless it was for a good reason.”

“And was it for a good reason?” I asked, doubt creeping into my tone.

Aurelia pursed her lips, seemingly hurt by my distrust. “Someone murdered me, Estelle. I didn’t lie about that.”

“But why did you blame it on Salazar?” I demanded.

Her gray eyes sparkled icily. “Because I wanted to sever the royal families. I wanted to rip them apart.”

Aurelia’s anger surprised me. She was just as intensely passionate in her anger as she was in her enthusiasm.

“Salazar was a council member of the Order,” Aurelia explained. “In fact, he was ranked fairly high, directly under Dracul himself. During those times, the Order was responsible for brewing disastrous plans. I had a dream, years before it ever happened, that the Order would result in a massive genocide of the Romany people. I couldn’t put my children through that kind of turmoil, Estelle. The members of my family were already questioning the contention between the Royals. I knew I needed to give them a reason to finally leave.”

“So you let yourself get killed?” I asked.

She nodded solemnly. “Salazar knew I was plotting against him and the Order. He may not have slipped the poison in my drink, but he might as well have. His lackeys did it for him.”

“But you could have stopped it from happening,” I pointed out, horrified.

“I didn’t want to,” she told me. “My family wouldn’t have left over petty disagreements they suffered through with the other families. They needed to lose faith in the Royal Courts entirely.”

“And Salazar?” I pressed.

“Blaming Salazar planted the seed in the people’s minds that he wasn’t the noble King they presumed him to be. Salazar had nothing to do with my family. My acts against him were solely to protect my people. In order to keep them safe, he needed to be dethroned.”

I watched as her eyes filled with unshed tears. “It worked.
For a while.
But it didn’t prevent the genocide. I thought I could…” Her voice broke off. I stared, speechless, as she winced in pain. “It was during the Holocaust,” she continued. Her eyes tightly closed as if she were remembering. “There was some land throughout Poland that could be traced back to our origins. The Order believed the land rightfully belonged to the Roms, and they were attempting to secure it. They were trying to create their dream nation.

“They convinced thousands of gypsies to travel there, to fight for the land. But they were ignorant of the extent of Hitler’s madness. They never thought he would venture into Poland. As hard as I tried to prevent it, I simply hadn’t done enough.” Aurelia paused, staring at the ground in a trance. “Over twenty
thousand
Roms died.”

My heart bled for Aurelia, knowing she was carrying the guilt with her. “I’m sorry,” I said. “You should’ve told me. I would’ve understood. I never fully trusted Salazar, anyway.”

A flicker of anger sparked within my gut. I clenched my fist, thinking of Salazar’s deception. No good, dirty scumbag. Worse yet, he caused Rex to doubt his own mother. I should’ve known better than to let him trick me into thinking there might be something remotely honorable inside him.

Aurelia wiped at her eyes. “Like I said, I thought my story was too heavy to unload on you right away. Not even my own children know everything I’ve told you.”

I sighed regretfully. “I really wanted to believe Salazar wasn’t as bad as everyone claimed, but I should have known better. That man makes my skin crawl just being around him.”

Aurelia patted my hand. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to see the good in people. If I know anything about my son, you would’ve had to look very deeply to see the good in him.”

I smiled. “Rex is a good person. I didn’t think so at first, but I was very, very wrong.”

“You really do love him, don’t you?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

I only shrugged, still afraid to say it out loud. “It’s so weird to think you’re his mother,” I commented absently. “Your excitement makes you seem so youthful, so vivacious. Not old enough to have children Rex and Gabe’s ages.”

“I try to pretend I’m not aging,” she admitted. “Always hold onto your enthusiasm. It’s what makes life wonderful. Well, that and sparkly gems.” She tapped a sapphire ring she wore. “Good jewelry never hurt anybody.”

I smiled, but it faded as my mind wandered back to Rex. Aurelia had spoken to him since he’d come to Redwood Forest. I wondered if he’d talked about Lettie with her. I wondered if she knew whether or not Rex was happy, now that he’d finally found his missing princess. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask her those things, but then I thought better of it. There was no need to torture myself.

Instead, I said, “If we’re going to be friends, Aurelia, just promise me we’ll never talk about your son.”

She nodded sympathetically. Her gaze of pity only made thing worse. It made me feel like the loser in some high-stakes competition.

The next few days passed by in a blur. I avoided the marketplace, too afraid of running into Rex. There was no way I would subject myself to another crazy show, starring me, running hysterically through the forest. No one needed another repeat of
that
episode.

I avoided Salazar, too. He’d been occupied with preparations for the hearing, but I’d treated him to enough of my frosty glares to let him know something was up. I assumed he was putting me off because he’d been dodging conversing with me just as much as I had with him.

He probably guessed I’d found out the truth, but was too busy basking in his triumphant return to nobility to pay me any attention.

As the days passed, the only activity I allowed myself to participate in was training with Aurelia. Our relationship quickly developed boundaries. She never spoke of Rex, or anyone from her family for that matter. I, on the other hand, never mentioned Salazar or anything regarding his mission to regain his throne. It worked out well for both of us.

I dedicated myself to our training sessions. I kept Aurelia there for long hours. I fought through the fatigue that eventually took over after the curse had been wielded one too many times. I wanted to be free of it, more now than ever. My small taste of control motivated me, giving me the ambition I needed to get through it. The thought of getting away from Salazar lingered in the back of my mind, enticing me with fantasies of freedom.

If I were being honest with myself though, the thought of getting away from Redwood Forest, and more specifically, away from Rex, was what made me work so much harder. It was unsettling knowing he was so close. Knowing he was probably with
her
. The image of them watching the belly dance together continually crept into my head. Each and every time, I cringed and worked doubly hard on furthering my time.

My progress, however, was disappointing. I’d managed to break eight minutes, but just barely. As hard as I’d been trying, I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t made it to ten yet. The ten-minute mark was something I strived for daily. It dangled on a string in front of me, tantalizing me, but I could never quite reach it no matter how far I stretched. Eventually, the entire process became frustrating.

Aurelia had grown used to my tantrums, which I felt really bad about. I’d been doing a lot of kicking and screaming around her lately. “Let’s try again,” she told me, day by day. That was the answer for everything. Let’s try again. But I didn’t want to try again. I wanted this to be over. Now.
Yesterday, in fact.

After I’d left training for the day, I headed to my tent and stayed cooped up there. I didn’t feel like going anywhere or doing anything. All I wanted to do was mope. Just for a little while, anyway.

I curled up on top of the thick woven pallet and snuggled close to one of the sage-scented pillows, sighing softly. This feeling of hopelessness was biting hard. I tried to push it away, far to the back of my mind, knowing I needed to forget about everything for a while.
I closed my eyes
,
hoping sleep would take over
.

Dusk had only just fallen over the camp. The other members of the tribe mingled together outside, preparing dinner, but I didn’t want to join them. Doing things like eating dinner felt too much like I was apart of this tribe, becoming one of them.
One of Salazar’s.
Besides, I wasn’t all that hungry. I only wanted to succumb to the subconscious world, where I didn’t have to think or feel.

I prayed to God when I awoke, I’d be released from the curse. I wouldn’t have to stay with Salazar and I could return to California, enroll myself in a university and live a normal, boring life. No gypsies. No curses.

No eyes the color of warm amber.

I sat up quickly after hearing noises coming from outside my tent. I wondered whether I’d dreamed the noises or if they were real. Scooting away from the opening and back towards my pillows, I strained to hear what was out there. A chilling outbreak of goose bumps spread across my skin.

I heard an unmistakable rustling.

The sound was followed by a succession of muffled voices and lightly padded footsteps. The footsteps sounded close.
Too close.
It sounded as if the footsteps were everywhere, surrounding my tent from all sides.

I stood, wondering what to do. Before I could think of something, my tent’s front flap was lifted open. My breath caught in my throat as a cloaked figure invaded my tent.

The figure’s face was hooded and sheathed by the night’s darkness.

In a deep, penetrating voice, the figure stated, “Estelle Spencer, you’ve been summoned by the council members of the Order of Dracul. Your presence is desired at once.”

I shook my head in disbelief.

This couldn’t be happening. After everything Aurelia told me, I knew there would only be one reason why the Order of Dracul would request my presence.

Before I could think about what I was doing, I made a dash for the back of my tent. I jerked the material out of the ground and ducked underneath it. I geared myself to make a run for it, but was forcibly stopped short.

There were several more cloaked figures surrounding the tent. They all stood there as if they’d known I would try to escape. Of course, they would. They probably had the best psychics working for them. If anything, I was surprised they hadn’t discovered my existence sooner.

One of the figures gestured ahead. “This way,” they said, directing me.

I came to the depressing realization there was no way I could get out of this or try to escape. I marched ahead proudly, but inwardly freaking out. The cloaked figures followed suit, marching with me, as if I were being led to my execution.

I’d always been afraid of ending up in the wrong hands. It was one thing, assisting Salazar, but I had the sinking feeling that this was much, much worse. This was ending up in the worst sort of hands, I was sure of it.