Hereditary (17 page)

Chapter Twelve

Mortal Dangers

An hour later, I found myself in Rose’s chamber again, the boys having been shooed away so that Rose and Miriam could strip my clothes off and start forcing me into a parade of dresses that seemed endless. It soon became a game between the two of them, to try and find something that didn’t suit me—a task they quickly declared to be impossible. Eventually, I began to laugh along with them, and even picked out a few dresses for myself. I was twirling around in one such monstrosity that I had found pushed to the back of Rose’s never-ending closet when someone knocked on the door.

Miriam called out for whomever it was to enter, and a few moments later, Hazen poked his head through the door. He paused when he saw me, clutching the ruby-red dress with the ballerina skirt against my chest, as it wasn’t buttoned up along the back. I knew that my cheeks were red with laughter, my eyes shining with it, and I widened my smile when I saw him.

“What do you think? Will this do for the party?” I asked, giving him a spin.

The dress’s individual components weren’t so bad, the red satin, the bunched black tulle beneath the puffed-out skirt, and the giant pink bow at the base of the row of heart-shaped buttons leading down the spine. But put together, along with the garish silk roses adorning the neckline, it was an eyesore. Hazen seemed to think so, too, for after he got over the shock that held him momentarily enthralled, he snorted.

“You’ll take that off,” he shook his head, stepping into the room. “If you know what’s good for you.”

Of course he didn’t mean for me to undress right then and there, but somehow, his words made something flutter deep in the pit of my stomach. I must not have pushed the thought away quick enough, for the smile soon fell from his face, and his eyes darkened. Rose, blissfully unaware of my sudden urge to flee the room, stepped back up to continue rifling through the closet, as Miriam looked to her son, one of her eyebrows inching up. He tore his eyes away from me, probably hearing some inquisitive thought in her head.

“Father is here, I came up to tell you.” He spoke to his mother, but over by the closet, I saw Rose suddenly stiffen.

Miriam nodded, the smile also fading from her face a little, and she moved to follow her son back out of the room. After they both left, I went over to Rose, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“You okay?”

She turned, her smile a little tremulous. “Yeah, fine, just a little surprised is all. He hardly ever comes here, unless it’s during the day—to conduct court business, you know.”

“He doesn’t live here?”

“No, not so much anymore.”

“Where does he live then?”

She shrugged delicately, beginning to gather the fallen dresses, and I followed to help her.

“I don’t really know, nobody has ever asked him. Probably either in the Harem District, or King’s Blockage.”

“Maybe he’s just here to see his family?”

Her smile was a little softer when she turned to me again. “Maybe. Now lets get you into something a little less frightening.”

She ended up dressing me in a soft white chiffon dress that floated around me like a cloud, but didn’t have any straps. The top was a boned corset layered with a soft, white material, flowing into the skirt that began at waist-height. It was unlike anything I had ever worn before, and despite the revealing nature of the top-half of it, paired with the slit that parted the full skirt, halfway up my leg, I immediately loved it. As she laced the back of the short top, I admired the style in the mirror.

“You constantly surprise me, Rose.”

She flicked a look at me in the mirror, finishing off the too-constricting binding, and then winked, pushing me over to the vanity to do my hair.

“It’s a talent. Me and my mother, we could turn even a rock into something beautiful, and you’re no rock, Bea.”

“I don’t even worry about my appearance when you dress me up, I’m too captivated by what you end up putting me in.”

She giggled, but from the flush slowly rising up her neck, I could tell that she was pleased with the compliment. She pulled the tie out of my hair and began to brush out the waves, before rubbing some random, lilac-scented lotion that shone like oil into her palms, and spreading it through the tresses.

“My mother will hold a formal dinner now that he’s turned up. Will you sit with me? I think I’d feel more comfortable having you there.”

“Are you sure? It wouldn’t make things even more awkward?”

She rolled her eyes. “You might be infamous at the Academy, but everyone knew you were coming, and when people see you with your father, then they know who and what you are. My father won’t even look twice, you won’t even register… he’s like that.”

I could sense the bitterness in her words, and again my heart ached for her, causing some of the darkness to creep back in.

“Sure,” I said quickly, hoping to bring her smile back, “I’ll sit with you.”

Sure enough, her smile chased the darkness away, though not entirely, and after she finished with my hair—leaving it in thick waves down my back—we headed down several stories to yet another room that I had never seen. It was a long hall, housing several circular tables, thought there was one that clearly held the position of importance, right in the middle, on a slightly raised dais. The room was already full of people, most of whom were seated, and servants bustled from table to table with trays of goblets. Cale, Hazen, Miriam and Kaylee were already seated, along with a man that I faintly recognised. The King had a large, imposing build, unlike the rest of his family, and his eyes were a cool blue, his hair cornflower yellow. The only one who seemed to look anything like him was Hazen, who had inherited his height, but not his bulk. They also had the same stern expressions.

Cale stood up and wolf-whistled when he saw us, causing the others to also look up. I purposely avoided any eye contact with Hazen or Kaylee, the memory of my embarrassing mind-slip earlier still taunting me. Cale pulled out chairs for both Rose and I. As we sat, I cast a glance towards her father, who—true to Rose’s word—hadn’t even spared us a glance. He was deep in conversation with his wife, who had paused to give us both a tense smile, but turned back to her husband almost immediately.

I could feel the tension radiating off Rose, and was unsurprised when she snagged a passing servant and snatched two goblets off his tray, pushing one at me. I drank more because I didn’t want to make her drink alone, but even I was wondering how we were going to last the whole way through dinner as she switched out our fourth glasses for fresh ones. Cale noticed, and snagged my goblet, taking a large enough swig of it to convince me he hadn’t just been thirsty. I threw him a grateful look and he winked.

That was when all hell broke loose.

The King—his name was Fenrel—burst out of his seat, sending it flying backwards and clattering to the floor loudly. He slammed his fist down on the table, knocking Rose’s goblet into her lap, and causing everyone else to jump. Miriam had gone white, her gaze riveted to the tablecloth ahead of her, and Hazen slowly stood, his eyes flying from one of them to the other. I was surprised that he wasn’t up to speed already. Instead of watching the other two, I watched him, knowing when the brief look of horror crossed his face that something had to be terribly wrong.

“Mother,” he said, not turning his head away from the King. “Maybe you should take Rose upstairs to change. She spilt wine everywhere.”

Miriam looked up, and I could have sworn that I saw relief flashing in her eyes. She pushed up from the table, visibly shaken, but didn’t get very far before Fenrel’s hand shot out, snaking around her upper arm.

“We will talk about this in the morning.” His tone was quiet, but the force of it carried, and Rose shuddered beside me.

Fenrel was the one to walk away, striding through the hall and ignoring the way that people pretended they weren’t staring at him, or perhaps he just didn’t care enough to notice. Miriam hurried around to Rose and pulled her from her seat, obviously realising that she was drunk, but there was only sympathy in her lovely eyes as she led the girl from the room. Left alone in the aftermath of whatever had just happened, I sank back into my seat, staring at the tablecloth. Hazen lowered back into his own seat, giving Cale a short, almost imperceptible shake of his head, which had the other’s face crinkling with worry-lines immediately.

I cleared my mind of everything, and focused only on Hazen, calling his name softly in my head, not sure if it would get his attention or not. He dropped the fork he was playing with and his eyes swung to me, before returning to Kaylee, who was trying to whisper in his ear.

What is it, Bea?

Suddenly I had nothing to say, or perhaps so much to say that I couldn’t decide which was more important, so instead, I pulled out the relevant memories. The ones of Rose tied into heartbreaking knots over her father.

I’m sorry
,
I thought, once I had finished.
If there is ever any way that I can help…

Go to them,
he returned, after a stretch of silence.

You don’t think I’d be intruding?

You’re more than a pretty face they like to dress up, Bea. You’re lost, and it gives them purpose to have something to care for.

I’m not lost.

Across the table, Hazen nodded to Kaylee and then turned to me, his expression amused of all things. He didn’t speak, but instead pushed a series of images into my head, which flicked before my eyes in a silent parade. The first was my face, standing below the cherry-blossom tree with Cale, on the day we had first met. My appearance was a little disheveled, my hair pulled into a ponytail, which hung over my shoulder, and my hands clutching the stack of books in my arms. My lips were pressed with some emotion that looked like worry, and my violet eyes were wide. Lost.

The images that followed were of me over the last few months, and in all of them, my expression was similar. Wide eyes, and a nervous set to my mouth, my shoulders slightly hunched.

Without saying a thing, in my head or otherwise, I stood up, holding out my hand for Cale to stay when he made a move to stand as well, and then turned to walk out of the room. On my way out, I paused and grabbed a glass decanter of some liquid, hoping that it was alcoholic, and made my way back to Rose’s chamber. I knocked on the door first, and heard Miriam’s soft call to enter. I was nervous by the time I finally pushed open the door, unsure as to whether they would welcome my intrusion, but when Rose saw the decanter in my hand she started laughing and ran over to give me a hug. To my surprise, Miriam drank right out of the decanter with us, even though the liquid burned like fire and chocked us all up.

“I think he’s lost,” Rose suddenly said, looking at me. “I think it’s time to stop waiting.”

“Stop waiting then,” I said, though I didn’t sound at all convincing, even to my own ears.

“How long has it been since you’ve seen your father, Bea?” she asked, those dark, lovely eyes pleading with me for something, perhaps a common pain.

“I saw him last when I was here.”

Miriam’s eyebrows shot up. “Is he usually away this long?”

“Once he was gone for almost six months.”

“But when he came to see you, he was so distressed.”

“He loves me, he cares what happens to me, but our family died with my mother. And he knows that I can take care of myself.”

Rose sniffled, and took another swig out of the decanter.

“Maybe you can teach me.”

I reached over and grabbed her hand. “Of course I will; you’ll never be alone, Rose.”

We stayed there talking—and eventually laughing—until the decanter was empty and mother and daughter were curled up asleep. I wanted to curl up and sleep myself, but instead I hopped up off the bed, swaying a little, and then headed for the door. It did strike me as ironic that I was once again drunk within the castle, but the circumstances were less dire this time, so I didn’t worry so much, even when the darkness came swooping back into my mind and my head swam with images of Miriam and Rose’s tear-stained faces. By the time I reached the dining hall again, it was bereft of people, and I sighed, kicking off my shoes and leaving them there as I started wandering around in search of the others. I eventually found where the party had migrated to, though it was significantly smaller now.

When I pushed open the door and stumbled into the room, nobody seemed to notice, for which I was grateful. There was a band playing, and a beautiful elven woman singing, her voice husky and low, pulling me further into the room with the sheer beauty of it. Most of the people were dancing, but others were strewn about in dark corners or standing about the edges of the space that had been delegated for the dancers by rows of haphazardly stacked furniture. A man walked past me, his eyes travelling to the slit in my dress, before he paused and stepped towards me. I quickly stepped around him and spotted the back of Cale’s head. I moved toward him, and soon saw Hazen too, sitting on a table pushed up against the wall, one of his legs bent up to rest against the edge. They were talking, but when they saw me they stopped, and I wondered if they continued the conversation in Cale’s head.

“Hey,” I said. “The other’s are sleeping, where’s Kaylee?”

“After the little show in the dining hall she went home,” answered Cale, pulling me down to the couch beside him.

I stumbled a little on the way down, and had to throw my arm out to prevent falling onto Cale’s lap, accidentally whacking him in the chest.

“Ow.” He grabbed my arms and manoeuvred me a little more carefully, and then started laughing as he sat back. “How much have you had to drink, Little Synfee? Bit of a habit, eh?”

I shrugged in response. A pretty brunette girl rounded the other end of the sofa then, plopping down on Cale’s other side and handing him a drink, causing us to all squish up. He took the drink, winking at her as he did, and the look she gave him in return had me smiling. But as they became increasingly wrapped-up in each other, the couch got more and more crowded until, eventually, I extracted myself and slid onto the table beside Hazen, my gaze now riveted to the dancers in the middle of the room.