‘Thank you,’ I mumble, my head down. I brace myself for whatever Father is going to say. But he surprises me.
‘Are you all right?’ His hand comes to my shoulder.
‘I’m fine,’ I say, my head still down. ‘Just sore. You’d better go, help Mother?—’
‘Your mother will be fine for the moment, especially with that fighter from the pits.’ I look up. His head is tilted to the side. I can’t see his face but know he can see mine. He holds out his hand. ‘Come, sit with me.’
‘Er, okay?’ My voice goes up. I swallow. This is not going to be good. I take his hand and let him lead me to the edge of the steps, next to one of the great pillars. I clasp my hands over my bent legs, and I wait.
My father clears his throat. Well, shit. Vampires don’t need to do that, so this is going to be something big.
‘I think, Emelia, we might have made some mistakes, your mother and I. With you.’
My mouth drops open.What the hell?‘It’s fine.’ My voice catches.
‘It’s not fine.’ He takes my hand, playing with my fingers, putting his other hand to his lips. He touches my scratches, one after the other, healing them with his blood. My distant, beautiful father. I can’t breathe for sorrow.
‘You know how I felt, when you were born.’ I nod. There’s no apology in his tone, but his touch is oh-so-gentle. ‘And you know how your mother felt, and what she did.’ I nod again. ‘I cannot tell you how glad I am that she did. That she succeeded. For you are most precious to me, Emelia.’ His cool tones become rougher, his hand clenching briefly on mine.
I can’t speak, a giant lump forming in my throat. He turns his head, kissing my hair, and I want to cry.
‘We shouldn’t have kept you hidden away,’ he says. ‘We should have given you more freedom. But you understand how hard it was…’
I find my voice. ‘I get it. I mean, I’m pretty vulnerable, I guess, being what I am.’ My voice gets very quiet on the last words. He lets go of my hand, putting his arm around my shoulder and hugging me to him.
‘What you are,’ he says, ‘is my beautiful, brave, intelligent daughter. You’re also heir to Raven, and should have been treated as such. Does it help if I tell you I’m sorry?’
‘Father…’ I choke up, not knowing what to say. I lean my head on his shoulder.
‘We should have brought you into society more,’ he goes on. ‘But we wanted to protect you, so much. You don’t know…’
‘I can guess.’ My mouth twists, hating the reminder of what a disappointment it is that I’m human. Then he surprises me.
‘From cruelty, as much as anything else. I couldn’t bear it, that anyone should think that you, my wonderful daughter, be anything less, simply because of what you are. You cannot help it, nor should you be made to pay for it. There’s nothing wrong with you, as far as your mother and I are concerned.’
‘But…’
‘No.’ He pats my hand, then sighs. ‘Perhaps there needs to be change in our society, in the way we do things. That’s the trouble when you live so long; you become set in your ways.’
There’s a buzzing noise. My father pulls out his phone. ‘Your mother is on her way back.’ He puts his phone back in his pocket and pauses. ‘About tonight.’
I feel a lurch of apprehension. Shit. This is all very nice, but the fact is I ran away, almost got killed and put both of my parents in danger.
‘Father, I know I shouldn’t have?—’
‘No, you shouldn’t have.’ His voice is gentle. ‘So, why did you?’
I pause. I know why I ran, of course. But then I would have to admit… more things. My hands to my mouth, I consider what to say. Then I decide to come clean.
‘I didn’t want to be Raven anymore.’
‘I know,’ he says, still quiet. ‘I saw your note. What your mother and I don’t understand, is why?’
Tears come to my eyes. I stare into the glimmering darkness, to the distant glow of Dark Haven. It blurs and shakes. I take in a shuddering breath.
‘I saw the Moon Harvest.’ I brace myself.
‘What?’ My father shakes his head. ‘You shouldn’t be looking at that sort of thing online?—’
