Dion appeared beside me, wiping the sweat from his face with a handkerchief. “I must see that this is taken care of and everyone gets out safely. There’s a carriage waiting to take you three home,” he said, nodding to Vespera, her mother, and my own.
Two of the noblemen who had been at dinner the other night approached, along with a young guard. “Lord Silenus, we’ve apprehended someone who may know more information about the…offense,” the tall nobleman said.
Dion nodded. “Good, good. Keep them detained until we can speak with them.”
“Why would someone do this?” Vespera asked, voice shaking as she glanced back at the bonfire. “Clarissa has done nothing but help us.”
The tall nobleman looked over the anxious crowd still mulling around the festival grounds. “Some are not so convinced, my lady.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “What have you heard?”
“Just…mumblings. Most are in awe of her magic, but some question the lengths she’ll go to.” His cheek twitched nervously under the weight of my piercing glare. “A—A person with enough power to take away this blight can surely give it back tenfold if she wished.”
“Clarissa would never do that,” I growled.
The second nobleman spoke. “Many say she’s a gift from the Fates. But there are whispers of her being our damnation.”
“This kind of power is unknown to us,” the first one added. “It’s difficult for some to trust blindly.”
I was beginning to wonder how many more agreed with these sentiments. How many of the citizens here secretly despised Clarissa, even after the tremendous show of support the last few days? Could they not see what I saw in her?
I stepped forward, words of defense on the tip of my tongue, when Mother placed a hand on my chest. While the others kept discussing the attack, she lowered her voice and said, “You cannot force them to trust her, Thorne. It’s evident not everyone feels the same way you do about her. Sheisstill a foreigner, however benevolent she and her magic have been.”
My mouth fell open. “So you think what happened tonight was acceptable?”
“Of course not!” She reared back in offense. “I would never condone the actions of radicals. I’m simply saying I can seewhythey may feel this way. Don’t try to fight this battle when tensions are high, dear.”
I curled my fingers into a fist at my side. “Fine. Then I’m going after them. I want to make sure she’s alright.”
As I turned to bound down the steps, her cold fingers grasped my wrist. “That’s a job for her future husband, Thorne,” she warned. “And that man is not you. You’re only going to hurt yourself more if you keep this up.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said through gritted teeth.
She smiled grimly at me. “Yes, you do, dear. And it’s time you let her go.”
The Ball
33
Clarissa
My goodbye with Vespera when we left the Mid Territory the following morning was quick. She was the only one I bothered saying farewell to.
She grasped me tightly and whispered how sorry she was, how she wished she could help, how much she was going to miss me. I patted her back but kept a firm hand on the wall in my mind, the one I feared would shatter like glass if I so much as breathed on it.
And then we were off. I stared out the carriage window as we rode south.
And rode.
And rode.
The Penworth Estates in the South Territory were a two-day journey from Silenus Manor. I requested to share a carriage with my mother, Devora, and Katrine, knowing I wouldn’t be able to handle the conversations I was sure would occur with Thorne and Galen after what happened at the Harvest Festival.
Mia got her energy out playing with Katrine and a ball of string in the small confines of the carriage, then napped in my lap as I watched the hills and wide fields of the Mid Territory transition to silver, burgundy, and teal-tinted mountain peaks, green countryside broken up by stone pathways and jutting rock formations.
Mother and the maids chatted throughout the long ride, but they seemed to know to leave me alone. Every once in a while, Mother would rest her hand on my knee, a quiet sign that she was thinking about me. When we stopped at an inn halfway to our destination, I headed straight to my room, avoiding Galen’s concerned look and Thorne’s hand as it stretched out to graze my pinkie, a question in his eyes.
The next day, we did it all over again.
