Mareth sat on one of the settees, her voluminous skirts rustling.
“I wish the poor girl luck. Your human, not Glenna,” she clarified. “Is it the young woman from the Rough Market?”
I took a seat on the settee opposite hers. “Yes. Raewyn. How did you know?”
“Because I know you,” she said.
“I’ve never heard you speak of any woman the way you spoke of her. Did you fall in love with her straight away that day, or was it later?” she asked with a sly look.
“I’m not sure. It might have been that day. She certainly made an impression on me. But after she turned her ankle the night of the ball, and I brought her here to care for her and keep her safe, there was no chance Iwouldn’tfall in love with her.”
Pulling the locket from my shirt front, I stared at the two small portraits inside. I hadn’t had the opportunity to give it back to Raewyn before she was whisked away from me. Now it was all I had left of her.
“I wish you could have met her,” I murmured.
I heard the movement of Mareth’s skirts and felt the depression of the settee cushion as she came to sit beside me.
“Maybe I shall someday,” she said. Apparently my sister didn’t share Pharis’ horror at the idea of me choosing a human woman as a lifelong companion.
She reached for the locket. “Is this her?”
“That is,” I said, pointing to the baby in the double portrait opposite the image of a beautiful woman. “That is her mother.”
“She’s lovely.”
After studying the locket for another long moment, Mareth lifted her head and looked at me.
“I feel like I’ve seen this woman before.”
“I felt the same way,” I said. “But it was only because I’d seen Raewyn, and they look very much alike.”
Mareth shook her head slowly. “I don’t think that’s it. I’ve never seen Raewyn. But this woman looks very familiar.”
That was odd. If I’d ever seen Raewyn’s mother in person, it definitely wasn’t someone I knew well.
“I guess I’ll never know. I’ll never see her again. By now, she is far, far from here, and for her sake, I hope she never returns.”
Mareth sat forward. “Do youknowwhere she went? Or how she got out of the dungeon? I heard she simply vanished overnight. I also heard there was a witch in the castle. Maybe she used a transporting spell or something.”
I simply nodded my head in agreement and said, “Maybe.”
Though I knew I could trust my sister with my life, I couldn’t trust her with Raewyn’s. Mareth could be compelled to tell our father what she knew, so the less she knew the better.
“I have no idea where she is now,” I said honestly.
Leaning forward, I rested my forehead on my palms, my elbows propped on my knees. I was so tired, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly until Pharis returned and told me Raewyn was safe.
Mareth rested her hand on my back and rubbed it in soothing circles.
“I understand, you know,” she said.
“Thank you, but I’m not sure how you could. Unless you have also fallen in love with a human who’s being hunted by your own father?”
“Not a human,” she said cryptically, “but if Father found out about him… there probablywouldbe a hunt.”
I lifted my head, looking at her in astonishment.
“Mareth… has my innocent little sister been keeping secrets?”
