I kept my eyes down not wanting to see the clear hatred he had for me. He had once been the only one I knew for sure cared for me. Now my presence upset him. Another thing my mother took from me.
“Why?”
“I would like to talk—a friendly talk.”
I smelled her before I saw her. Jade had always smelled like flowers in bloom. Her heels clicked on the floor behind my father. When I looked up she was smiling brightly at me. Her light brown hair fell in long waves, her blue eyes shined like the summer sky. Her dress was white and expensive.
“Elowyn.” She greeted me kinder than my father did.
“I can make her leave if you’d like,” my father said, not bothering to hide it.
“Oh, nonsense. I knew she’d come some day. Let’s sit in the garden and chat.”
I nodded as she stepped past me and led me around the side of the house to a vast garden of herbs, vegetables, and flowers.
She ushered me to a seat at a wooden table before settling in across from me. I looked up at her, and she still had that friendly smile in place.
“So, Elowyn Ashgrave, what do I owe this visit to?”
I sucked in a shaky breath.
“I want to discuss the curse.”
She nodded. A servant approached the table, setting down some tea before scurrying away. Jade poured for both of us, her movements graceful, practiced. She took a long sip of hers before sighing.
“What about it?”
“Is there any way you would get rid of it?”
She grinned.
“Oh.” She stared at me. Her eyes falling over every inch of my face. “You look almost exactly like your mother, just with your father’s eyes.”
My body tensed at her tone. Her fake smile fell away as she watched me.
“Your father’s eyes were always my favorite thing about him, and I hoped our daughter would get them, but she didn’t.”
And I wished I could gouge mine out because I didn’t want to be reminded of a man who hated me every time I looked in the mirror.
“I don’t think it’s fair that I am being punished for the mistakes of my mother.”
She stared at me like she wasn’t sure if she should say something.
“Have you fallen in love yet?”
I glanced at her before sighing heavily.
“No.”
“Such a liar.” She grinned. “Your curse has already started. Ifeltthe moment you fell in love with him.”
Tears stung the backs of my eyes as Abram’s face popped into my mind.
“Tell me, Elowyn, how does it feel to know that you fell in love with a man who has a mate that isn’t you? Like mother, like daughter.”
I glared at her. “That doesn’t make me like my mother.”
“How is it any different?” she asked with a curious look. “You married a man that has a mate.”
