And then there’s the woman in red spinning around the room, laughing maniacally to herself, looking absolutely nuts.
Are they the royal guests Mother mentioned to me?
“I did everything you said,” Mother begins, watching the whirling devil in red. “It didn’t work. The magic must be too weak. The sand no longer has the same effects.”
Sand?The only times I’ve heard much about sand is in reference to the Sandman, since there’s very little sand up here.
The woman stops spinning around, and my heart lurches at the sight. I don’t know how, but she looks remarkably like Lady Hartsell, Mother’s old friend. If this is truly her, she’s much older than her appearance suggests. Her hair is long, dark, and shiny, while her skin is smooth and wrinkle-free. When she flashes Mother a smile, the gems on her teeth startle me. “Mymagic betrayed you, Sned?”
Mother swallows, her face paling. It’s kind of impressive given how pale she is to begin with. “No. No, of course not. But the spell is old, and so was the sand. How else do you explain what’s happened?”
Lady Hartsell, or I suppose, she’s the Queen now? The Queen of Hearts? The man sitting with her is definitelynotthe King of Diamonds, and more questions burn in my mind the longer we stand here.
Without warning, she reaches beneath her skirt and throws a blade toward my mother. It sails through the air, slamming into the wall just behind Mother’s head. I try to gasp, but the shadows don’t allow any sound.
My struggle with Ban returns. I can’t allow someone to kill my mother, even if I know there’s some big secret she’s keeping from me.
She lifts a trembling hand, touching her ear. Red blossoms across her skin before she touches the spot. Gasping, she keeps her eyes on Hartsell. “Davina, y-you–”
“Don’t blame me!” she seethes, all that mischief in her face long gone. There’s untamed rage in its place, the sudden shift a surprise. “I didn’t tell you to mess up the spell, I didn’t! You are a poor killer, Sned. A bad killer, a bad mother, a bad wife. Bad, bad, bad!”
Why is she speaking like that? When I last saw Hartsell, she spoke like a lady. Better, probably, because everything she said was measured and controlled, like she was always thinking ahead. I would say I’m wrong, that this isn’t Lady Hartsell, or the Queen of Hearts, or whoever I’m thinking of. It could be a crazy relative, except Mother called her Davina.
That was Hartsell’s first name. I doubt an ancestor would have the same.
“Davina,” the man says, eyeing the two of them. “We still have a ball to attend. The show must go on. Do not leave marks you can’t explain.”
Sighing dramatically, Hartsell presses her hands to her hips and tilts her head to one side. It goes too far, looking uncomfortable as her ear nearly presses against her shoulder. That can’t be normal. “You let something slip, Sned, my girl. If you kept up with the magic, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
Mother thins her lips. My struggles with Ban have lessened, too; the conversation holding too much of my attention. “Perhaps it’s the sand?”
“Sand doesn’t do everything,” Davina says darkly, her eyes narrowing. “Into the soul, the body will be full.”
Oh, riddles. How I’m so, so sick of riddles.
“I did that!” Mother hisses. “I went to see Neve once a quarter as discussed! I always brought the sand. I went to see her the morning she woke up. I don’tknowwhy she’s alive and with us now.”
At first, I don’t process Mother’s words. They sound so cold, so… unlike what I’m expecting to hear, that I simply don’t accept it.
It almost sounds like Mother doesn’t want me to be awake. To bealive.Like she was responsible for my frozen sleep all along. I’ve had suspicions about someone in the palace putting a spell on me, but she was never on my list.
It can’t be. She couldn’t hurt me. My own mother?
Ban’s arm squeezes around my stomach, and I don’t know if he’s trying to comfort me or hold me back. Right now, both might be necessary.
“It puts a bit of a hitch into the plan. Yes, it does,” Hartsell says, and the fact that Mother’s unsurprised by her words hits me right in the gut. “How are you going to keep your magic going without a vessel, Sned, my dear?”
There’s mockery in her voice, and I try to focus on Mother to gauge her response. My magic and Mother’s have always been different. They aren’t tied together. I can’t do anything with snow, now or in the past. And I haven’t seen my mother do anything with ice.
Maybe we just need to be similar.
“It will be handled,” Mother hisses, her back going straight. Nearby, Kael and Nyra straighten too, copying her. “If you are still up for this.”
“Oh, we came to attend a ball!” Hartsell cries, grinning wildly. She throws her hands up, spinning once more. “And a ball there will be. Capture the moment, Sned. We’re never going to let the people forget it.”
Mother nods, bowing her head, and when she turns to give the man the same regard, dread nearly overpowers me.
Hartsell… the Queen of Hearts, she’s the visiting royal. This isn’t just a show of respect; Mothers dipped so deeply into her bow her head is parallel to the floor.
