She wasnotwearing the chain with the talisman around her neck.
A woman dressed in a starched black dress with a ruffled collar and a tight gray bun on her head clutched Laphira’s upper arm, her mouth drawn into a hard line.
A boy trailed behind them, holding a toy dagger in his hand. Young. Pale blue eyes too large for his face. He walked slowly, slashing his pretend blade back and forth through the air.
Still keeping a tight grip on Laphira’s arm, the woman reeled around to glare at the boy. “Stop dawdling. Keep up or you’ll feel my hand.”
The boy flinched.
Something cold settled in my stomach as I watched the interaction.
Fear flashed across his face, and he looked likehe might cry. But he rushed forward, his small legs working hard until he reached Laphira and grabbed her hand, looking up at her.
“Mummy?” His soft voice rang out in the hall. “Why won’t you smile?”
Laphira said nothing. Did nothing but walk beside the woman, under her command.
The older woman hissed something under her breath, but I didn’t catch it. They rounded the corner and their shoes clicked on the floor, their footsteps fading.
Lore sent me an eyebrow-raised look.Laphira’s son.
How old does he appear to you?
Four. Five.He tilted his head.Why?
Because he has Dorion’s eyes.
The same pale blue, the same shape. The same eyes that had looked at me with desperate hope when Dorion spoke of the woman he loved.
That wasn't just Laphira's son.
He was also Dorion's child.
Chapter 22
Reyla
What?Lore hissed, peering down the hall as if he hoped to catch another glance of the boy, but they were gone, even their voices fading to nothing.
My heart clenched as I thought of Dorion searching for answers about the woman he loved, not knowing he had a son walking these halls. A son who was being led around by a harsh woman while his mother stared at nothing.
How long had that little boy been asking his mother to smile while she remained trapped in whatever spell held her? The image of that small face looking up at his vacant mother made my chest ache. Children shouldn't have to beg for their parents' attention, shouldn't have to wonder why love had suddenly vanished from familiar eyes.
They were together like that.I still watched the shadows where the boy had disappeared.
Lore shrugged, his mouth a flat line.I assume so.
I glanced at him.So maybe the boy is his. I bet Dorion doesn’t know.
He will soon.Lore's jaw tightened.The real question is how he'll handle it.
Maybe her deceased husband had the same eyes.The timing felt too convenient to ignore.Hers are dark blue, so the pale blue must come from his father.
Maybe.
We exchanged a long, loaded look. My chest felt like someone had pulled it open. The air between us shifted, getting heavier. Before, this was about finding the talisman and leaving, then fusing the three together, though I wasn’t sure where or how we were supposed to do that.
Now a child was part of the situation, and it was clear there was something very wrong with Laphira.
