“Samantha heard it before,” Maia offered as she came from the vault.
“When?” Cassian asked the same time as Eugenia.
“A few days ago. We came down to help with the cataloguing of magical items. When we left, she mentioned hearing music but I did not.”
“When was that?” he demanded.
Maia pursed her lips as her brow furrowed. “Christmas Eve,” she answered. “The day we were all supposed to be anywhere but in the way of servants.”
What had happened before that could have caused Samantha’s heart to be troubled?
Yes! They had bumped into each other under the mistletoe, but he had stepped away without putting his lips to hers.
“Was that the only time?” Lady Saye asked.
Again, Maia frowned. “No,” she answered slowly. “She also heard it the day after Christmas when we were gathering the crystals. I assumed it was an echo from a piano being played elsewhere.”
“Does that mean you heard it as well?” Alarm heightened Lady Saye’s tone.
“No. Only Samantha.” Maia looked directly at him, her eyes boring into his. “Why is that?”
He could offer the answer because that morning they had again bumped into the other after viewing the sunrise, not that he would tell them anything, of course. Instead, Cassian shrugged.
“The third time was last night,” Lady Saye murmured, trying to find a reason.
Cassian already knew. It was the day after Samantha had come to him for a kiss and he had rejected her.
Troubled heart indeed! He was the bloody cause.
“You have managed to translate so much, but you have no answers as to how it can be broken?” he nearly yelled and some of it was because of the guilt now eating at him.
“There are pages within pages, and the handwriting is not that easy to translate. Some sections are nearly impossible to read,” Lady Saye returned, matching his tone and volume.
If anyone was more worried than him it would be Samantha’s parents, except they didn’t suffer the guilt. “I am sorry,” Cassian said as he pushed his fingers through his hair. “I just hate seeing her like this.”
“At least you can see her,” Lord Saye reminded him. “Take care of my daughter until we find our answer.”
“Yes, of course,” Cassian promised. “Is there anything we can do besides wait for the translation to be complete?” Cassian demanded.
“Yes,” Eugenia answered. “Today is the ninth day of Yule.”
He knew that each day of Yule represented something but he had never really participated in the rituals. He only did what he was told by one of the witches. “What does it signify?” Cassian finally asked even though he did not really care unless it was something that could free Samantha from her prison.
“It is a day to clear away the old and make way for the new.”
Cassian frowned. “Is that not what everyone did on the twenty-sixth?”
“Yes, partially,” Samantha’s father answered. “Those magics were from the lunar eclipse. This is different.”
He did not understand how, but Cassian was not going to argue.
“We are going to take crystals to the room now.”
“Could you wait until I return, in case Samantha has questions. She will not be able to ask you.”
“Where were you going?” Eugenia asked.
“To bring her breakfast,” he answered.
