It was funny to think that Thalia had initially been nervous about introducing Olivia to the duke. Worried that Olivia might fear him, that she would withdraw inside herself and beg for Thalia not to do as she had done. Terrified that the duke would spurn the little girl and might even change his mind because nothing about him suggested he cared for children or ever would.
Now, Olivia’s presence was a blessing and was the only reason that Thalia was able to picture this marriage as being anything other than a most tragic arrangement in which no sense of happiness or comfort would be found.
That’s not to say that I expect anything more from this than what it is. Just that with Olivia here, it will at least be bearable.
“What’s that?” Olivia asked, pointing out of the window of the carriage toward… honestly, Thalia had no idea. “And that?” She pointed at something else.
“Olivia…” Thalia tried to pull the little girl onto her lap.
“And that!” She pointed directly at Ronan’s face, his scar, and Thalia gasped.
“Olivia!”
“What?” Olivia asked, wide-eyed and curious. “I want to know. What is it? Why don’t you have one?”
It had been this way since they left the church, their destination Westvale Estate a good two hours from where they married. There was to be no post-ceremony breakfast as was tradition, no time wasted speaking with those who had come to see them wed, pretending that this marriage was one to be celebrated. As soon as the duke returned from changing his pants, he directed Thalia to the carriage because it was time for them to return home.
She dreaded the trip like nothing else.
Indeed, as she climbed into the carriage after the duke, it felt as if she was willingly walking into a cave where a bear was known to be waiting. The curtains were drawn, he sat in the darkness of the corner, a hulking mass of shadows and scowls that was the opposite of inviting.
What would they talk about? What would he say to her? And if she could not survive a two-hour carriage ride, how was she to survive a lifetime of marriage?
As it turned out, she had little to fear because Olivia did not worry about such things as she might, and as soon as the carriage doors closed and the journey began she was a trove of energy and excitement and questions.
“Will I have my own room?” she asked excitedly.
“Is it true you live out of the city?” she questioned, eyes wide and disbelieving. “Without another house for miles!”
“Why do you wear so much black? Do you not like color?”
The duke responded with a series of grunts and growls, never giving a proper answer, fidgeting awkwardly the entire time as his scowl turned from Thalia to the little girl and back to the window. It almost looked as if he was considering throwing himself from it and walking the rest of the way.
But Olivia did not seem to care. She fired question after question at him, no end to them, climbing over the carriage seats the whole time, unwilling and unable to sit still.
As she did, Thalia kept an eye on her husband, waiting for him to snap. But he did no such thing. He did not smile. He did not appear to find it amusing. But that he accepted it all without chastisement was a good sign or so she decided to read it.
“Why are we slowing down?” Olivia cried suddenly as she scampered toward the window.
Thalia felt her stomach turn.Here we are then… no going back now.
She looked across the carriage and caught the duke’s eyes. There was a hint of a smile behind them, perhaps relief found because the journey was over. At least this part of it was.
“Olivia…” Thalia shuffled across the carriage and pulled her daughter into her lap as she leaned forward to look out the window. “This is our new home. What do you think?”
For the first time in two hours, Olivia fell silent. And Thalia could not blame her.
Westvale Estate was little known to Thalia, save for its location on the western shores of England, buffeted on one side by the ocean, the other by flat farmland and sweeping meadows that stretched endlessly in all directions. It was a cloudy day, the sun refusing to break through the gloom, darkness falling earlier than it should have been as if it too knew the mood of this moment and wanted to act accordingly.
The manor was an old castle of gray and black stone. It stood tall and imposing, large towers and steep walls, dark windows that swallowed the light. It seemed to exist in shadow, growing from the earth like a hollowed-out tree of burnt wood, screaming at all who came near to turn back and run for their lives. No happiness would be found here.
Thalia’s mouth hung open as she took in her new home. Olivia’s eyes were wide, and she could feel the girl trembling in her arms.
Across from them, the duke watched the two, the slightest smile on his lips as if he was expecting this reaction. As if he enjoyed it.
“Westvale Estate,” he growled, the first words said in two hours. “Your new home.”
“Home…” Olivia swallowed the word, her previous eagerness gone.
