No. Not today.
I collapse to the floor instead, my knees hitting the rough hardwood as I fall. The pain is a welcome distraction from my thoughts. I curl myself into a ball, feeling the hot tears as they stream down my cheeks. My thoughts threaten to consume me as I think about Willa’s betrayal. Although I never knew my father, I feel his loss all the same. And now, I feel the loss of the only mother I ever knew.
The door clicks open behind me. The floors creak as someone lowers themselves to sit beside me and wrap their arms around me. It only makes me cry harder. Soft hands stroke my hair until my sobs subside. I take a deep breath and try to regulate my breathing back to normal.
“I’m with you,” Elle whispers.
I turn and collapse into her, my head resting in her lap. She continues to stroke my hair. With every stroke, exhaustion wraps itself around every bone in my body, closing its grip like a vice. I close my eyes and give into it, welcoming the sweet escape of sleep.
“Mae,” Elle whispers, startling me awake. “We should get back to the castle. The announcement will be made any minute, and we have no idea who knows where you live. It could be dangerous for you to be here.”
I sigh but push myself from the floor with a monumental effort that only the Mother could grant.
“Thank you,” I say, meaning it with every ounce of my body.
She smiles and whispers, “Don’t mention it.”
All I want to do right now is lie on the floor and fall asleep, but I force myself to stand and get moving. I grab my largest trunk and start shoving as many clothes into it as I can.
Luca is waiting for us outside and opens a portal as soon as we exit the front door. We step through it and leave my house behind, toward my new home.
Toward the High Court.
Chapter 6
The next day, Holly arrivesat the door to my wing. She smiles as I open the door, her light green eyes framed by loose tendrils of honey hair that have escaped the bun at the nape of her neck. Her oversized, butter-yellow jacket looks cozy and perfect for the chilly weather we’ve been having.
“Ready to begin your lessons?” she asks, too chipper for this early in the morning.
Even so, I’m happy to see her in a better mood than she was yesterday.
I grab my own coat, black and drab compared to Holly’s, and shrug it over my shoulders. “Let’s go,” I say, fighting a yawn.
Holly leads us to a small garden overflowing with greenery. The garden is filled with pink roses, hydrangeas, peonies, and carnations, all in shades of pink and white. A fountain trickles softly in the center while a soft breeze carries the sweet scent of the flowers. White stone benches are stationed on each side of the garden, facing the matching-white stone fountain.
“Welcome to the rose garden,” Holly says. “It’s one of the many gardens on the grounds, but it was one of Etta’s favorites.” She looks around the garden reminiscently, a sad expression replacing her earlier smile.
“I heard you two were close,” I say softly.
She leans down and picks a light pink rose from a rose bush. “Yes. We were good friends. It’s been hard.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I say quietly.
Holly is silent. I swear I see a tear run down her cheek before she steps forward, making her way to one of the stone benches.
“I thought we’d work here today,” she says, looking around the garden once more.
“It’s beautiful,” I say. “Better than any classroom I ever had growing up. Which isn’t saying much because my classroom was my aunt’s living room.”
It was a joke, but Holly doesn’t laugh.
We sit on one of the benches, which I immediately regret. As soon as I make contact, I jump back up. Holly waves her hand toward the bench and then toward my pants; they’re both dry instantly.
“Sorry, I should have checked before you sat. It did rain a bit last night. That was my fault,” she says.
“No, no, it’s fine. Thank you for drying my pants. I didn’t even think to use magic to dry them. I was about to ask you if we could go back to the castle so I could change.”
Her answering stare is one that I’m used to. Cally has stared at me like that plenty of times whenever I’ve opted not to use magic. Before she can speak, I explain, “We used magic very minimally growing up. It’s never been a huge part of my life, so my first instinct is to not use magic if there’s another way.”
