“Letters,” I say softly. “Letters Mother wrote to you before she died.”
She clutches them to her chest, and my heart swells.
“And letters from me,” I continue. “Instructions. For the ranch. For the horses and cattle. For you.”
She flips through, eyes widening. “You’ve… you’ve named me and Tobias as the beneficiaries?”
I nod. “On one condition. That after you marry him, you leave the city and move to the ranch as soon as possible.”
She covers her mouth. “Selene…”
“I want you to have the life you deserve,” I whisper. “I want you to have a future. Peace. Love. Let the land stay in our family. Live well. For me, Kat.”
I picture our mother singing to the cows at dusk, her voice drifting like a lullaby through the stables. I remember the first time Kat fell off a colt and cried, how I wrapped her in my arms and promised she’d never have to be brave alone.
This is the last promise I can keep.
“No,” she breathes, shaking her head. “No, you don’t get to play the martyr. You’ve ruined me.”
“Ruined you?”
Tears spill down her cheeks. “No one will ever look at me the same. I’ll never be able to show my face in society again.”
It hits me then. She isn’t mourning me. She’s mourning her reputation, mourning the delicate world our father so carefully constructed for her.
“I did it to protect you,” I say quietly, reaching for her.
“Did you?” she snaps, recoiling as if my touch might burn her. “Or was it for your own glory?”
For a moment, I can only stare, stunned. “Is that what you really think?”
“Yes,” she says after a long, trembling pause. “I think you did it because you were tired of being the disgraced daughter. Because you’re jealous of me.”
“Jealous?” I could never envy the fate that awaited me. If only she knew…
“Yes. You’re jealous that I was chosen, just like Liora.” Her mouth twists into a sneer. “But not you.Neveryou.”
A chill sweeps down my spine. “You sound like Father.”
“At least one of us does.”
“I don’t even know you anymore, Katherine,” I whisper. “You’ve let his poison sink too deep. You can’t see his ambitions for what they are. He’ll use you, just like he tried to use me. I made a way out for you, a way for you to marry the man you love. To be free. Just like I promised Mother I would.”
A knock at the door shatters the moment.
Lori enters first, looking pale and exhausted, one hand resting on her growing belly. Memories of Mother flood back, and for the first time, I wonder if Lori’s scared. If she wonders what kind of world she’s bringing a child into. If she’ll lose her life the way my mother did, trying to bear my father a son.
“You look radiant, my dear,” she sighs. “The gods are gaining a beautiful bride tonight.”
My father follows, regal as ever in Council black, though his gaze falters when it lands on me.
“Indeed,” he says, too stiffly to be sincere.
I nod politely. “Councilman.”
He flinches, just slightly.
“I have something for you,” I say tersely, handing up another scroll to him.
