We made our way up to the main counter and rang the bell for service. Seconds later Violet made her way out from the back of the shop, carrying swaths of fabric. She dropped them on the counter and sighed at the sight of us.
“You really shouldn’t have come here, Aurelia,” she said, tone flat.
“I’m sorry, Violet. I didn’t come here to upset you. Forrest wanted to get out and see the village, and I wanted to pop in and check on you. Is everything all right?”
She motioned for us to come around the counter. “Follow me. We’ll go talk in the storeroom so no one walks by and sees you here.”
Something was really off, and it was starting to scare me.
Violet motioned for us to sit on a couple of stools in the back. She leaned in, voice low. “Everything we discussed went according to plan. I was able to get Fiona to come over to the store the next day—I sent word to her about having clothes for her kids. It was the only thing I could think of that wouldn’t create suspicion with her husband.” Violet paused, taking a breath. “She came back here into the storeroom and drank it. Four days later her husband barged into the store and started yelling and screaming at me, convinced that Fiona’s miscarriage had something to do with me. He scared all my customers away, telling them I was a murderer. I tried to talk to him, but he would not listen to reason. I swore that I had nothing to do with my sister’s loss and told him that sometimes these things happened. It was the will of the goddesses, after all, that had caused this, but he wouldn’t hear any of it. Apparently, it is only the goddesseswill when it comes to women being told what they can’t do with their bodies. He then reported Fiona to Maxx under suspicion that she had forced the loss. Now the Children of the Celestial Mothers are investigating her, and if she’s found guilty, they will sentence her to death.”
I felt like I was going to be sick. Everything I had been worried about happening had come to fruition. “Is Fiona all right? Where is she now?”
“She tolerated the tea as well as she could. She’s currently being kept at the sanctuary under the watchful eye of her husband and Maxx,” Violet replied with vicious disdain in her voice.
“Has Maxx or any of the Children come to question you yet?”
“No. So far it’s just been her husband, but I suspect it’s only a matter of time before they barge in here to interrogate me. Don’t worry, Aurelia. I’m not going to give you up. I did this fully aware of the consequences. I’ll take them on for my sister if I need to.”
“But, Violet, it’s not just going to be you. It’s going to be you and Fiona. The Children are not stupid. If they suspect you had something to do with it, they will know that you and Fiona both didn’t do this on your own. You would have had help, and who else in this village has that kind of knowledge?”
Oh, Mothers Above!This was bad. Like, really fucking bad.
“Oh no,” I gasped as the sudden realization of the severity of our situation sank in.
“What?” Violet demanded.
“When Forrest and I entered the village square, Maxx spotted me, and he looked like evil incarnate. To say he was furious would be an understatement.” I took a breath. “Then Forrest and I came to your shop. If he saw us come in here, that’s all the reason he needs to have us all executed.”
My pulse quickened; my palms became clammy, and the room started to spin.
A large, warm arm wrapped around my waist. Forrest’s comforting voice followed the touch soon after.
“Don’t worry, Aurelia. He didn’t see us come in here. From where the sanctuary is situated, it would be impossible for him to see us entering the shop. But to be safe, we should probably leave out the back. You have a back door, right, Violet?”
Violet nodded.
“But how do you know?” I cried. “You can’t know for sure that he didn’t see us. What good is leaving out the back door if we’ve already been found out?” My chest tightened. My breaths became shallower. I was on the verge of a panic attack.
Forrest was in front of me, his hands cradling my face. “Aurelia, breathe.” His sparkling blue eyes bored into mine. “I promise you that he did not see us. You just have to trust me on this.”
I wanted to trust him. I really did, but my entire nervous system was screaming at me to run and hide.
“We need to go,” I said. “Now. I don’t want to cause you any more trouble than I already have, Violet.” I got up and went over to her, wrapping my arms around her in a suffocating hug. “Please, please be careful. Do as they ask, and answer their questions as best you can. Don’t aggravate them more than they already have been.” I leaned back, looking Violet in the eyes. “Make sure you’ve gotten rid of the bottles that the tea and pain medication came in, if you haven’t already. They can’t do anything to you or Fiona if they have no proof of any wrongdoing.”
Forrest and Violet quickly said their goodbyes, and then we were on our way out the back door of the store.
As we stood alone in the alley, Forrest turned to me. “So, what now?”
I looked up at him, willing the tears forming in the corners of my eyes to go away. This had all gone so badly so quickly. I don’t know how I had deluded myself into thinking that there was anyway we could have gotten away with this when it involved a senior member of the cult. Despite what I had told Violet, the Cult of Children did not need proof of wrongdoing to punish someone. They implemented their will without common sense. They definitely didn’t need to rely on the burden of proof before condemning a woman to death for what they perceived to be the ultimate sin.
I looked up at Forrest. “We should go home, get ourselves sorted, and be ready to leave. It’s only going to be a matter of days before the Children come knocking down my door. I would prefer not to be unprepared when that happens.”
Forrest wrapped me in his arms, our foreheads touching. “Whatever may come at us, we will fight it together. You are not alone in this, Aurelia. I am here for you, as long as you’ll have me.”
I took a moment to compose myself, wiping away the tears that had escaped after Forrest’s emotional declaration. We walked out of the alley behind the store and into the main thoroughfare, our arms wrapped around one another, fingers entwined. Whatever remaining moments of freedom we had left in this village would be spent proudly loving and supporting one another.
We were both so enveloped in each other that we didn’t notice we were being followed until a deep Southern drawl I could place anywhere shouted angrily behind us. “Who the fuck is he, Lia?”
