death is the only ending for the trash queen

Part 19

The one that felt a need to teach her child better. To spend precious time together on a lecture or a lesson. Cale hated it. But normally when she dealt with that nasty feeling it had to do with a legitimate problem, fire is hot and whatnot, Cale couldn't actually think of a way that Penelope was at fault.

So it puzzled her that her gut told her that Penelope was wrong and needed some sense talked into her.

What exactly had Penelope done wrong? She'd misunderstood a situation and tried to warn her mother. There was no sin there. Was Cale really so prideful that she couldn't endure the mortification of having lost her composure without placing the blame on another?

Was that truly the reason? Was she blaming Penelope for her own faults? Was she that horrible of a mother?

Cale's hand trembled as she knocked tentatively at the girl's door.

It did nothing for Cale's nerves that she was the one who answered the door.

Deep onyx eyes bored into Cale's patiently with the patented expression of a guard on duty. "The princess is resting now." The guard held open the door for Cale, her voice low. Cale was granted the relieving sight of Penelope curled up on the bed.

Cale turned to look at the guard coldly. "You're dismissed."

"I am here to guard the princess." The guard stood stiffly. "I will wait outside."

'Stubborn bitch.' Cale clenched her fists but let it go for now. An overabundance of caution with guards was probably in their best interests after everything that had happened. Even if this particular guard made her skin crawl. It wasn't worth getting into a fight. Not when she still hadn't checked in on Penelope's state.

Besides, she really wasn't sure she could keep her temper.

When the guard granted them privacy, Cale sat down at Penelope's side and brushed hair from her face. Cale's heart twisted up into a mess and she closed her eyes as she tried not to succumb to the internal chaos. "...I'm sorry, Penny." She kissed Penelope's forehead gently.

This innocent and sweet child only had Cale to depend upon and she'd shaken that dependability with her fired up temper. It felt so foolish in retrospect. Why couldn't she just keep her calm? What did it matter to her what Alver had or hadn't done? Her priority should have been checking on Penelope's state of mind, not avenging her.

Even now she couldn't calm down at the thought. Alver touching someone else... Cale stowed away the miserable rumination and wished that Penelope was awake so that she could be of some distraction from these spiraling thoughts–

Penelope's eye twitched.

Cale took a closer look at her daughter and frowned. Upon closer inspection it was obvious. Cale had seen her daughter sleep countless times, she ought to have recognized the child feigning sleep immediately.

Her heart ached terribly. How distracted was she? Maybe in a better state of mind, she would have teased her daughter's failing attempt to fake sleep and bundle her up in a hug in a world just for the two of them. But Cale's worst insecurities had returned.

...was this how badly her daughter didn't want to see her...? Had she ruined things so badly that Penelope didn't want to spend time with her at all?

Indignant anger built up inside of her. It was Alver's fault. He was the reason that Penelope didn't want to see her. He was the reason that she was hurting so terribly. He was the one who accused her of pretending when she wasn't–

Cale knew what it was like for people to believe her lies. That was how she led her life. She had also experienced others being unconvinced by her dishonesty. But to have someone disbelieve her sincerity... it ached.