The Cursed Heir

Chapter Twenty-Four

Her mother's eagerness faltered. She swallowed. "I stopped by a few months ago. Just in time to get the news that—" She twisted one of her rings around on her finger. "I had to get out of there. Every stone reminds me of her."

Cassie should not feel relief. Yet it was a relief, that she would not have to be the one to tell her mother that Elisabet was gone. A relief and a sorrow. They had all been alone in their grief for so long.

She reached out, but stopped herself just short of taking her hand. Her mother did not like to be touched.

"I'm sorry, Mama."

Her mother swiped under her nose, then shook her head brightly. "And now here my baby Cassandra is returned to me! You're back home, then? Or are you staying at court?"

"Back home," Cassie said slowly. She could at least be grateful she was not expected to stay at court past the ceremony. If she had to see James every day, knowing—she forced her hands to unclench, wiping them nervously down on her skirt. Best not to think about it.

"You're glad to be back?"

Cassie almost laughed, although she could tell her mother was not looking for an involved answer, much less an honest one. "It's...a little better than before." She would never have her father's love, much less respect, but she had at least shown him she was worth a measure of fear—and that was almost good enough. "Although the way people act...Mama—the curse." She fiddled with her jeweled belt, wishing it were her knife belt. Somehow, that comforting weight might have made it easier to ask. "Is it why you left? So the curse would not get you?"

Cassie's earliest memories were of her mother, so she knew they had been together for at least some measure of time. But from her childhood on, her mother was always off chasing some ancient artifact or rumor of a lost history tome. She would stop at Mackay Castle for a night or two, regale the resident nobles with tales of her adventures, perhaps deposit another treasure in the muraled hall of records, and then be gone again, with the breeziest goodbye song for her two daughters. From the looks of it, that pattern had not changed in the past year. She would not risk the curse, Cassie's father had always told her. But was it true? Was that, too, Cassie's fault?

Her mother looked stricken at the question. "Cassandra...my dear..."

"Good morning!" trilled an unwelcome voice. "Early comer or not, your seat will be designated by your invitation!"

It appeared to be the event planner, a spritely man with trousers up to his ribcage and a stack of papers the height of his chest. Scattered hums of welcome greeted him, although Cassie's mother barely spared a roll of the eyes as he brushed past, snapping for the covered birdcage an assistant was wheeling behind him as best she could.

"I understand," Cassie assured her mother. "I don't blame you." How could she, after what had happened to Elisabet, to Leora, to all of Telyre?

"No." Her mother shook her head, earrings swaying in a wide arc. "I give you my word, Cassandra, my leaving had nothing to do with you." She looked down, her fingers twining together. "It was just...my husband. We are too different. I needed to continue my research, and..." For the first time in her life, Cassie's mother looked small. Uncertain. "And...I grew tired of trying to cover up the bruises."

The bruises.

"The two of you were so small, so perfect," she continued, almost breathless. "I knew you would be safe, that he would not hurt you, but I...we...there had been too much lost between us."

Bruises. He had hurt her.

Cassie had always thought she was the only one.

"Was that the curse, too?" Cassie asked, her voice cracking like a fallen leaf. Why had it exacted its vengeance on her mother and sister, but not on her father?