Page 39 of Glass and Bone
“King Viktor, I presume?” He says questioning, but I don’t believe for one second that he doesn’t know something. His tone is mocking, playful.
“How often was I here as a child?” I rest my hands on the back of one of the wooden chairs, facing Evreux head on.
“Oh Gods, nearly every other week foryears. Your mother and Amaya were childhood best friends.” He speaks with such disdain that I want to throw something at him.
“Why don’t I remember?”
“You don’t remember being here at all?” He cocks a brow as he stares at me, bewilderment flitting across his face, replacing the irritation.
“No. The first time I remember meeting any of you was when I came with my father at the age of seven to discuss my engagement.” I admit, my voice cracks and I clear my throat, my fingers tightening on the wood.
“Well, that I do not have an answer for, Elaenor. Perhaps shock after the trauma you encountered.” I clench my teeth as he rolls his eyes, clearly irritated from having to entertain this conversation.
“What. Trauma?” I snap. I am so sick of everyone giving me little pieces of information. Why can’t somebody just tell me what occurred all those years ago? Spell it out for me if they have to. I need to know.
“Did you hit your head or something? How do you not know what you went through?” He stands and reaches for the decanter to refill his glass.
“Answer the question.” Tobias’s voice is sharp behind me, causing me to flinch as I forgot he was there. He steps around me, slightly blocking me from his father. I wouldn't put it past the king to do something, but I doubt he’d do it with witnesses. Evreux sighs as he drops back into his chair with a full wine glass.
“You were missing for weeks after your mother died. She was stabbed, repeatedly, in the chest while in bed.” I can feel my face drain of color. No one told me how she died. No one ever spoke of it. She was stabbed.Oh gods.Did she suffer? “There was another pool of blood next to her, where tiny bloody handprints sat.Yourhand prints.” My legs shake and I lean heavily on the chair, nausea blooming deep in my belly. “Your mother was discovered by some man who claimed to be a prophet or something, Kassius. When he alerted the guards and informed them that you were missing, he was arrested and charged with her murder.” He speaks as if he’s telling a story, not the death of my mother.
“I remember him. I remember him keeping my mother company during her miscarriages and stillbirths. One of the last memories I have of him were my mother and I in her bed. He was sitting in a chair next to it, they were talking about something, but I was falling asleep.” My voice is quiet, soft, as I recount small bits of my childhood. I remember my mother was playing with my hair.
“Yes, well,anyway.” I scowl as he throws his hand up to get me to stop talking. “It was believed that he killed you and used your body in some sort of ritual or something. A few weeks later, a fisherman spotted you sitting on the shore of Delaquar Lake, on the Noterra side. Your nightdress was soaked in blood, and you had cuts and stab wounds partially healed all over you, but you were sitting there as if it didn’t affect you. It was a miracle. You were gone for weeks, but you looked as if it had only been a few hours.”Miracle.Everyonekeeps sayingI was a miracle.
“The secret princess.” I murmur, my eyes widening.Thatis why he kept me a secret, because everyone thought I was dead.
“What?”
“My father kept my identity a secret. I thought it had always been that way, but it wasn’t when my mother was alive. He told everyone I died, didn't he?” It wasn’t for control.
“Yes. It was to protect you. He didn’t know what Kassius had done to you, so he wanted to keep you away from the public eye. Hidden, just in case whatever he didn’t accomplish would cause someone to come back for you.”
“This doesn’t make any sense.” Tobias speaks. He steps back, putting his hand on my lower back. “How could she have been fine for weeks out there on her own?” Evreux shrugs, setting down his glass.
“No one knows. She was soaked, as if she had swam across the lake on her own, but other than that, she was perfectly fine and healed rather quickly, I heard, considering the extent of her injuries.” How could I swim across a whole lake? I can’t even swim.
“When I came here with my father, was that before or after my mother died?”
“After.”
“That’s impossible, I remember them yelling at each other about coming here. It happened before we came here?” My voice trails off. It can’t be. Was that yelling before? When were they fighting? Why isn’t the timeline adding up in my head? A deep throbbing ache spreads across my temples and I grimace.
“What was your father saying?” Tobias asks and I shake my head.
“I don’t remember much, he said that he didn’t want her coming here, but she said he couldn’t stop her. That’s all.” I burrow as deep as I can into my memory. Why can’t I remember anything? “What happened to me?”
“Elaenor.” Tobias’s voice startles me, and I look up at him. “Your nose is bleeding.” He quickly wipes away at my nose, and I lift my hand to touch the wetness. My fingers come away red, and I wipe my jacket sleeve against my nose. The nausea hits me like a stone wall, and I back up.
“Excuse me.” I whisper softly as I turn out of the room. I don’t know where I am going, but I need to find something. I step into the hallway and look across at the wall of open windows. I run towards them and barely make it before I vomit over the ledge, and hopefully not on anyone walking below.
A warm hand gathers my braid up behind me, then another rubs my back up and down. I gasp in as much cool air as I can before straightening.
“Are you alright?” He says softly as he drops my braid back over my shoulder.
“Tobias, I am so confused. I have no idea what is true, what is real.” I croak as he folds his arms around me. What did I go through? How did I get across the lake? How does no one know what happened that night?
“I know, Ela. I know.” His hand rubs up and down my spine, warming me with its friction. I reach up and wipe at my nose, irritated that it comes back bloody. My head is pounding, pressure blooming behind my eyes.
