Page 150 of A Blightress of Wrath
ThevinandIargued.
Heconfessed what my smile did to him.Whathe knew brewed between us and what we could not deny.
He’dbeen right.Allalong he’d done the right thing to admit his love for me, andI’djust stood there, unwilling to push myself forward and take whatIwanted.
“Youdenied him,” she started. “Yousaid you loved him years before this, so why not admit your feelings here?Whatrisk do you speak of?”
Thevinbacked away, leaning against the door frame as the young womanIwas just stood there, letting him go. “Idon’t know,Sae.Therisk feels worth it to me.”
“Iwas afraid of losing him.Ifeared he would tire of me and leave me.Mylife has been lived in fear of losing thoseIlove.”Igulped, watching myself stare after him, the tines of the music clicking at the song’s end. “There’smore.Saymy name.”
“Saelyn,” she murmured, and we left my room, leaving my past self alone completely in a flash of white.
Chapter64
Saelyn
I WOULD BE SEVENTEEN IN ONE DAY AND FRETTED OVER THE SILLIEST THINGS
Weappeared backinFelgrenat the same clearing where my party would commence.
Ihad been fretting, anxious that day for the party to be perfect.Itwould be the first party held inFelgrenfor the last seventeen years.
TheBlightresswatchedThevinandIhanging decorations across the trees.Shesaw us laugh, observed howIchastised him, resulting inThevin’sfeigned offense.Evennow, looking back at my life,Isaw it.
HeandIcared deeply for each other, andIhadn’t understood until now just how obvious we had been.
“Youwere in his company often,” theBlightressmused asThevinand my past self bantered while hanging lanterns.
“Hehas been important in my life.”Ishivered, adding quietly, “Oneof the only thingsIcould depend on.”
Shefrowned at me. “Andyour mother?Whereis she in this?”
Ishook my head. “Youwon’t see much of her in my past.”Inodded to wherePah-Pahhad come to greet us, offering lunch. “Youkept my parents apart for seventeen years.Mymother struggled every day of her life.Whydon’t you see that?”
“Itwasn’tIwho forced your father to leave,Saelyn.Heleft of his own will.”
“Yougave him no other option.”
Shehissed, gripping my hand tightly. “Youdo not understand what your father cost me the night he left.Youdo not know howImourned you.HowImourned your mother.Bythe end of this,Iassure you, you will.”Blackpooled from our joined hands. “Saelyn,” she shouted, and this time, before we flashed away,Iwatched myself look up into the trees.Iremembered wondering who was haunting me.
Andholding the hand of my ghost, nowIknew.
Chapter65
Saelyn
I WOULD BE SEVENTEEN IN SEVEN DAYS, AND I GLARED AT THE CHECKLIST I’D WRITTEN
Backin my room,theBlightressflicked her hand from mine, crossing to the other side of my bed.Herspectral form stood behind my past self sitting at my desk, trying to fill the checklist of tasks to be completed before the party.I’dbeen stuck on the invitations, hesitating sending them becauseIstill had not told my mother whatIhad planned.
“Yourmother told you of the night of your birth?” she asked, tracing a ghostly hand down my hair at the desk.
Istepped further into my room. “Andof some…events that led up to it.”
“Events?” she cackled. “Suchas what?Thatyour parents came to that cave to kill me?ThatImurdered my sister to regain the powerI’dgiven her?ThatIhad grown the heartI’dripped out of my chest years before into something that fueled me?”Angerflashed through her eyes. “Youspeak of the lifeIhave given you, and yet, you do not know the life we could have had together.”
Iheard my mother’s knock, andImoved out of the way as she came inside, passing through me slightly.
