Page 5 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
Silence follows her words.
“You were drunk. So was he,” my uncle says after the long pause.
Tears stream down her eyes over his words and she becomes more inconsolable. Mother starts pulling her hair in distress before Rainer snatches her wrist. “Stop that.”
“We had an agreement…” she says, her voice small and vulnerable. “I just don’t understand how it can happen—”
“It’s bound to happen when two people share a room every night,” Rainer interrupts.
“Why couldn’t it have been you? The gods must be laughing when they made me the eldest daughter and you the second son.” She buries her face in her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
I don’t like seeing her cry. My heart pinches with every drop of her tear. I should run right inside to comfort her, but a small voice in my head tells me not to.
Rainer’s angular features arrange into a cool indifference. “Do you truly want my forgiveness?”
“Please,” she begs.
He levels his sharp gaze at her. “Then accept her.”
Something in the demand in Rainer’s voice makes her sit straighter, her gaze focussing on him.
“She’s your daughter. Therefore, she is mine too,” he says in a softer voice.
Mother’s face reddens the way Jessica’s does whenever Oscar passes by. She cups his jaw in her hands, staring deep into his eyes. “I’ll never understand it. How in the world could I have mistaken him for you that night?”
“My brother is quite the handsome guy,” Rainer mutters, a playful smile toying at his lips. There’s a teasing quality to his voice that I’ve never heard before.
His jest earns him a dark look from mother. All tears are purged from Caehir Kashran’s daughter and Rainer is now staring at the wrath of the Queen of Aelfheim and the conqueror of Dunrovin.
I instinctively cover my head whenever Mother has that expression, but Rainer is undeterred. She shakes her head with pure disdain, smacking his shoulder. “He has your features, and I was drunk. Let’s leave it at that.”
Mother leans her head on the same shoulder and Rainer strokes her hair. Their cryptic conversation turns boring, and I quickly slip away to my room. I may not understand much but I learned something important today.
They’re leaving me.
Cheese.Bread. Candies. Notepad. My best ribbons.
I stash everything of value neatly inside my backpack. It may take a while for the cavalry to reach Varyndor on warhorses instead of Noctrals. I should bring three or four books for the road. Five just to be safe.
I overheard Oscar saying that this old weapon storage room is no longer in use. All the items I’ve hidden here are intact, untouched by rats. Even my chocolate bars and candies. I silently thank the knight in my heart. Maybe I won’t run from his watch anymore.
The armory door creaks open.
“There you are,” Rainer’s smooth voice accosts me from behind. “Your mother searched for you everywhere this morning.”
I know she did. When she couldn’t find me, Mother left anyway without saying goodbye. It doesn’t matter. I’ll see her soon. I’m coming with them.
I glance at Rainer over my shoulder and arrange my stuff faster. “I’m almost done, Uncle.”
Immediate silence follows my words. Rainer releases a weighted breath.
“Rhianelle…” He fades briefly. “It’s not safe.”
I say nothing and keep on packing with haste. I don’t want to get left behind.
“We’re sending you back to Völundr,” he says, and my heart drops to my stomach. I grip the socks in my hand tighter. “But if you want to, you can stay here in Elowen. It’ll be easier for your mother, Aerin, and I to visit you from the Varyndor camp.”
I turn around to look at him.
