danced at Stone Meadow. It had been peaceful and soothing. Nothing in the world compared to the joy I felt when dancing with the Fae. I couldn’t do that any longer. My lips started trembling, slowly at first, before they quivered into a sob. I covered my mouth and ran toward the house, nearly striking my head on the top rail of the meadow fence as I ducked under.
“Rhiannon?” Leila called my name from behind me at the exact moment my mother exclaimed it from the kitchen.
I knew their question, and didn’t answer them in words. “Everything!” my mind screamed. “Everything is wrong. I hate my life. I hate what’s happening. I miss Sean!” I stormed to my room and plunged into the tangled sheets on my bed.
Mother let me cry for most of the afternoon. When she found me, I was rubbing my face, trying to make the burning around my eyes disappear. She raised my chin and untangled my necklace with her fingers. Her eyes were kind.
“We should call this a Faerie Tear,” she said, lifting the blue diamond charm. She rubbed it gently. “When you wear this, it seems that emotion always floods your eyes.”
“I’m having a hard time,” I said, forcing my words between whimpers. I wiped my eyes, though they were already dry. “I need to leave.”
“To DarMattey?” Mother asked.
I shook my head. “No, not to that place.” I looked back at Mother and pulled my necklace from her fingers. I caressed the diamond. “I need to be alone,” I said. “Somewhere where no one knows me, or wants to know me. Where no one knows what I’ve done.”
Mother reached around my shoulders and pulled me close. “I’m sorry about what your father said,” she said. “He was angry last evening.”
“He was right.”
Mother pushed away and questioned me with her eyes.
I repeated myself. “Father is the only one who is being honest,” I told her. “If I hadn’t taken the scrolls, everything would be all right.”
Mother shook her head. “We’ve already stepped along the path you’re treading,” she said. “You tried something brave and heroic.” She paused.
“And I failed.” I finished her meaning.
“No, Rhiannon.” Mother pulled me close and squeezed again. “Maybe, you just haven’t finished, yet.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing to finish—there’s nothing left for me, anywhere.” I was weak from the day, and from talking. I wanted to find the scrolls, to discover the secrets of the mysterious man who had taken them. Cael had even agreed to help me in that quest. But I had never had the chance, and now it felt like I never would. I couldn’t leave the house anymore without some sort of protection. How would I ever resolve my own intentions? I fell to my back and wished that my mother would leave me alone.
She rubbed my forehead and kept talking. “I want you to feel like you have a purpose,” she said. “I know a young girl downstairs who needs an example. She’s preparing for her first celebration dance, and she’s nervous.”
I hid my reaction; Mother didn’t know Leila as I did. She didn’t know Leila had been teasing me at the stable. I rolled over and faced the wall. I wasn’t going to tell her.
“You accepted Leila as your replacement. Has it been that long? I once knew a girl just as excited and nervous as your sister. That girl grew to be a young woman who neglected her way of living.”
I turned back to face her accusation. “I believe in the Fae,” I said, defying her with a glare.
Mother smiled, seemingly pleased with her overdose of guilt, and stepped out of my room.
I watched her leave, contemplated giving in to the temptation of a scream, then settled for pounding my face into my pillow. I couldn’t concentrate, nor ignore how I felt. The anger was boiling into my senses. No one knew what it was like—to be me—to have suffered as I had. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to blame me for my fate.
I stayed in bed, ignoring the calls for supper from my parents and
“Rhiannon?” Leila called my name from behind me at the exact moment my mother exclaimed it from the kitchen.
I knew their question, and didn’t answer them in words. “Everything!” my mind screamed. “Everything is wrong. I hate my life. I hate what’s happening. I miss Sean!” I stormed to my room and plunged into the tangled sheets on my bed.
Mother let me cry for most of the afternoon. When she found me, I was rubbing my face, trying to make the burning around my eyes disappear. She raised my chin and untangled my necklace with her fingers. Her eyes were kind.
“We should call this a Faerie Tear,” she said, lifting the blue diamond charm. She rubbed it gently. “When you wear this, it seems that emotion always floods your eyes.”
“I’m having a hard time,” I said, forcing my words between whimpers. I wiped my eyes, though they were already dry. “I need to leave.”
“To DarMattey?” Mother asked.
I shook my head. “No, not to that place.” I looked back at Mother and pulled my necklace from her fingers. I caressed the diamond. “I need to be alone,” I said. “Somewhere where no one knows me, or wants to know me. Where no one knows what I’ve done.”
Mother reached around my shoulders and pulled me close. “I’m sorry about what your father said,” she said. “He was angry last evening.”
“He was right.”
Mother pushed away and questioned me with her eyes.
I repeated myself. “Father is the only one who is being honest,” I told her. “If I hadn’t taken the scrolls, everything would be all right.”
Mother shook her head. “We’ve already stepped along the path you’re treading,” she said. “You tried something brave and heroic.” She paused.
“And I failed.” I finished her meaning.
“No, Rhiannon.” Mother pulled me close and squeezed again. “Maybe, you just haven’t finished, yet.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing to finish—there’s nothing left for me, anywhere.” I was weak from the day, and from talking. I wanted to find the scrolls, to discover the secrets of the mysterious man who had taken them. Cael had even agreed to help me in that quest. But I had never had the chance, and now it felt like I never would. I couldn’t leave the house anymore without some sort of protection. How would I ever resolve my own intentions? I fell to my back and wished that my mother would leave me alone.
She rubbed my forehead and kept talking. “I want you to feel like you have a purpose,” she said. “I know a young girl downstairs who needs an example. She’s preparing for her first celebration dance, and she’s nervous.”
I hid my reaction; Mother didn’t know Leila as I did. She didn’t know Leila had been teasing me at the stable. I rolled over and faced the wall. I wasn’t going to tell her.
“You accepted Leila as your replacement. Has it been that long? I once knew a girl just as excited and nervous as your sister. That girl grew to be a young woman who neglected her way of living.”
I turned back to face her accusation. “I believe in the Fae,” I said, defying her with a glare.
Mother smiled, seemingly pleased with her overdose of guilt, and stepped out of my room.
I watched her leave, contemplated giving in to the temptation of a scream, then settled for pounding my face into my pillow. I couldn’t concentrate, nor ignore how I felt. The anger was boiling into my senses. No one knew what it was like—to be me—to have suffered as I had. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to blame me for my fate.
I stayed in bed, ignoring the calls for supper from my parents and
Similar Books
