Book 3: Chapter 10 – Escape [Part 1]
Book 3: Chapter 10 - Escape [Part 1]
For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
- Nelson Mandela.
Her father’s face grew serious, his mind engaging in something it was rather unaccustomed to.
“Now, Seraphina, I know that it is perfectly fine to make friends with all sorts…” Anatoli began in a tone meant to be solemn.
Seraphina could already hear the but that hovered just behind his words.
“… but it has come to our attention that, during your time at the Academy, you have been spending a rather large amount of time with,” he said, before glancing sidelong at his wife and continuing, “with certain people far beneath your station, as your mother put it.”
“I don’t see why Mother is so concerned with whom I choose to befriend.”
“Must you act so stupid, Sera?” Anaselena drawled, though her voice struck with all the subtlety of a slap. “You know very well that the company you keep, and especially those who might become more than friends, reflects not only on you. You are not the daughter of some glorified merchant.”
Seraphina bit down on her reply, ignoring the dig at Eloise. Somehow, this woman always managed to get under her skin. Two things kept her from flipping the table and storming from the room. One, she knew that Anaselena’s choices, as cruel as they might seem, were in some way always made for her benefit. Two, she refused to give her the satisfaction of winning. And the secret third, though she would never admit it aloud, was that she was afraid of her. Deeply, unshakably afraid.
“Then perhaps my lady mother would enlighten me as to her opinion,” Seraphina replied with a sweetness that clung like syrup. Her hands rested neatly in her lap as she summoned every ounce of self-control.
“That boy you brought to that little party of yours at the Academy,” Anaselena said, her lips curling, “I have yet to hear the end of it from Lady de Montan. That mound of suet can barely heave herself up a staircase, yet she’s had more than enough breath to gossip about it over every cup of tea. I will hear no more of it. Do you understand me? Your choices cast a shadow over our name.”
Seraphina kept the empty smile plastered across her face. She would endure this, as she always did.
“He was the only available option,” she shot back evenly. “Given that I am ostensibly engaged to a certain Crown Prince who, as we both know, discarded me in favor of some gutterborn trollop. How else was I to answer such an insult but in kind?”
How dare the woman presume to judge her?
“You might have chosen one of your knights,” her mother replied, taking a slow sip of wine. “Even that rough one. Frest, was it? A crude man, but at least familiar. What you did smacked of self-sabotage. Talk about cutting off the nose to spite the face! But then again, girls your age are often given to such antics.”
This was rich, Seraphina thought. She was not some silly child barely grown.
“And then there is the matter of promises. Made in our name. To dwarves, no less,” Anaselena continued, each word soaked in scorn. “We will overlook it this once. They are marginally more tolerable than the tide of refugees and beggars pouring out of the Empire. But this will not be allowed to happen again.”
“You shouldn’t be too harsh, my dear,” Anatoli cut in, his voice mild. “I’m sure our little Sera only meant well. We did try to raise her with a sense of duty. And the little folk have, at the very least, been paying taxes…”
Anaselena’s gaze turned toward him, sharp and unblinking. He fell silent at once.
“Yes, yes, there are tax revenues,” she stated, her voice clipped. “But the little folk, as your father so quaintly names them, are known for causing trouble. There is a reason no one gives them land. And yet you, Seraphina, saw fit to offer them a foothold in our Duchy without so much as a second thought. Do you think they will leave quietly when the time comes to push them away?”
“I don’t see what the problem is.”
“No. You don’t see. That is the problem. One that might be remedied if you would finally awaken to your Gift. In this, like many things, you have disappointed me.”
Her mother’s words grew colder, more precise. “What seems acceptable now may become a disaster in time. Mixing two vastly different cultures does not create harmony. It breeds discord. If you had taken even a moment to reflect, you might have recognized this before handing over a parcel of our land to the stunties.”
“That was wild land,” Seraphina snapped. “We would never have touched it. And now they’ve made it useful. You’ll see. It will bring prosperity in spades to the Duchy.”
Anaselena arched one perfect brow. “Did you think I didn’t know? That I was unaware of what lies beneath that soil? Sweet daughter, you meddle in forces far beyond your understanding. If left to your own devices, you would bring the Cataclysm crashing down on all of us. Yes, there will be wealth, wealth beyond counting. But along with it, there will be envy. There will be spite. Even our allies will come to resent us. And worst of all, it will draw the attention of the Empire once more. Do you wish to bring war to our door?”
“You misjudge me, Mother,” Seraphina said slowly. The spark inside her had caught, flaring into something hot and unrelenting. “Of course, I knew. And I judged it a worthy move. Just because I am not possessed of your vaunted Sight does not mean I can not predict the future through simple discernment of present facts. And let others be jealous. I have lived my whole life beneath the eyes of their envy, and I have never dulled my luster for anyone. I will not start now.”