Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
I feel a clench in my belly when Maeve mentions my mother. I told Alora that my mother was suicidal. Didn’t seem like such a big deal to tell the time. I didn’t think anyone would care. “All we want is for you to feel at home here. There is no rush for you to leave. All of us are here to protect you and be there for you, just as we are for Caspian.”
“I’m considering it,” I confess.
“Really?” Juniper lights up.
“Yeah.” I nod, smiling. “I really am. Me and Caz talk about it a lot.”
“It’s all Caspian wants,” Maeve tells me with a gentle smile. “I’ve never seen him so happy. He’s sleeping. He’s eating. He’s…alive. There’s even color in his cheeks now.” Maeve places a hand on mine, and despite her age, her skin appears satiny smooth, not a blemish in sight. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re being forced to stay here, though, and I’m certain Caspian doesn’t want that either. At the end of it all, the choice is yours, and we will respect it.”
I huff a laugh. “Talk about pressure.”
“We just love you,” Juniper gushes, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “I feel like I’ve found my long-lost sister! It’s so refreshing after being surrounded by men all the time!”
I wrap an arm around her, giving her a squeeze.
“Well, speaking of making Caz happy…” I start, and Maeve stands taller while Juniper pulls her arm away but keeps her attention on me. “He’s taking Della’s loss really hard, and I can tell he’s trying not to think about it too much and wants to focus on what’s in front of him. Anyway, I was thinking since he will be returning around dinner time, maybe we can set up a nice dinner for him. All of us can be there, maybe some of his close friends. I haven’t met any of them, I don’t think, but it’d be nice to get to know them.”
Juniper and Maeve steal glances at each other, and there’s clearly some silent communication going on that I know nothing about.
“What?” I ask, looking between them.
“It’s just that Caz doesn’t invite many people into Blackwater Manor,” Maeve explains. “He likes to keep it to just family and people he fully trusts.” I consider that, and a warmth wraps around me when I remember that, not too long ago, I was only a stranger to him. Now look at me, a permanence in his castle.
However,” Maeve goes on. “There is a guesthouse just beyond the castle. It’s beautiful there, close to the ocean, and there’s a large table inside it that seats over twenty people. It’s been there since Caspian tore down Magnus’ castle to replace it with Blackwater Manor.”
“Wait, he tore down his dad’s castle?” I ask.
“Oh, yes. It was a whole thing,” Juniper says, waving a hand. “He was the new monarch and wanted nothing of Magnus to remain. We celebrated when this place was built, drank ourselves dizzy.”
“Yes, I recall you lot drowning yourselves in wine and liquor,” Maeve says, shaking her head with a smile. “Anyway, the guesthouse isn’t used much, only for meetings or when Rowan wants to sneak some Blackwater whore on castle grounds. Della kept up with it a lot, so I’m sure it’s in good shape. Perhaps that could work?”
“It sounds like it could work. Do you think I can see it?” I ask.
Maeve is already walking across the room. “Follow me.”
Chapter 68
WILLOW
Maeve leads the way out of the kitchen, rounding a corner that takes us to a winding staircase with sharp rails. I recall this staircase leading to Della’s chambers, and my heart wrenches at the thought, having once gone up there and seeing Della’s side of the castle. She’d patched me up, fed me, was honest with me. She was a good woman who didn’t deserve what happened. Fuck Decius for taking her away.
The thought leaves me as Maeve walks behind the staircase to pull a door open. It groans as if it hasn’t been used in ages, and we take a flight of stairs down until we’re on damp grass.
Maeve trots through the grass, her wide black pantlegs swishing with the breeze. Her curls whip around her face as she struggles to collect them all and tuck them behind her ears. Juniper doesn’t have to worry about loose hairs, seeing as hers is in a tight ponytail. She stretches her arms to the sky, indulging in the sunlight, still with flour on her cheek.
“You have a little bit of flour on your face.” I point to the area on my face, and she wipes hers.
“Thank you.” She rubs her cheek to make sure it’s all gone. “I bet Mum would’ve let me walk around with it all day like an idiot.”
I laugh as Maeve wanders down a gently sloping hill. The sound of the ocean intensifies, and birds caw and chirp, flying overhead. The grass is still damp, but that dampness feels good as it drags across my ankles.