Chapter 125

Chapter 125

The familiar trill belonged to none other than his mother, Maria.

Seeing her holding a dainty parasol and wearing one of her overly lavish dresses, anyone who looked at her would think that she had never left Agrece. Before Deon had fully registered his mother’s sudden appearance, she sprinted toward him rather impressively considering she was in heels. Her ample dress fluttered like a lush bouquet in the breeze.

“So it really is you! Where have you been all this time?”

A passerby might think she was truly overcome with emotion from her tone while noting that on the other hand, Deon’s expression couldn’t have been any colder. The same passerby would have guessed that the man had been accosted by a complete stranger rather than his own mother. But having grown accustomed to his stoic nature, Maria didn’t bat an eye at her son’s lukewarm reaction.

Instead, she immediately busied herself with looking him over from head to toe. After confirming that he hadn’t endured any bodily harm, she made a knowing expression. “Have you by any chance been with Xana this whole time?” As she gazed up at her son, she realized the answer before he even offered it. “I guess not. Well then, have you at least seen Sierra?”

She lobbed yet another question that had nothing to do with his own well-being at him. It seemed as if the joy she had initially expressed at meeting her son had been for the sole purpose of asking after those individuals.

“Xana must have sent her away that day as I’m sure she was worried her lovely mother might find herself in harm’s way during all that mayhem, but I haven’t been able to find her anywhere.” His mother was speaking as if she was on fire. “As I recall, you were with Xana until the very end. Did she say where she planned to send Sierra?”

He gazed down at Maria, then recalled the time he had spent as his stepmother’s reluctant ward.

“East.” After opening his mouth to utter that single word, he began to walk away.

“‘East’? You mean she’s east of here, correct?”

After nodding her thanks, the spritely woman began her trek in the opposite direction of her son. The truth was that Sierra was in a town located west of their location, but of course, his mother had no way of knowing that. In the end, the mother-son reunion ended as abruptly as it began. The two had spoken less to one another than she had spoken to Jeremy on her way out of the Agrece compound. However, as neither of them found it abnormal, they both departed without issue.

As Deon walked toward the forest, he came to a sudden halt at its edge. If she came this way, then...

“She went to Vertium?”

His low voice cut through the rustle of the tree leaves shimmering in the sunlight. He looked up and noted that the clear blue sky was as starkly blue as the eyes of his most recent caretaker’s. After the brief reflection, he set out for the unknown.

* * *

Once they had completely crossed the Vertium border, the carriage came to a stop. Besides Isidore and Cassis, there were two other Pedelians who were responsible for driving the carriage. The break allowed them time to tend to the horses more properly since they had left the Gold manor almost as soon as they had arrived.

Cassis and Roxana took the opportunity to disembark from the carriage as well.

Flutter.

Almost as if on cue a falcon suddenly flew down and perched itself on Cassis’ arm. It had evidently arrived ready to deliver his message to his father.

Meanwhile, Roxana beckoned one of her butterflies, then shortly after sent it flying on its own mission to Grizelda’s destination. Although she couldn’t be sure, she believed the explosions at the Gold manor had most likely been her older sister’s handiwork.

They could still hear the reverberations long after leaving the Vertium estate, but as the explosions had likely been the products of sorcery, Roxana had little doubt that Grizelda would have already been long gone by the time they went off. But the question remained as to how her sister had known just when to set them off. To chalk it up to coincidence also seemed rather nonsensical.

“Lady Roxana.” Isidore broke in on her reverie.

“Yes, Sir Winston.”

“Um... About what happened back in Vertium...” His voice was full of trepidation. He seemed to ultimately think it best not to continue as he proceeded to shake his head. “Actually, it’s nothing. I simply came to say that if you wish to check on the status of that puppet, you may come with me.”

“I’ll go with her. I’m done with the message.” Cassis had returned sooner than expected after sending the falcon back to his father.

“Very well, sir. I shall return to my post. Please send for me if there’s anything you need.” With a bow, Isidore left the two alone.

His behavior hadn’t been terribly peculiar, but Roxana instinctively sensed something was not quite right. It was suspicious that he had stopped himself mid-sentence from saying something about what had occurred back in the Gold lands. On top of that, he had shot her a quick glance before leaving.

She furrowed her brow as she wondered what the strange feeling she couldn’t shake might be. Then it dawned on her that it was not the first time Isidore had looked at her in that fashion. After considering it for a moment, she likened it to what she imagined a man who had been duped into pawning his own life away might look like. Of course, that was an exaggeration, but she couldn’t deny that it was similar to the impression he had given her.

“What’s the matter? Was there something you needed to say to Isidore?” Cassis had noticed Roxana’s troubled gaze and looked toward where his lieutenant was busy trying not to draw his young leader’s attention.

“Oh, I just appreciate how considerate he is.”

She smiled and did her best to pretend nothing was actually wrong, but she could not forget the awkwardness she had detected in Isidore’s stare. She promised herself that she would find out what he had intended to say later.

* * *

A heavy silence had fallen over the Agrece mansion after the siblings’ brawl. Streaks of red spattered every surface and dripped down the walls as proof that a fierce battle had just ended.

“Morons.”

A thin voice echoed through the hall just as the tension in the air seemed to be subsiding. A girl with hair as red as roses stepped over her half-siblings who had fallen and glowered at them with contempt as they shamelessly groaned in collective defeat. After following the trails of blood, she cautiously approached the only one of her brothers who was still able to stand from behind.

Still on guard, Jeremy whipped around. “What? You here for a pounding as well?” His vivid blues eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the blood-stained hall. “Come on then.”

His tone was so ferocious that she was certain another step in his direction would result in him tearing her apart. It wasn’t that he had walked away from the one-against-all battle without injury, but there was still plenty of wild hostility left in him.

“No thanks. I’d prefer not to shed blood over something so silly.” Charlotte scowled at her older brother as she spoke.

“Then why’re you slinking around here? Go brush your teeth and go to bed.”

His sister’s lack of ill intent had done nothing to improve his foul mood. There was more than enough evidence at her feet for the redhead to reach the educated conclusion that mouthing off to the young clan leader would be a mistake at that moment. If anything, she felt the overwhelming urge to congratulate herself for having kept out of sight until then given just how ticked off he still was. She shuddered to think what may have become of her had she been among the rebellious crowd.

“So where’s Roxana?”

Jeremy had only just started to calm down, but her question had caused him to re-clench his fist.

“You know, don’t you?” She spoke as if she had no doubts on that matter.

His knowledge was just as limited as hers, but he didn’t feel the need to disclose that. He decided to remain vague. “And what if I do?”

“I’m just curious.” She gave him a knowing look as if her response had made her even more certain of her hunch. “I mean, it’s only natural to wonder where she scurried off to after running our clan into the ground like this.”

“How is Xana responsible for this?”

The frown lines on his face as he rebutted made Charlotte pause her attempt to verbally attack her missing sister. Sure, he was lying, but he still didn’t want to hear anyone slander his favorite sister by revealing the truth. He couldn’t imagine how the foolish redhead could have guessed at it though.

Rather than Roxana, Deon had been the fall man when the Pedelians stormed their compound to take Lante’s head. His little sister’s accusations made it seem as if she had known all along that their half-sister had been pulling the strings all along. She, in turn, seemed to decide to exercise more caution.

“So she wasn’t responsible?”

‘Of course not.” He almost reflexively dismissed her suspicions.

“Is that so? Then forget I said anything.” She backed down surprisingly easily and nodded as if she accepted his denials. “I was just curious, that’s all. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

With that, Charlotte turned away to leave down the path she had come in.