Chapter 40

Chapter 40

* * *

“I dealt with the remaining beasts as you ordered, Lady Roxana.”

“Thank you, Emily.”

I gave her a nod as I thanked her for a job well done. I forgot for a moment that I had ordered the men who came to the greenhouse to be punished and then put in prison. My mind had been in a blur due to all the chaos from earlier that day.

“I found the messengers as well, but they were already dead. They were most likely killed by the carantuls.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, so it will be difficult to prove that Master Deon was responsible for the initial confusion.”

The guards’ claims that messengers had notified them of Deon’s order had been true, but those same messengers had left the realm of the living before I could interrogate them.

“It would so, Emily. After all, the dead don’t speak.”

All the same, it seemed all too convenient that the messengers just happened to get killed by the escaped monsters of all things.

“Some are questioning whether it may have actually been Lady Maria who tried to have your toy brought out, my lady.”

“An interesting theory.”

“Yes, the brunt of which is that she used Master Deon’s name as a cover, and when trouble arose, she decided to nip any suspicion from falling on her by sacrificing the messengers.”

Emily’s explanation seemed to make the most sense. It had seemed awfully suspicious that Maria wasn’t all that upset when I hadn’t brought Cassis to the tea party. If she had been responsible for the entire fiasco, she could have decided to get rid of her go-betweens, then blamed the demons for their deaths. It could all work out so nicely for her. Except I knew better.

“How is Maria reacting to the rumor?”

“She seems unaware of the fact that there are rumors suggesting she was involved. I last heard that she was busy tending to Lady Sierra.”

For someone like her to be playing nurse to Mother while those at the tea party were seizing this opportunity to talk about her and stab her in the back, served as proof as to just how much she really liked Mother. Even I had to hand it to my mother for her ability to wrap even a woman like Maria around her dainty fingers.

“It’s rather quiet out there.”

“Yes. Although there was mass confusion for some time, things have settled down now that the necessary steps have been taken.”

The entire mansion had been in disaster mode due to the carantuls’ escape. The majority of those beasts had been bred for their toxins. The larger ones were especially venomous and aggressive, which made the havoc they wrought somewhat less surprising.

Things seemed to have quieted down, but shortly before Emily’s return, my head still ached from having dealt with all the action. Jeremy had been the main culprit, so he had been unable to avoid punishment. There had simply been too many people who witnessed him opening the hutch to the demon farm, so a simple denial of the deed wouldn’t be enough to cut himself loose.

What’s more, the two guards testified that Jeremy had in fact been the one to let Cassis escape. They even added that they had sustained their injuries when Jeremy, not Cassis, had struck them. As they begged for mercy, they admitted to their fault in trying to remove Cassis without ascertaining the facts first, but insisted it was unfair to blame them for his escape.

The last time I had seen my younger brother, he had appeared more concerned about my response to the chaos than anything else. Poor Jeremy had circled around the issue of Cassis all that time, but had finally stepped into a heaping pile of trouble that day. But I for one would never have imagined he would do such an idiotic thing as to open the demon farm. Much like a puppy after receiving a thorough scolding, Jeremy had looked at me with such sadness in his eyes as I left him without saying a word.

“What do you wish to do about Cassis Pedelian, my lady?”

Truthfully, I hadn’t been all that upset with Jeremy. Definitely not to the degree he had imagined me to be.

“Place him in the hallucination room.”

“Yes, my lady.”

I had no choice but to punish Cassis in some outward fashion for attempting to escape.

Knock, knock.

The sound of someone at my room door stirred me from my thoughts.

“I’m here on Lady Sierra’s orders, my lady.”

“Come in.”

I wordlessly signaled Emily to stand behind me before allowing the female servant to enter the room. She bowed deeply after gaining entry.

“Is my mother finally awake?”

“Yes, my lady. Lady Sierra sent me to ask for you. She wished to come see you herself, but as her condition is still less than ideal, I came to fetch you in her stead.”

Still in shock from all that had happened earlier, Mother was laid up in her room all afternoon. I had actually gone to check up on her not all that long ago already, but still rose to my feet upon hearing she wished to see me.

“Very well. I must go if Mother has said she wishes to see me.”

* * *

“Are you all right, Xana?”

As soon as I stepped inside her room, Mother’s question seemed to shoot across the open space toward me. She had sat up so quickly from her resting position that I was given the impression she might actually kick off her blanket and stand up. Had her servants not restrained her, she may have very well done just that, or at the very least attempted to get out of her bed.

“Yes, I’m fine, Mother.”

I only answered after assessing the state she was in. As I finally came near her, she grabbed hold of me, then scanned my body from head to toe.

“Are you hurt anywhere? I heard those demons managed to get inside the glass chamber.”

“I’m all right, Mother. Really.”

She was far too agitated for someone who had been unconscious only minutes ago. I looked intently into her eyes, then clasped her hand more firmly in hopes of assuring of my well-being.

“I wasn’t hurt at all. See? I’m perfectly fine.”

At last, Mother’s trembling began to subside as I held her hand. She reminded me of someone who was unable to wake up from a nightmare. Honestly, I don’t think there was a person alive who wouldn’t have melted at seeing that forlorn expression of hers.

“Yes, of course you are. What a relief.”

Her voice had faded to a whisper. Still, she finally seemed less anxious.

“But enough about me. How are you feeling, Mother?”

“I’m much better now.”

Maria had already left before I arrived, which I assumed to mean she had only returned to her room after ensuring Mother was awake and well. All the same, I found it somewhat odd that she had left already. I imagined she may have been worried about everything that had happened that afternoon, or may have simply needed to deal with what remained of her tea party.

Without giving much more thought to her absence, I sat down in the chair next to Mother’s bed while continuing to hold her hand. I then signaled all the servants to leave us alone in the room. As I stared at my mother’s face, a single question floated through my thoughts.

“Mother, why did you go outside earlier?”

I genuinely had not expected to see her outside the glass chamber looking for me. Even less so since I had ensured she was escorted back to her room to have her injured hand treated.

“I was certain you would remain in your room. Hadn’t you heard that the demons were on the loose?”

She looked at me shyly before answering.

“I did... but the farm was just so close to the glass chamber.”

I said nothing and only stared as Mother spoke.

“I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing when I knew you could be in danger.”

As she recounted the events, her blue eyes appeared troubled again. Perhaps just the thought of me possibly getting injured had been painful for her since it appeared my mother’s concern for me was genuine. That fact seemed to force my heart to do a somersault.

“What the hell are you even saying, old lady?! That asshole Deon’s the one who sent that monster heading straight at Roxana’s mom!”

Jeremy’s words from earlier suddenly came to mind. I smiled gently as I looked at her.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Mother.”

While my thanks sounded warm enough, what I said next was neither gentle nor kind.

“But honestly, you were just in the way.”

Her face went rigid as the acidity of my words settled in her ears. The look in my eyes was equally as cold as the words leaving my lips. I doubt her face would have become so pale otherwise.

“Honestly, Mother. What could you have possibly done in a situation like that?”