Chapter 51 Kaelen’s Warning 2

Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Kaelen’s Warning 2

Talia’s POV

That night, I packed my bag.

I put in the blue dress first, then the green dress, and then the gold dress. I arranged the shoes on one side, and my brush. I touched my mother’s necklace, which I never took off, and I prayed it was still strong enough to keep me hidden in Mooncrest Hall.

I folded everything carefully, the way my mother had taught me when I was small.

She had shown me when I was six. "Fold the sleeves first," she said. "Then the sides, then roll it tight." I remembered her hands, soft and gentle. My hands were rough now, but I still folded the way she taught me. It was part of the only thing of hers that I had left.

I folded the sleeves first, then the sides, then I rolled it, so it would not wrinkle.

I had not thought about her in days, so the memory hit me like a wave.

I closed my eyes and tried to remember her face, and I replayed her voice in my head. I thought about the way she looked at me before she went back into the fire.

With my eyes still closed, I pressed my palm against the folded dress firmly.

"I am still waiting, Mother," I whispered. But the room was silent.

I opened my eyes, took a deep breath, and zipped the bag.

The night before Mooncrest Hall, I could not sleep.

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, and listening to the fire crackle. The shadows danced on the walls, and the room was warm, but I felt cold.

Kaelen had returned, and he was on the floor. His breathing was slow and even, but he was not asleep. I could tell by the way he shifted every few minutes.

"You are still awake," he said.

I turned my head to look at him. He was lying on his back, with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

"So are you," I said.

He did not answer.

I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. When my feet touched the floor, I shivered, because the floor was cold against them.

"Your stepmother will try something," Kaelen said suddenly. His voice was flat and cold.

"I know," I said.

"Then why are you going?" he asked.

I froze, and my heart started pounding. I looked at him, but he was still staring at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Do you not want me to go? Or are you already planning to reject me?"

He turned his head sharply to look at me, as my eyes met his gray, unreadable ones.

"That is not what I meant," he said, looking away.

"Then what did you mean?" I asked.

He sat up. His movements were slow, and deliberate, and he rested his elbows on his knees and looked at the floor.

"I saw what happened in Cresswood," he said. "The way they looked at you, and the way they tried to corner you."

His jaw tightened.

"She tried to humiliate you. To make you undress in front of everyone, and to strip you of your dignity."

I looked away, because I did not want to remember.

"If she could do that there," Kaelen said, "she could try it again at Mooncrest Hall."

I looked back at him. "Why do you care?"

He did not answer. He just looked at me, and the silence stretched between us like a rope pulled tight.

"Stay by my side during the celebration," he said. "Do not wander off."

I stared at him. "Is that an order?"

"It is a warning," he said.

"A warning or a command?" I asked, as my anger increased in my chest.

But he did not answer, even as I held his gaze.

My heart was pounding, but my voice was steady. "There will be no need for me to hide," I said. "Because I am not afraid of her anymore."

His eyes narrowed just a little.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I have never been more sure of anything in my life."

He studied my face for a long moment, as his gray eyes moved across my face like he was searching for something. Like a lie, or a crack, or a reason to doubt, but I made sure that he did not find one.

He stood up and walked to the bathroom. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be long."

Then the door closed behind him.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the closed door.

My heart was still pounding, and my hands were shaking now.

I did not know if he believed me, and I did not know why he cared. But it did not matter to me right now.

Tomorrow, I would face Vivienne, and tomorrow, I would prove that I was not the scared girl from Cresswood anymore.

I climbed back into bed and lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling.

I listened to the water running in the bathroom. Kaelen was in there, with just a wall between us. I thought about what he said. ’Stay by my side.’ He had not ordered me, he had warned me. That was different, and that was almost caring, and I did not know what to do with that.

Sleep did not come for a long time. But when it did, I did not dream.