63 | ACT IV, SCENE II

P R E V I O U S L Y

"You stubborn lady," he finally replied. "If it finally comes to blood, do you really think I'd let them touch you, ever? I gave you an oath. And I will always keep that oath. Come hell or high water."

CARLEIGH PALACE, SUNCAIRN, ELLESMERE.

TRISTAN

THE SMALLEST COFFINS WERE THE heaviest.

It was the hardest thing I had ever watched, the worst thing that could happen to a parent: the death of a child.

It was a thing I'd never wish even on the worst of my enemies.

Amphitrite's face had turned a tired shade of pale from the ceaseless sobbing, doubled over in grief and pain of the raw miscarriage. Eric had aged a hundred years in the last few hours, his eyes red rimmed with tears that refused to dry, he looked older than his father himself.

She was holding those three little bundles in her arms, swaddled in cloth of white muslin, pale and still and lifeless. It was impossible to look at those innocent little faces, faces that would never wake, faces stiller than stone and stained with their parents' tears.

Rosalva pleaded Amphitrite to let them go till her voice went hoarse. But she refused, stubbornly shaking her head as even more moisture dripped down her cheeks, making my heart sink.

Knives scraped above, carving marble coffins for the dead.

Eric broke down into a fresh wave of tears as I sorrowfully touched the dead children's foreheads in a tender, affectionate gesture. Amphi started sobbing again into my shoulder as I paid my last respects.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered sadly. "I'm so, so sorry."

"She killed them. Edwina killed them," she said hollowly.

"Amphitrite, she is your sister."

"Sister?" she cackled. "Sister?! God forbid I EVER CALL HER MY SISTER AGAIN! I DON'T WANT TO SEE HER, I DON'T WANT TO SPEAK TO HER, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR HER NAME MENTIONED TO ME EVER AGAIN!"

"Amphi-"

"No," she cried. "No. She did it. She fed me poison. Do you know what she said to me before giving it to me? Drink this and go to sleep."

"She-"

"-I saw it," Vanessa said angrily. "I saw it."

"So did I," Verona sobbed. "And aunt Irina. And aunt Celestina."

"Celestina offered to go get the bottle. Edwina stopped her. Right there. Very firmly, she said that she would go and get it. She said it! She wanted to poison her!" Vanessa spat.

"But-"

"-you just see. Just see. I will wait for one month, and then... then, I will have vengeance!" Eric shouted. "I will drive the Bloodstone into her heart myself. I will choke her throat myself. I will gouge her eyes out and-"

"You dare even touch her and I'll cut your guts out and make you swallow them," I growled bitterly, voice a dark growl. "She didn't do it!"

"She did."

"She did not."

"Prove it," Eric hissed, face twisted in fury.

"If Edwina Tremayne ever decided to kill Amphitrite and her children, she would have lured her out for a walk at night, kissed her on the cheek and smiled sweetly as her dagger punctured her sister's lungs. Then she would have cut those children out, stabbed each of them and burned all the bodies, scattering their ashes to the winds. She would definitely not have poisoned her, that too in broad daylight. She would definitely not have stood there, gaping, as her crime was discovered. And she would definitely not still be there after giving her the poison! She raised her since she was an infant, why in your right mind would you think she would do that?"

"I saw it!" Vanessa screeched shrilly, hurting my ears. "I saw her give it to her!"'

"You little fool!" I snapped, my mood turning blacker by the minute. "If Edwina murdered someone, she wouldn't have done it in her own form - she is not a fool! She would have changed her appearance. She would have an ironclad alibi at Dracnesse, vouched for by a dozen people. She would have stomped in, fire flashing, when she'd pretend to know about the death. Edwina Tremayne would have been the last name on the list of suspects if she were the murderer."

"Prove it."

"I just know."

"Oh, really?" Amphitrite sneered. "Remind me how long you know her?"

"I..." taken aback, I paused for a moment.

"I know her since centuries. You know her since, what - a few months?" she yelled.

"Poison is a woman's weapon," Eric spat, indifferent.

"You and I both know that poison is for cowards. Edwina Tremayne is not a coward!"

"She did it."

"She did not. Someone else did it and tried to put the blame on her."

"Don't go around spinning stories and building castles in the air, Tristan Valmont!" Amphitrite angrily spat. "My sister did it. I saw it."

"Your sister loves you!" I shouted. "She cares for you! She raised you like her child! How dare you go and believe it for even one second that she poisoned you?"

"She-"

"-she risked her life for you at the ambush of Rimebay. She had no idea what state you were in, alive or dead, and even at the risk to her own life, she persuaded me to let her go and look for you! She put her life on stake with mine for you when she set foot in Vezort Island! How dare you, Amphitrite, how fucking dare you believe it for even one second that she did it?"

"You will speak to my wife with a bit more respect, Valmont!" Eric seethed, but I brusquely cut him off, my blood boiling higher and higher.

"You have arrested the wrong person, LeVane. And be it on your head when you find out what you have done."

"I have arrested a murderer."

This time, a spark of lightning flew out of my fingers as my Thunderbolt threatened to make an appearance.

"Do you remember what happened the last time we did not listen to her? The last time we did not believe her? Do you remember that woman she saw? Do you remember, Eric?"

"This is different!"

"You idiot," my voice turned to a deadly hiss. "This is the same. You just see."

I turned to leave, and my black cloak blew around, but Eric slammed the door shut.

"Might I remind you that if you are found to be aiding and abetting a murderer and traitor, I have full right to arrest you, Tristan Valmont," he whispered in a harsh voice.

"Might I remind you that I intend to keep my marriage vows in the moment they are most difficult to keep?" I thundered.

"If you hide her or let her escape, you will be charged with death. Not even Thanatos will be able to save you then."

I did not flinch a bit, but my gaze blackened as I stared into Eric's eyes.

"The fucking irony of it, LeVane. See you at the Trial, your Grace," I snapped, and then finally left the room with a mocking bow.

• • • • •

HARTINGTON CASTLE, ALNWICK, STORMHOLT.

Softly, I opened the door, unclasping my cloak and wondering where Edwina was, scared that she would have done something - something to hurt or punish herself.

She was sitting in front of an empty canvas, dozens of paint bottles lying unscrewed at her feet, but her eyes were on the floor, downcast and sad and trodden, watching the tiny bubbles in the jar of turpentine. She turned to look at me, her eyes haunted and stinging with tears, and then she curled her knees up and tucked her face in between them.

I sat down, unbuckled my boots and took off my gloves, rubbing my palms. The rain had still not stopped, for Amphitrite's tears were falling onto every inch of Endollon, spreading her sorrow. But with rain came thunder and lightning and wind and clouds, and I released the tempest brewing inside me as growls of storm and thunder roared alongside the rain. I walked to Edwina and put my arms around her, wrapping her from behind.

"Don't," whispered, turning away, her voice breaking into a sob.

"No. You don't," I said firmly, pulling her close to me and putting my hands around her shoulders.

"I am a murderer, Valmont. You shouldn't consort with murderers."

"I will bloody well consort with whoever I like," I growled, effortlessly lifting her up and she gave a snort of protest. I ignored it, and sat her down on the bed, settling myself beside her, our feet hanging over the edge.

"I didn't do it," Edwina said sadly. "I didn't do it. And the worst feeling in the world is when you're telling the truth and all you hear are lies about you. No one believes me."

I faced her, cupping her face in my fingers and looking right into her big blue eyes, glazed over with tearful green.

"I do," I said truthfully. "I believe you."

"No, Valmont. You don't. You shouldn't. I hate it. I'm supposed to hate you."

"What?" I asked, shocked. "You still hate me?"

She fiercely looked into my eyes.

"Yes. I hate the way you smile at me. I hate the way you hug me. I hate the way you're always there for me. I hate the way you crack jokes with me when we're drunk at three in the morning. So yes, Valmont. Yes. I hate the way I can't hate you. Even when I want to."

I was grinning like a dolt on the inside as Edwina suddenly grabbed my shoulders and kissed me. I gave in willingly, I could feel the desperation, the agony saturated into the kiss, I could taste the dried tears on her lips.

"I'm sorry," she spoke against my lips. "I didn't mean for that to come out like that."

"It's okay," I gave her a soft smile.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Amphitrite," she repeated again and again. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Edwina echoed.

"Woman?"

"I'm sorry," she said again. She kept on saying the same words, again and again, in the same, empty tone which scared the hell out of me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she repeated over and over again.

"Hey. No." I shook her, but she numbly sat there, spitting out the same two words like a failed circuit.

"I'm sorry. Please. I'm so sorry."

"Edwina!" I said desperately, but she didn't stop. "Please! Listen to me. I believe you!"

"I'm sorry," she blinked. I took off her still damp cloak, she was still wearing her full sleeved robes under them. I kept on trying to make her say something else, shaking her, lightly slapping her cheek but she wouldn't stop.

She needed sleep. And she was in mourning.

I threw the cloak on the floor, and let down her hair from its braided bun, pulling out the pins and letting her red strands flow down to her waist, still curled slightly.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I gently turned Edwina around, found the laces at her back and slowly pulled the knot, hardening my resolve. She was wearing her thick cotton shift inside. Slowly, I pulled her gown down and let it slide to the floor as she shook slightly in the petticoat and I coaxed some water down her throat.

"I'm sorry."

I gently pushed her into the pillows, she lay there on her back, eyes wide and glassy. I swung my legs onto the mattress, pulling her to me and tucking her into my chest.

"I'm sorry."

No tears, no sobs, just these frightening words.

"No," I whispered, "please."

"Tell me a secret," she said suddenly, and I heaved a sigh of relief.

"What kind of secret?" I asked.

"Any kind."

Your eyes are more beautiful than any rainbow I have ever seen, your soul is more splendid than the moon. You fascinate me so much that I could kiss you for forever, hold you until the universe cracks itself apart and crumbles into the night.

"I don't have any secrets."

"That's a lie," Edwina said in the darkness. "Everyone has secrets."

Secrets? Yes. But do I want to keep them from you? No. I want to tell you how your face haunts my thoughts and every waking moment. How your eyes linger on me, shining like pools of curiosity. How your feet tread so light on the floor, like a shot of neat whiskey. How I'll never forget you as long as I live, and know you in every world and every life that I own.

"I'm afraid," I spoke.

"Of?"

Being hurt by you. I'd take dying over it any day.

"Lizards."

"You're joking."

"No. Really. I'm terrified of lizards."

"Tell me another secret," she said.

I think I am in love with you.

"I had a pair of goldfish once," I whispered.

"What happened to them?"

"They died," I said sadly.

"Oh. I'm sorry," she said, and horrified, I pulled her tightly to me, scared she would begin it again.

"Hey. No."

"I'm sorry," a tear spilled down her cheek as I buried her head in my neck, the salty moisture soaking my shirt, knowing that I would never, ever let her go.

• • • • •

Edwina and Tristan in pain are just... so painful to see. I literally can't stop sobbing when I see those two babies in so much suffering. It's going to be impossible to find out who has really been behind these murders - and it's going to be even harder to prove that she hasn't been doing it. I hated seeing Eric and Edwina's relationship break :(