Spirits

Chapter 33

The next morning held a different air. From the moment my eyes opened, I began to panic. Liu Ming was still missing, her promise hanging in the air as I expected her to arrive at any moment. At the sound of footsteps, Jax and I looked up to find my father and his men. The small ray of hope I had been nurturing died as his trimmed beard and beady eyes appeared in the room. The animosity between Jax and I reappeared as I was led away, unable to even speak with Jax as I left.

Now I sat in front of a mirror in a small bedroom where I was to prepare for my wedding. The very thought of it brought a throbbing headache. On the fine bed, a wedding dress lay pristine like a finally made cage.

The door opened and I jumped slightly. A maid of roughly my own age entered with a chipper step and beaming smile. She seemed to sense my anguish and quickly moved to my side.

"Hello, Lady Maurea," she said, patting my shoulders. "Don't you worry one bit, we'll have you bright as the sun in no time. I understand you might be a bit nervous, but imagine how happy your fiancé will be when he sees you in that wedding dress."

She began untying my boots, small hands working at the laces which were caked in dirt and filth from the last few days.

She was humming an old lullaby as she worked. It was a sweat tune, but the notes were chillingly similar to a wedding march.

"I'm sorry, but I do not know your name," I spoke quietly, the threat of losing whatever contents my stomach held too great.

"My name is Lydia, miss." She beamed, rosy cheeks bright despite my lack of interest. "I wouldn't expect you to know me, not many of my employers do. I only started here a few weeks ago, a sudden opening just after your left as it would happen. So many of us were distraught, worried about you out in the cold. You can't imagine what your family went through to find you. Be careful not to get lost again or I fear you may have to attend your fathers funeral next, the poor man was beside himself with nerves."

I listened to Lydia ramble on about how the household had fallen into grief after I left. I could imagine perfectly, my father spinning a lie, trying to seem in control. He had always been a man of action and to have someone, his own daughter, disobey and dishonor him, he would have been beside himself with anger.

"I'm not sure if you noticed," Lydia suddenly interrupted her task to stand by me, waving her small hand in front of my face, "but I am to be married as well. A nice man, though not nearly as well off as your soon to be husband, but a good man nonetheless."

Her wedding band was simple, a silver band that circled her ring finger. Lydia was turning her hand so the low light caught it and sent a gleam around the room.

"Lydia, do you love your fiancé?" I asked, thinking of Nicolas and how different he was from kinder men I knew.

"I do very much, miss," Lydia bobbed her head rapidly, strands of blond hair coming loose from her bun. "I'm sure your fiancé loves you as well. I wouldn't let him see your nerves or he might mistake it as an unwillingness to proceed. Many good matches have ended over jitters. I can have the kitchen prepare you a tea to calm you."

"Thank you, no." I rejected Lydia immediately, knowing nothing would help my nerves.

I could feel a noose tightening as each second ticked by. Was I making a mistake in assuming, or at the very least hoping Liu Ming would arrive in time? I trusted Jax and Isabella, but Liu Ming was still an unknown figure. If she betrayed us, Jax could die and I would be forced to marry Nicolas to buy him time.

I knew that I would do anything to protect them, the only family I had. With Intutum at war with itself, the only people I could truly rely on we're counting on me to make the right decision. I knew if I lost them, I would blame myself forever and the world would grow darker in comparison, but I wished nothing more than to go back in time to swimming with Jax, stargazing with Isabella and even sitting with Jax in the dreary dungeon if it meant we were together and alive.