Filiae - Lady Dimitrescu x Reader (F)

Part 9

You laid in your bed, sobbing as the first rays of light entered your bedroom.

The unattended wounds on your arm were now throbbing but they were the least of your worries. Your whole body was a worthless pile of agony. Your heart and your soul were aching. The look of betrayal in Lady Dimitrescu's face was etched in your mind, her welled up eyes haunting you, torturing you.

The explosion was as expected, nuclear, deafening. Somehow both you and your sister survived, thanks only to Alcina's presence of spirit. She could have beheaded you both right then and there with one fell swoop.

How could Cassandra have been so stupid? How could you have been so stupid? Lady Dimitrescu had trusted you, possibly more than anyone else in this world, and you omitted something so important.

What now?

Time would heal.

But how much time? And what would heal?

Mom would never abandon you, nor Cassandra. The sense of family was too important to her.

But she wasn't just mom to you.

--

You cautiously approached Cassandra's room, or what was left of it. You couldn't feel any breeze, which meant the repairs the maids had done to the window the night before had resisted the wind.

'Cass?' you peeked in after lightly knocking.

She looked at you miserably, sitting on the side of her bed, the only piece of furniture that had withstood the wrath of Lady D, brushing her hair. You could tell it took all her strength not to cry.

'Come.' you whispered and extended your hand to her.

'I don't want to...' she pleaded.

'Come on.' you stretched your arm further 'we'll go together.'

Bela and Daniela were already sat at the breakfast table. They looked at you both wide eyed.

'What happened?' Daniela said, visibly worried. ' Where's mom?'

Lady Dimitrescu was notably absent.

You both sat down. Cassandra looked down at her lap, too embarrassed to even look at her sisters.

'Umm... mom caught Cassandra doing something she shouldn't.' you vaguely said.

Cassandra looked up to Bela and Daniela, then at you. As you didn't continue, she bravely ripped the bandaid off.

'Heisenberg.'

The girls gasped, in both disbelief and horror. You kind of hoped at least Daniela would come up with a joke to lighten the situation, but nothing came.

'What?' Bela was struggling to process the information.

'I wasn't thinking.' Cassandra murmured. She was grateful none of you were chastising her.

You softly rubbed her back and she smiled sadly at you. You felt extremely sorry for her. Not that Heisenberg was justifiable, but you sensed how lonely she must have felt when she said she didn't have anyone. You got it because you couldn't imagine not having Alcina. Your heart broke for the hundredth time that day, knowing you now had lost her.

Lady Dimitrescu's sombre figure silently entered the room and sat at the head of the table, somehow even more imponent than usual.

The silence was deafening.

'Good morning, mom.' Bela said quietly.

'Good morning, sweetheart.' she responded. There was no spark. She sounded bereft.

The maids served breakfast. No one muttered a word until halfway through the meal.

'Thank you for the new books, mother.' Daniela smiled at her. ' And songbook.'

You nearly threw up.

She had got you a songbook.

Mom had been nagging you to resume playing piano as she missed listening to it. You had complained you were fed up of playing the same songs, so she must have tried to surprise you with a new selection.

'I hope you'll enjoy them.' Alcina attempted a smile. She was having a hard time swallowing her food.

You noticed Cassandra was shaking like a leaf next to you. There wasn't a breeze, but you felt like the air was freezing.

'How is your arm?' Lady Dimitrescu's voice brought you back to reality.

'It's fine...' you said, noticing her intently looking at you. You didn't have the courage to look back at her.

'Did you clean it?' there was none of the usual softness to her voice.

'Yes.' you nodded. You hadn't. And it was not fine.

'Yes, mother.' she said, cruelly.

'Yes... mother.' you repeated, your eyes welling up.

The rest of the meal was spent in dead silence.

Lady Dimitrescu left the room to attend to the wine business. The four of you made your way to the library.

'Why is she mad at you?' Bela asked.

'I knew about it...' you suspired. 'And I didn't tell her.'

'Oh...'

'Oh, no...' Daniela looked at you dolefully 'Oh dear.'

'Yeah...' the knot in your throat was back. You felt beyond ashamed.

'I'm sorry.' Cassandra said. 'I... I ruined everything.'

'No...' you said, out of goodwill. In reality, despite how sorry you felt for her, you wanted to beat the crap out of her. 'No, I should have said something.'

'I know why you didn't.' Cassandra wept. 'Thank you. Even though it wasn't for my sake.'

Bela and Daniela hugged you both. You couldn't help but notice the irony of four merciless killers showing compassion towards one another. You were family, no matter what.

'Give her time.' Daniela said, hopeful. ' She loves us all more than anything. She just needs time.'

You both nodded. You knew it, but it didn't make the situation less devastating.

A brand new pile of books had been left on top of the library table. You all made your pick and took to your seats. You sat on one of the comfy armchairs next to the window and noticed it was snowing again.

'Hey...' Cassandra was standing in front of you, holding out the songbook.

You took it from her hands and stared at it, your mind completely blank. You held it to your chest and leaned back against the armchair, feeling numb.

Would time really heal everything?

You couldn't stop the flow of tears taking over again.