Beneath the Fountain

28. Hamartia

Slowly, I turn my head to where the voice came from, just wishing I could wish her away into nonexistence. Sadly, wishes being granted isn't a magic that has worked for me yet.

Margarethe stands in the center of the chaotic patio, all the lights illuminating her red dress. She holds an air of dominance about her, topped off by the sly smirk on her thin face. She doesn't seem worried about either of us trying to attack her, but what could either of us do to stop her anyway? I'm still so weak. I can move but not fast, and William feels like a stone statue, unmoving.

"Don't call me that," I say fiercely. This woman standing before me is a monster. She took my parents away from me, and then she lied to me about it straight to my face for years. She tore me down time after time until there was almost nothing left to tear. She was going to force me to marry a man who I had no feelings for, for reasons still unknown to me. And all of that is only what she did to me.

That doesn't even mention what she did to William. She took away everything she could from him. She found a way to not only take away all of his material possessions, but she took away his identity as well. His name, his family, his memories. They were all gone. William was nothing but a shell of a man when I found him. He was nothing but a mystery.

That also doesn't even mention what she did to a whole city of people. Formosara. Helena said she made them disappear, but what does that even mean? Are those people alive, or are they nothing but dust now? How much evil can one woman cause?

Margarethe's dark eyes narrow at me, but her face still holds a twisted sort of amusement. "Oh Sage, don't act so dramatic. You've always been so dramatic about everything!" She says exasperated. She laughs to herself, "It was actually rather annoying. I don't know how I managed it for so long. Being a mother is hard."

"Stop calling yourself that!" I spit at her. Although she holds so much power, I'm not as scared of her as I should be. I look towards Helena's very still body, my heart letting out a beat of worry, and then I look to William's trouble filled face. When I see all the pain she's caused and feel my own resonate through me, I'm more angry than upset.

She takes a step closer to us, and when she does, William moves for the first time since we've seen her. He stands us up, holding me up by under my arms, and moves us farther from her, not letting her close the distance to us. "In all honesty, Sage, you made it too easy. I could be as awful to you as I wanted, and you would never do anything about it! You could never hate your 'Mother' so I never had to feign content for you. You were always so obedient to what I said because of some strange duty you felt you had to your family."

Margarethe pauses, taking another step closer to us while William moves away at the same time. She scoffs, "Although, I guess you weren't as good of a girl as I thought you to be. Obviously you were sneaking around meeting men you shouldn't have been seeing."

This time, she takes two steps closer to us. My heart pounds in my chest as William pulls us back another three. Margarethe throws her arms in to the air, "That one was my fault, though. I should've kept a closer eye on you, especially since you were so dead set against marrying Alexander. Pity, he really liked you, too. No matter, I won't let my arrogance get in the way anymore."

Another step forward, and another step back.

She's now standing where William and I started, but for a moment, her attention turns away from us and to Helena's knocked out body. William hasn't said a word this entire time, I notice, but he has been keeping us distanced from her, holding me tighter to him than ever before. I wonder if he's planning something. I wonder if he is thinking anything at all?

Margarethe kneels beside Helena, her boisterous skirt surrounding her like a poisonous flower in bloom. She reaches her pale, lanky arm to Helena's face, and I want to scream at her not to touch her, but I can't. All I can do is watch. She turns her head so that she can get a better look at Helena, a look of disgust very evident on her face. "I always thought there was something off about that old hag of a maid you took such a liking to," she says coldly. "She was always disregarding my orders, being closer to you than she should have. I should've known Helena, the Great Healer of the North and Master of Disguises, it seems, wouldn't have fallen under my curse like the rest of Formosara." She pauses, her hand resting on the side of Helena's face for a moment, "I should've known she would've followed; my old, estranged friend. Oh, how things have changed," she says quieter, and I question if there was a hint of remorse in her voice?