I Can't Eat Love

Part 32

Sister?

I stared up at Edith, a little dazed, my mind racing as I tried to put the pieces together. My silence didn't frustrate her, however. It seemed to amuse her as she watched me, her smile growing wider.

"Let me tell you a story." She called out, and an expressionless man dressed as a bandit brought over a chair for her to sit on. She was so close that our knees were almost touching. It made me want to kick out, to hurt her, but my legs were too tightly bound to do more than shift the chair.

"There once was a handsome young man, the only son of a Duke. He was smart and hard-working, caring deeply about those around him. His father, the Duke viewed him with great pride, thinking how his legacy would continue to grow under such a capable son." She continued to smile, but her gaze was cold as she studied me slowly. "The young man fell in love, with a girl who grew up by his side. Her status was a little low, but she was beautiful and kind, and he loved her deeply. Even his parents could not object to their engagement. Everything was perfect."

She stood up suddenly, the sound of the chair scraping against the floor grating on my ears. "But one day, startling news arrived. The crown prince had broken his engagement with the daughter of one of the larger duchies, to marry a foreign princess. The woman was reportedly heartbroken." Edith sneered at the last sentence, her eyes on me growing more hostile. "She didn't mourn for long, however. She insisted she be married to the highest ranked noble in the kingdom. And who could that be other than the young handsome man?"

My hands clenched into fists, the nails digging into my palms. I discretely tried to continue pulling at the ropes, but all I managed to do was tear the skin at my wrists, the warm blood soaking the bonds.

"He protested of course. As did his precious little sweetheart." She laughed bitterly. "But none of that meant anything to that cold hearted woman. Her family forced the marriage, and the lovers were separated... at least officially."

Edith had wandered towards the back of the room, beyond the candlelight. Slowly she returned, but this time something was clutched in her hand, causing me to freeze with fear.

A knife.

"They still saw each other... for a time. Until the childhood sweetheart learned she was pregnant." She gently touched the tip of the knife, as if testing it. "Perhaps he could have divorced the scheming woman who forced him into marriage, but not too long after, it was revealed that she was pregnant as well."

I stared at Edith and the knife in her hand, almost hypnotized as she turned it over and over in her hands. I didn't speak, I didn't know what to say.

"A pregnant wife with a legal child, and a pregnant mistress with a bastard. Who do you think won?" She laughed again, but the sound was painful. "The sweetheart married a count, and passed the daughter born as his own, only revealing the truth to the daughter when she grew older."

I stared down at the floor, thinking of the beautiful smiling woman I had known as the Countess of Erand and tried to reconcile that image with the bitter betrayed woman Edith described, unable to. I thought of my mother's accusations and coldness, my father's guilt. What was it that he had said to me during our last conversation?

"We all have our sins, Lenora. Some of us are just still waiting to pay the price for them."

"You're my father's daughter." I studied her curiously, her delicate features greatly resembled her mother, we looked nothing alike.

Edith stood up straight. "I am the Duke's eldest child." Her eyes were disdainful as she looked back at me. "You are nothing. A thief. A fraud. Just like your mother, who stole father from us."