The Raven and the Dragon

Chapter Twenty-Two

The past few days had been tense and full of surprises. The first was how agreeable her aunt was. Loretta Reardon was stern, a bit intimidating, and was, perhaps, a bit too enthusiastic about being in charge now. But she was overall agreeable when interacting with them.

Alicia asked Adrianna about it later, during one of the rare moments when they could speak privately: "Were the two of you close growing up? Was she always like this?"

"We weren't really close, but she was never too difficult. And she could be commanding at times. She used to put on mother's crown when we were younger and say that we were her lords and ladies and had to do what she said. Our brother hated it, but I always thought it was precious." Adrianna smiled, though the smile quickly became somber. "I always thought she could have done great things for our family. She was very insightful. She could be persuasive when she wanted to be, as well."

"Why didn't she?"

"Because the two of us were only ever pawns to gain more power for father. We did what we had to. I married two powerful men, and she stayed in the shadows. He could never have one of his daughters be more intelligent than he was."

Alicia thought back to how closed off and stoic her stepmother had seemed back when she and Father had first been married. Alicia had thought at first that she was only nervous about being part of a royal family, and perhaps a bit stoic the death of her first husband. Father had been quieter after Mother died, as well. But that stoic nature made much more sense the more Alicia learned about the family—as did the fact that Adrianna had rarely talked about her family before.

The circumstances might have been tragic and terrible, but Alicia was glad, at least, that Adrianna and her sister seemed to be growing past that darkness in their own ways.

There was another trait of Lady Reardon's (Aunt Loretta's?) that surprised Alicia: how angry she was at her brother. Early on, Alicia had thought that perhaps the anger had been a ruse or an act, a way of aligning herself with them. But over the days and many conversations that took place after the initial negotiations, Alicia began to think that there was a chance that Lady Reardon really did hate him. Even if some of the anger was a mask to make her seem more their ally, the hint of frustration in her eyes when she talked about how her brother never consulted her, never even tried, didn't listen to her when she said she could speak to their sister, seemed genuine.

As far as Alicia could tell, Aunt Loretta (Lady Reardon?) didn't have any moral objections to what her brother had done. She only spoke of it as a personal betrayal, and didn't seem to care about any of the lives lost, including Father's. But Alicia decided she would take that genuine anger. Anything to give her an idea of where her aunt truly stood.

Then that genuine anger went to a place Alicia wasn't expecting.

"She's going to do what?!" Nimah gasped. "When?!"

"Execute him, tomorrow." Alicia didn't look at Nimah or the others, instead focusing on her soup as they sat in the garden. She had only been home in the castle since the day before, long enough to start showing her new friends around, but not so long that it felt like she was really home. "I suppose it's...an old family tradition?"

"Or a way of getting rid of a potential enemy for good," Solomon pointed out. "Sure is a way to ensure your power grab sticks."

"I thought about that, and it could be? But it could also be the traditional method of punishing betrayal. The Reardon bloodline is actually very old. Some of their old customs are still used. Father had to drink ox blood at the wedding."

The disgusted looks on Nimah and Solomon's faces were almost enough to lift Alicia's spirits, but not quite. She had a lot on her mind. Namely...

"Will you be required to attend?" Eve asked quietly.