The Tragedy of Us

part three

The Tragedy of Us

Part Three: The Pain of Loss

Sighing, I dusted the cabinets. I looked at the stairs and wondered if I was going to have to go and get her for dinner again. “Evangeline?” I called at the base of the stairs. It’s almost time for dinner, and she’s not answering me. That’s never a good thing.

Climbing the stairs, I prayed she hadn’t messed up the carpet. I had just barely gotten the stains from the triple wake out of the hallway. As much as I dislike him, I know Mirek didn’t really throw up again just to spite me. I walked down the hall, listening to the doors.

Finally, I found the door where I could hear Evangeline moving around behind. I looked at the inscription on the door frame, and heaved a sigh. Aloys had insisted that everyone who had a room in the mansion put their names on the door-frames so they wouldn’t wander into someone else’s room on accident. This was right after Savoy was found asleep and naked in Aloys' bed… with Aloys still in it.

Sighing again, I tapped the door. “Evangeline?” I opened the door some. I saw her sitting on the floor in front of the bed. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, and her head was down allowing her long blond hair to fall like a veil over her lithe form. Her shoulders shook and I knew she was crying again.

Stepping into the room, I sat down next to her. I wrapped my arms around her and let her collapse into me. “Quin…” she whimpered. “Quin, I… I miss them so much…” I looked up at the bed.

Their bodies were lying there, under an extremely powerful spell placed by High Priestess Tiphaine herself. Ava’s thick red hair was shorter then I remembered it. Pru’s hair was shorter too. It’s been almost 2 years to the day since Pru left us. I don’t expect Evangeline to pretend nothing happened, especially since the evidence was still in this room.

I knew she was still pretty screwed up, but I forced myself to close my eyes to the truth that was so obvious to me. That’s my other job, you know. I’m supposed clean, cook and excuse my Master’s mental illnesses, and I do it everyday. “Evangeline…” I whispered. “Are you hungry?”

I was cleaning again, which is something I’m never really done with. Evangeline was sitting in the window, the breeze blowing her hair all over the place. “Quin,” she said suddenly.

Faster then most people move in their whole lives, I was by her side. I had moved so fast I created a little bit of whiplash to her hair. It flew outside the window and then back with the flow. “What is it, Evangeline?”

“We have an assignment,” she said slowly as a leaflet fluttered next to her on the windowsill.

I blinked. “We do? But, I’m not really a member of the Avilon Coven…” I was a bonded slave, a glorified trophy of the Avilons’ conquest.

“I took care of that. You’ve been eligible for the past year. I just needed you around the house, and then what with Ava and Pru…” she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. I waited patiently for her to resume. “Anyway, we have one. And it has to do with Ava and Pru,”

“Really?” My ears pricked up at this. “What do we have to do?”

Looking at me, she stated flatly, “We have to bring them back,”

“Pardon me?” I blinked in confusion.

Evangeline looked at me, almost coldly. “Did I stutter?”

I shook my head, and then went into the kitchen. ‘We have to bring them back? Is that even possible?’ I wondered.

“It’s very possible,” I jumped at the sound of Evangeline’s voice. I hadn’t even sensed her come up behind me. “I know what you were thinking. There are some things that everyone knows about. Then there are others…” Evangeline’s eyes turned glassy and dangerous for a split second, but then she was back to what passed as normal for the time being. “The point is that it’s more then possible to bring them back from whatever dark place they’ve been cast off to,” she placed her hands on her hips, daring me to challenge her answer to my unspoken question.