Legend of the White Witch {#Wattys2016}

Chapter 33

I stay in the garden for only a few moments, struggling to catch my breath before I stand as if nothing happened and begin making my way to the courtyard. At first I think that I won't meet Celeste in case Alec is there too, but in the end I decide to risk it and go anyway. If he's there, I can always leave.

I stop several servants on the way to ask how I might reach my destination. The palace is huge and the hallways go in every direction, each one seeming to end in yet another garden. It takes an embarrassingly large amount of time to navigate my way to the courtyard, which turns out to not be so far away at all. By the time I am outside, I'm nearly laughing at myself, but my mood sobers when I spot Celeste sitting on a stone wall surrounding a small pond. As I approach, I notice there are fish of every color swimming in the water. Celeste is watching them too.

"I was beginning to think you'd never come," she admits when she notices me walking towards her. She rises to meet me, but takes a seat on the wall again when I do. Her eyes search mine; I don't even have to say anything. "What is the matter, Edlyn?"

I lay my head on her shoulder as the tears start to really come, and she thankfully falls silent and allows me to weep. Thank the gods I did not do this in front of Alec.

"Alec was so cruel to me," I sniffle once I feel like I've emptied myself of tears. Celeste puts an arm around my shoulder as I wipe my cheeks dry. I frown when I notice dark stains on the front of my dress, an observation that turns out to be the straw that breaks the donkey's back. I start to cry again. "Oh, the dress..."

"My family won't mind," she tells me. "And it's just water, after all. In a few hours you won't even notice them. That is, if you stop crying!" She puts her hand against my cheek and makes me look at her. "Tell me, what happened? What did he do?"

"He's—he's—" He's what? He agreed to marry someone else years before he met me to save a friend from a terribly unhappy life, then told me the truth about someone who had been lying to me since I met him? How can I be angry at him for that? "He's engaged."

Celeste bites her lip and grimaces slightly before releasing my face. She knots her hands tightly in her lap. "I didn't know that would affect you so much."

I bark a humorless laugh. "A lot has changed since we last saw you."

"I can tell," she says softly. She hesitates and I can see her jaw moving, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "The way you look at each other is different."

I sniff once more and straighten up to look her in the eyes, trying my best to smile. "I suppose that it doesn't matter much now, does it?" I take a shaky breath, fearful of how strongly my heart aches. So this is what it feels like. Suddenly I regret laughing at the silly girls back in Achalia who cried over boys.

"Oh, Edlyn, I'm so sorry," Celeste cries and wraps me in a tight, much-needed hug. "You don't deserve any of this."

Are you sure about that?

I pull free of the hug, keeping one hand rested on her forearm. "There's one more thing."

She scrunches her nose. "Don't tell me. The world is ending? There's no more pie?"

I laugh again, more sincere this time. "No, thank goodness. In addition to informing me that he is to be married, Alec told me me that Peter is my twin brother."

Celeste's mouth falls open. "How on earth does he know that?"

"Alec was about to kill him so he got a little talkative," I mumble. The pain is still so fresh, as if I just found out all over again.

"Okay, you need to tell me exactly what happened since we were separated," she says firmly. I take a deep breath and then I do. I tell her everything that's happened from the moment Alec and I left Trävore, leaving nothing out. I even tell her about how I feel for Alec and that Peter led two fatoris straight to me, once she swears not to tell a soul. When I finish, she stares into the pond water in silence. I follow her gaze and become mesmerized by an energetic fish, glad to focus on anything else than what is happening. "It sounds like you've had a difficult past few weeks."