Half of Ruby

Chapter 43

"Ruby?"

In the silence that followed, Ruby's vision swayed, blurred by tears as she bit into her lip. The metallic tang of blood flooded her taste as her fingers closed around the sheet of paper in her hands, crumpling it into her fist.

Blood roared through her head, drums of red pounding through her skull. A suffocating lump welled up in her throat as a choked cry flew from her lips.

"Ruby? Are you all right?"

No, she wanted to say. No, I am not all right, and I will never be all right. Not after this. Not after—

"Ruby!"

Somehow, Vyella was behind her. How was she behind her?

"Ruby—"

"Leave me alone," she said, voice scratched hoarse. "Just leave me alone."

The Giant princess backed away, and Ruby stared at the front door, swiping one hand across her eyes as she took a deep breath. She closed one hand over the bronze knob and pulled the door open.

She stepped inside, feet automatically guiding her to the worn mat by the door as her fingers fumbled over the laces on her tattered leather sandals, sliding them off her feet.

She stood up straight, closing the door with a soft click, shutting out Vyella's worried visage.

"Hello," she whispered.

The house looked exactly as she'd left it a week ago. A week...had it only been a week? Perhaps two, as Vyella had said.

One finger tucking a strand of stray hair behind her ear, she strode into the dining room, blinking at the streams of sunlight shimmering across the oak ground.

A bowl of porridge, still half-full, rested on the table, a single spoon buried in its fossilized depths.

Ruby blinked. That's right. I set out porridge for Mother right before I left the house.

She placed one hand against the side of the bowl—it was as cold as ice. She wrenched it from the table, grimacing, and padded over to the sink, as though afraid to awaken some entity hidden within the house.

The porridge, gray and lumpy, did not even slosh as she deposited it in the sink. An absurd laugh worked its way from her lips as she scraped the food from the bowl, as it hit the waste bin with a clunk.

Stepping away from the dining room, she slid the letter from her mother into her pocket. It was only then that she realized that she was still wearing her white gown from the lab, now tattered and browned with grime and wear.

At least Vyella didn't change my clothes.

A shiver ran through her at the thought of the Giantess. Yes, Vyella had been nothing but kind and sarcastic towards her. Yes, she wanted to do away with Queen Thyrema and find the Scepter of Argentum.

But Ruby couldn't trust her.

Perhaps it was something in her eyes, or the way she spoke. Perhaps it was how sudden she'd appeared.

Ruby swallowed, one hand gliding across the rough walls as she strode towards the hallway. Her bedroom, directly across from Astaria's, stood to the right. Now that she thought about it, her mother actually possessed more money than she'd originally believed. How else could she have afforded a house with two separate bedrooms, each decently sized?

Once, Ruby couldn't stand the idea of sharing a room with her mother.

Now....

Her feet guiding her to the right, she wandered into her room, staring at the furniture. A small, dirty mattress, a den of tattered blankets forming a nest of fabric and thread on top. A single pillow, the same one she'd used for all sixteen years of her life, lay haphazardly over the quilts. A single window, a cream-colored curtain pulled to the side, released a faint golden glow over the mess.