Abandonment is one word to describe Evelyn Ward's childhood.
Known as an orphan freak and paranoid schizophrenic, she was dragged through years of therapy after admitting to hearing whispering voices and seeing creatures and living shadows.
...
Terror engulfed me. Horror squeezed my throat so tight no sound could escape and I could do nothing but watch, helpless as a fish out of water, as the demon dove, quick as lightning, to attack my mother.
Yet, quicker still, she reacted, flinging her hands in front of her and deflecting it with a bolt of silver that flared throughout the room. With a shrieking hiss as light pierced the shadowed form, the demon burst apart and its wisps of darkness dissipated.
A shock wave rippled through our small group, a collective gasp drawing all the air from the room and a stunned silence filled the gap.
In the two weeks I had been here, I hadn't seen any sign of the demons that used to haunt me. Not so much as a whisper or a hint of a chill down my neck. The palace had been a safe place where I didn't have to fear the demons or what they might do when I let my guard down. These walls were too heavily guarded, the Shadow Gate too powerful for the demons to get through. Or so I had thought.
But as Zev, and my mother had told me, the veil was weakening and our power waning. And the demons had proved this day, just as they had twenty-one years ago when they stole me away: nowhere is safe.
No one can be protected against their evil power.
I tore my gaze away from where the demon had just been and locked eyes with my mother, trying to assess her health before trusting my quivering lips to ask whether she was alright.
A bead of crimson dripped from her nostril, rolling down her porcelain face and splashed onto the bodice of her gown. Her eyelids fluttered as more blood began flowing and she slumped over in her seat.
Lunging forward to catch her before she fell, a cry tore from my lips. Lavonte and Cordelia lurched from their seats the same as I, while Elelas ran from the room calling for guards and a healer.
"Mom?" I choked out past the tears clogging my throat. Her skin had gone cold and clammy, her breathing shallow. Her heart beat weakly beneath my hand.
Cordelia knelt beside me and placed a tender hand on my mother's forehead. Closing her eyes, she began to hum a soothing melody and a soft white light flooded out from her palm. Closing my own eyes against my tears, I let her gentle voice lull me and calm my frantic heart.
Everything faded around me until only a peaceful nothing blanketed my mind. A cocoon of safety where all the pain and fear constricting my chest relaxed so I could breathe again. As a child, it had become my method for coping with all the shit life threw at me. A quiet place where I could imagine just for a moment I was safe. Where I could imagine the comfort of a parent's loving embrace rather than the hateful blows I received.
Now I finally had the loving mother I had always wished for and that haven was this close to being torn away from me.
"I'm alright, I'm alright." Aurora's soft voice cut through my daze and wrung a choked sob from me as she pushed herself up. Wobbling on unsteady feet, she leaned against the table but met our concerned stares with steel.
"Aurora, you should sit down," urged Lavonte. "Wait a moment for the healers to get here."
"You gave us quite a scare there. Are you sure you're alright?"
The steel and strength masking the pain in my mother's azure eyes was a look I saw often whenever I'd catch a glance of myself in a mirror. The same raw determination I glued myself together with to keep others from knowing just how close to breaking I was, was what she used now to keep her weakness from showing.
The set of her shoulders and tilt of her head belied nothing of her weariness as she nodded in response to Cordelia's question and drew her posture up straight so she was no longer leaning on the table. "Quite alright, I assure you. Fear not, I had only a momentary bout of exhaustion, I'm already fast recovering."
Her strength and determination impressed me but the fear of what might happen if she didn't rest now hung in the forefront of my mind. "Mom, would it hurt, though, for us to cut this short so you can go lie down and rest? If not for you, but for me? I would feel better knowing you're being tended to even if you don't need it."
Cordelia put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Evelyn is right. We would all feel much better if you took some time to rest and recover. We can always continue this talk later."
Giving in to our pressuring, my mother clasped my hand in hers. "Very well, if you insist." She looked to Lavonte. "If you would see to the guards to try and figure out how that demon managed to get into the palace. If we must call every Demon Hunter here to keep these walls safe, do it. As you have said, Evelyn's safety is our first priority, and I will not see her harmed or taken again."
"I will see to it, Your Grace." With a polite nod and bow, he strode from the room, letting the heavy oak door swing shut behind him with a resounding boom.
"Oh, I better go make sure he's not too difficult with your guards." Cordelia's ever-smiling lips dipped into a slight frown. "If we couldn't sense it's arrival, there's no chance the guards did either. It's a frightening wonder it got through all the wards undetected."
A heavy sigh escaped her as she appeared lost in thought for a moment. Her eyes light up and the smile returned as she turned to me. "You make sure your mother rests now. We know how fierce she is, but don't let her get up until she's had time to recover no matter how difficult she is. And Aurora," she turned a delicate, arched eyebrow to my mother, "listen to your daughter. You know we only want what's best for you."
She kissed my cheeks before bustling out the doors after her husband.
I turned to Nydea who stood, quivering, with shock evident in her wide eyes. "Nydea, find Elelas and tell him to send the healer to my mother's chambers."
She nodded, leaving immediately to fulfill my request. The second the door shut behind her my mother sagged against the table and exhaled a weary breath.
"Come on, Mom." I wrapped my arm around her slender waist, tucking my shoulder under hers to support her. After a moment, she surrendered her weight to me, letting me lead her to her chambers.
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So Aurora appears to be alright, but the situation is growing ever direr. Was this a lucky hit, or is there something far more sinister at work?
