Bright One | Empire of Blood and Swords Series

19. Reminisce

-19-
-Reminisce-

Seth was right. My period started this morning. Since there were no pads or tampons here, (because they follow the traditional way), I had to ask Suzanna, who walked pass my room, for help. I told her I was on a moon bleed, and she understood immediately. She had the maids to prepare a bath and delivered sheep fur to my room. After a quick bath, I put on my undergarments, along with the sheep fur as a pad before putting on a tunic and some dark pants. Since most of them can smell blood, I decided to stay in my room the entire day to save me from my embarrassment.

We had dinner in the dinning room, joined by the Wolfblood siblings. They talked about what they did today, and reminisced about the past. There were jokes and teasing, and their conversations sounded like what normal siblings would talk about. But as I sat there, listening the entire time, I realize they never once mentioned their parents.

It must be a sour topic for them, or maybe they've moved on from the past and don't want to look back anymore. I can't tell by their tones. Seth walked in and plopped down next to me, and our arms brushed when he sat. I tried not to think of the way my heart skipped a beat, or how my stomach fluttered or how heated my face has become. I ate in silence, listening to their conversations. Seth only talked to Sapphire, who sat opposite of us. And now I realize Sapphire and Seth don't talk to the others much. They didn't even acknowledge their siblings' existence.

My eyes kept wondering to Saoirse's empty spot. Was she in the Meeting Room with Athos and Nixon, making plans to get rid of me? Does Sapphire know?

And if she did, was she hiding it from her siblings as well? My trust and believes were all scattered, and I must've shown it because Seth kept looking at me weirdly.

"Sapphire," I called out as Seth opened his mouth to ask me, deciding it was safer than to be asked. Sapphire looked at me with a warm smile.

"Yes?"

"When can we ask Saoirse about Connie's need to leave?"

She shared a look with Seth, who shrugged and continued eating.

"Beats me. I'd recommend not talking to her, she's a little hot-tempered these days." He grumbled while stabbing angrily at his food with his fork.

"But Connie's been here for a long time now. And her family could be very worried."

"We know, Odette," Sapphire said, sounding tired. "But we made it clear to tell Saoirse when we're all together, including Connie. And so far we're not together. As long as we don't have Connie's trust, we're not going to send her back."

I frowned. "Trust?"

"We're afraid she's going to tell on us. To her human friends. It's a big risk. So in the meantime we're having trust exercises. Until we have her trust, maybe it could help convince Saoirse to let her go easily."

"Unless. . ." Seth added.

"Unless what?" I asked but Seth shook his head, telling us that he's not saying anything more. After a pause, I continued. "I can handle it. Just tell me."

He looked at Sapphire, who looked at the ring on her finger. It was simple, a golden ring with a moonstone on it, but she stared at it longingly nonetheless.

"You're not going to like it though," she added quietly.

Maybe I shouldn't listen. Maybe I should just wait for all of us to bump coincidentally and pour everything out. Because her tone set my alarm off, warning me it isn't going to sound well. But I needed to have another option.