Captivation

23: Ruined

Ruined (verb): Cause great and usually irreparable damage or harm to; have a disastrous effect on.

The girls in Felticion are not immune to Henry. I thought they might be, but they’re not.

They bat their lashes and give him flirty smiles. He tries not to respond to keep up our show of being something exclusive. I am not sure where are acting stops and when it begins.

I wonder if he would still go after those girls even though he’s pretending to be enamored by me. Honestly, I highly doubt that would change anything now.

“Becca York is pregnant.” I hear Alexander tell Henry.

“Who married her?” Henry asks, looking surprised.

“No one.” Alexander says, giving Henry a look.

“Oh,” Henry says.

Getting pregnant out of wedlock is a taboo. One of those things that is just not done. Poor Becca York. She could easily have been Kitty, or vise versa.

I miss Kitty. I sigh and frown a little bit, sad at her memory.

“What do your parents do, Madelyn?” Jane asks me, unlike Lady Marianne, Jane seems genuinely interested about me.

“My mother…” I pause. “My father is a carpenter.” I smile.

“And your mother?” Jane asks, catching my purposeful ignorance of her.

“She’s Svetlana Mercer. The Seer?” I say.

Jane looks at Henry. Henry nods, confirming what I said.

“Really?” Jane says, looking shocked.

“It was always interesting growing up with her.” I smile. “She never was over bearing, she let us make all of our mistakes.” I laugh.

Jane smiles. “I don’t think I could have done that.”

“One time,” I say, and look from Jane to Henry, “I was about thirteen, and I insisted on riding my father’s new horse. And she looked at me and told me that I wasn’t skilled enough to ride a horse that was barely broken.” I pause. “But I’m stubborn, so I did.” I smile at the memory, not because it was good, but because sometimes looking back at even something bad is amusing. “I was thrown so far off that horse. I still remember how badly it hurt…” I close my eyes. “And the noise I made as I hit the ground, yuck.” I shake my head. “She didn’t stop me. She did send my father out to get me where I was thrown, though. I would never have learned anything if I didn’t make the mistakes. I’m glad she was smart enough to know that…”

“I always wondered if being stubborn was a recent thing…” Henry says.

“It’s in my blood.” I tell him and he smiles at me.

We walk on for a little longer, we’re going to some kind of afternoon party. I think it sounds stupid, but apparently Henry’s family is influential, so people want to see Henry when they have the chance. I think it’s because a lot of the girls want a chance with him.

The party is cute, made to seem all cheery, flowers are in vases all around as they have started to bloom. At some point Henry and I are separated and I don’t care enough to try to find him. People begin trying to talk to me.

“How did you meet?” A girl asks me.

“I wanted to kill him.” I tell her. She laughs.

“I would love to be you.” She tells me, “He’s so hot, is he…you know, like everyone says…?”