Tales of Darkness and Light (Book 1 Complete)

Chapter 10: Of Sisters and Sinister Plots

Chapter 10: Of Sisters and Sinister Plots

Addy Freeland sat crossed-legged on her bed. It was well past midnight, but she was utterly awake. Her hair itched down her back, her throat was much too dry, and the linens in the inn were coarse, but she knew that was not why she was awake.

She had been glad when Hayden had suggested they stay in Lunaris for a few days - not only did they get lodgements, free of charge, but she had wanted to help the village in the devastation caused by the infernal attack.

Addy couldn't help but shiver at the thought of the creatures. She had heard a great deal about infernal beings back at home, but she had never encountered one before, and had certainly never had one speak to her.

Some small, cynical part of her thought that maybe it was because she was damned, maybe it was because of her own infernal nature. It was funny, she thought, how much had changed over the past few years. Before, it had been her sister Luna that she had despised. It had been Luna who was the monster.

Everything that Abigail Valadon had believed to be true had shifted that day, when she learned the truth.

Luna was a monster, but she was one of Addy's own making.

And so for the first time, in a long time, she wondered: what was her sister doing now?

~~

"Why are we out here again? I'm bored." Abigail Valadon sat on one of the stone benches in her castle's courtyard. She was careful not to rip or so much as get a speck of dirt on her new lilac dress - it would make her look unladylike, and there was nothing worse than that.

Glancing to her right, she noted with more than a little cruel amusement that her sister Luna didn't have the same concern, since the helm was almost entirely caked in mud.

She opened her mouth, ready to make a snide comment to her sister now that she finally had the ammunition, but a nudge from behind stopped her. She frowned. What was that?

Abigail turned around to see her dear friend, Eliza, shaking her head. It was almost as if Eliza was saying: 'You know how much it hurts Luna when you tease her. She's just a little girl.'

Abigail couldn't resist the urge to scoff. While she knew that she could be a little harsh to her sister on occasion, it was nothing that Luna didn't deserve. Abigail loved Eliza, but the Barclay heir didn't know, no one did, just how twisted Luna was inside.

Abigail decided to forgo Eliza's warning and say what she wanted to say. "If mother could see you now," she said, gesturing to Luna's dress, "do you think you'd still be her favourite? Maybe she'll see how terrible you truly are."

Luna's eyes widened for a second, in red-hot fury. Her fists clenched. And within a second, all traces of rage were gone. She smiled, the sort of thing that could be called sweet on anyone else. "Well, at least I have mother's love. Delos knows that you're too stupid to have any of that."

Eliza gasped in the rafters behind them, but Abigail could barely even hear the sound over the racing of her heart. Luna knew how much she hated it when mother called her stupid, how could she bring something like that up?

Jason coughed from above, drawing the attention of the girls to him. He looked at Abigail, a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "Abigail, at least try to get along with Luna. Do you have to always provoke her? She's hardly done anything wrong to you."

Abigail had an overpowering urge to scream. How did no one else know what her sister was really like? Yes, Abigail had provoked Luna this time, but it wasn't as if Luna didn't deserve it.