Tales of Darkness and Light (Book 1 Complete)

Chapter 15: Of Deathbeds and Disownment

Chapter 15: Of Deathbeds and Disownment

Flashback Part 3

Her sister was not in her chambers, or the library, stables, or anywhere on the palace grounds. She had searched for Luna fruitlessly. And that left only one place. Father's chambers.

Abigail strode in there, sure enough, and found Luna sitting in the corner of the room, a book propped open on her lap. Father's eyes were closed and his chest was rising and falling periodically. Arghun and a handful of his attendants were scattered around King Johan's bedside, busy mixing various tonics.

The room was otherwise empty as Abigail entered. The healers paid her no heed, but she could see the corner of Luna's lips twitch upwards in a smirk as her sister's dishevelled emotional state became clear.

"Hello, Abigail. Have a pleasant time with my dear friend Eliza? Shame about her amulet, don't you think?"

That was too much for the middle Valadon sibling. For years, she had put up with Luna's underhanded comments and sly ploys, as her sister isolated her further and further from the family.

For years, she had tried to convince the family that something sinister was going on as animals and prisoners started dropping dead. No one in the palace had believed her, and they had let her live in fear, fear for what Luna would possibly do next.

No.

She was done playing Luna's game.

Luna approached her, her steps graceful and elegant, like those of a Queen. Somehow, that only added to the fuel of Abigail's righteous fury.

Luna leaned over and whispered in her sister's ear. "Cat got in your tongue? Why does that not surprise me? You were never the brightest anyway."

She wasn't proud of it, would come to regret it for many years to come. But she still did it, said the things she said.

And for the second time in her life, Abigail Valadon became the cruel figure her younger sister had always painted her as.

She snapped.

"I'd rather be the most dimwitted person on the Earth then be anything like you, Luna Valadon. You are the cruelest, most vindictive, most awful person I've ever met. I know what you did to me, how you turned this family against me. I have a friend who knows it too."
Abigail's throat was raw. She could see the servants attending to Father staring at her in shock, but she continued on. "The funny thing was, I almost regretted what I said all those years ago at dinner. Comparing you to Lilith. I thought, as cruel as Luna was, maybe that was a step too far. Maybe she wasn't darkness incarnate. But now I know I didn't go far enough.

"But I was wrong, because you're just like the dark goddess. Worse, even because at least Lilith doesn't lie to herself about who she is. She knows that she's a monster who ruins everything she touches, who is unworthy of love.

"No, you're not like Lilith. You see yourself as the hero of your own story, the brave person standing up against your tyrant of a sister. What about all the innocent creatures you killed? What about the prisoners, dead before they could stand trial? What about me?"

Abigail was crying now, but she kept going. "You ruined my life, took everything I loved away from me. And for what? A stupid vendetta for something I said years ago. You're a monster, Luna, and the people will see that soon enough. I just wish you had died years ago, before you had become the person you are today!"

There was a moment of silence. The last words echoed across Father's chamber. She felt her throat. It was horace, yet she hadn't even realized she'd been yelling.