Page 94 of Witchbane

Jem followed me out to the hallway. We reached the foot of the stairs, but before I could take the first step he grabbed hold of my arm to stop me.

‘There’s something I need to tell you, Rue.’

I turned to him and was surprised to see his eyes downcast. ‘Can’t it wait until later?’

‘No. It’s something I should have admitted to you as soon as I discovered it.’

I recognised the guilt in his eyes when he finally looked at me, and I guessed what had upset him. ‘It was the maid from the farm, wasn’t it?’ I tried to recall her name. ‘Beattie?’

‘Yes, it was Beattie.’

I glared at him. ‘You knew she made the accusation about me?’ I sighed.

‘Not until now, no.’

‘Why would she do such a thing?’

His shoulders drooped. ‘I think it was because I stupidly grumbled about your interest in Theo Le Cerf one time when we were out walking.’ Before I could respond, he added, ‘I know you’ve only ever seen me as a friend, and most of the time I’ve been content with that, but seeing the pair of you dancing, and then everything that happened after that … well, I lost my way a bit. It was stupid of me to let her know I was jealous of him.’

I was angry but too exhausted to show it. ‘It was. And now look what’s happened because you shared with someone else how you felt about my having feelings for a man. Didn’t it occur to you that Beattie might be upset to discover how you felt about another woman?’ About me, I wanted to add but was too embarrassed to say it.

He sighed. ‘I was too wrapped up in my resentment to consider her, I suppose.’

Unsure what else to say, I left him feeling sorry for himself and went up to my room. I needed the comfort of my mother’s strength. I went to the drawer and took out the blue ribbon. My mother had warned me that someone close to me was untrustworthy. I just never imagined it could be my childhood friend.

Things really are changing around here, I reflected.

I stared at the blue ribbon, then, holding it between my fingers, closed my eyes and willed her to come to me. At first nothing happened, then I felt a warmth wash over me and rest on my shoulders like the softest shawl. The scent of lavender and roses filled my bedroom.

‘Mama, please help me be strong. Show me a way to harness my powers and make them stronger.’

The ribbon appeared to tug lightly against my fingers. I opened my eyes, fearing I was imagining things, but the ribbon bent in the middle as if invisible fingers were pulling it gently. Not enough to snatch it from my fingertips but enough to grab my attention. I sensed my mother wanted me to do something with the ribbon.

‘Ouch.’ I flinched as the skin on my right wrist puckered as if it were being pinched. It stung. I gasped. What did she want me to do? I threaded one end of the ribbon over the other and slipped my hand through the loop. Then, taking one end between my teeth, I slid the other through to make a knot and pulled it tight.

A happy sigh filled my room and my heart swelled. She was near.

‘Thank you, Mama,’ I said, blowing a kiss into the air.

Chapter Forty-Seven

THEO

Iwatched from the side of the dungeon as my father mocked and screamed at Sorrel Norman. She stared at him defiantly, her left eye swollen where one of the militiamen had hit her during her arrest. Her wrists and ankles were manacled to a heavy wooden chair and she was leaning forward, clearly frustrated that she was unable to lunge at him.

My father sneered at her. He swayed slightly as he stepped forward and I realised he must have been drinking. My father never allowed alcohol in our home and the last time I saw him inebriated was before I was sent to Norway.

‘You thought you could ignore my devotion to you,’ he bellowed. ‘Reject my affection for you and prefer that pathetic creature you married.’

She barely moved, although her hatred for him flared in her turquoise eyes, so similar to Rue’s. I struggled not to intervene, since it would only increase his wrath and her pain.

I had seen my father interrogate witches before but never like this. Sorrel Norman affected him like no other. I doubted even my mother had ever sparked such emotion in him. As I listened to him rant about the letters he had written to her that she returned unopened, his gifts rejected, and the obvious disdain she now had for him, it didn’t surprise me that this man, who revelled in his power over others, struggled to accept her dismissal of him. Of all the people Sorrel Norman had the misfortune not to want in her life, it was this bitter, callous individual who was now taking his revenge on her and those she loved, making their lives hell. My shame that my own blood could stoop so low made me nauseous.

My father drew his hand back to slap her face, then stopped. He clenched his fists, his face almost touching hers.

‘You did this to me,’ he screamed, spittle flying from his mouth onto her cheek.

She didn’t flinch.