Page 2 of Waking Roslyn

I beckoned to Lisette, and instead of going to my chambers, I led the way to the library. “But this is where they always come to talk,” she said as I tugged her past the shelves and toward the windows.

“Exactly,” I answered, and pulled back the heavy drapes. “My parents won’t tell me what’s going on, and I want to know. Don’t you?”

“Yes,” she said with a sigh and climbed up onto the windowsill.

I quickly followed and we closed the drapes, hiding ourselves from view. It was mid-afternoon, so the sunlight coming through the window made it impossible for Lisette to hide her sadness. Aunt Selina, my father's sister, was Lisette's stepmother, but she had raised Lisette since she was a small child. She was the only mother Lisette had ever known, and she had died less than two weeks ago. “Do you miss her?” I asked.

Tears quickly pooled in her eyes and slid down her face as she nodded. “I think father is taking us back to Winberg.”

My heart sank. “But why?” I asked.

“The manor here belongs to the estate. And since Mama Selina had no children of her own, the property reverts to the Crown.”

I was used to Lisette being gone for long periods of time. Aunt Selina and Uncle Richard maintained two estates. The one here in Saldine, and the one that Uncle Richard had inherited in Winberg. But now…

“Are you ever going to come back?” I asked, terrified of the answer.

Her shrug was sad. “I don’t know.”

“But—” I cut myself off when we heard our parents coming down the corridor.

They came into the library and shut the door as usual.

“The queen came to you? Here?” Uncle Richard’s voice asked, incredulous.

“Yes. To warn us. It was only rumors,” my father answered. “She said the guards could find nothing concrete, but it makes sense.”

“She’s only a child,” Uncle Richard pointed out.

“And yet she stands between the earls and the throne.”

“This is my fault, Malcolm,” my mother said suddenly. “It’s because of me this is happening.”

My mother’s voice cracked with tears, and I wanted to lean closer, but the heavy drapes didn’t allow any movement, not if I wanted to stay hidden. So instead I just looked to Lisette, who seemed just as confused as I was.

“This is their problem, not ours,” my father insisted. “You bear no fault.”

“No fault?” she whisper-screamed, incredulous. “If you had married someone of noble birth, they would not be doing this.”

“Maybe. Or maybe your birth is just a convenient way to excuse their treachery. You are no more at fault in this than Selina is.”

“He’s right,” Uncle Richard said. “Blaming you two for marrying unequally is just as ridiculous as blaming Selina for dying. It’s the same result. It puts Roslyn too close to inheriting.”

“But this? To want to hurt a thirteen-year-old girl?”

I watched Lisette’s eyes widen and felt mine do the same. They wanted to hurt me? Who? WHY?

“What can we do, Malcolm?” my mother asked. “How can we protect her from this?”

There was a long silence. “I think we have to send her away.” My father’s voice was wooden.

Suddenly I couldn’t breathe.

“What? Where?” my mother demanded.

“Richard?” my father said, sounding desperate. “You are going back to Winberg?”

I heard a sigh. “I don’t have a choice. Without Selina, we have no home here.”