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“A Cold Spring” by Sorchia DuBois
Episode 10: Jagged Rocks and Jarring Reality
I awoke hours later to a world which bore little resemblance to the one I remembered. The steady drip, drip, drip of cold water on my head from jagged rocks on the cavern roof roused me from a muddled dream. I lay snuggled in Aunt Clarissa’s ermine cloak on the dusty floor of a cave. A warm fire crackled and the smell of broth set my mouth watering. I rubbed my eyes and tried to remember what happened.
Aunt Clarissa, ever composed, handed me a steaming bowl of broth, and matter-of-factly told the tale. She was never one to treat children like children. She saw no reason to mince words.
“Zander Darkmore made the mistake of seating Avery La Croix on his right side.” Aunt Clarissa pressed her lips together firmly. “Zander raised his glass to toast the marriage of his youngest daughter Lucia to the son of his oldest enemy and Avery stabbed him in the heart. Lucia, drenched in our father’s blood, must have realized Avery planned this betrayal from the start.”
“But Avery and Lucia were married.” I wiped broth from my chin with the back of my hand, but Aunt Clarissa handed me a napkin.
“We will observe good manners no matter our present circumstances.” She snapped. “Yes, they were married and with the union, Avery and the La Croixs gained access to the Darkmore spells and plots. They especially wanted control of the Darkmore’s collection of time crystals—something they’d been after for a very long time. No doubt Avery thought Lucia’s love for him kept him safe from the vengeance of the Darkmores. He was always an arrogant little prick.”
Aunt Clarissa raised the bowl of hot broth to her lips. The steam enticed color into her pale cheeks, but to my young eyes she seemed to have aged a century since I’d watched her discipline Maddock in the upper hallway of Old Castle Highmore.
“Mother says prick is a bad word.” At the mention of my mother, a shadow of grief brought my first tears. I searched the shadows of the lonely cavern for any trace of my parents, but I already knew the truth.
“Your mother is . . was correct. But at times, my dear, one must dispense with propriety in favor of truth. At any rate, Avery soon learned he had underestimated Lucia’s affection for our father. Her favorite spells always had to do with crystals and ice and she conjured a freezing curse. No doubt Avery died instantly but I hope he had time to realize his mistake.”
“Aunt Lucia killed him—her own husband?”
“Froze him where he stood, his dagger still dripping with Father’s blood. I think her heart froze as well or she went mad for she turned her wrath on the entire wedding party—La Croixs and Darkmores alike.”
“But we escaped. Surely others managed to get out. Perhaps Mother and Father . . .”
Aunt Clarissa sat her bowl aside and pulled me close, patting my hair and squeezing me tight. “It was luck I was in the upper hallway when it happened. I managed to transport you and a few others. When I returned I found stragglers, badly injured, just outside the gates but the entire castle was encased in ice. As I gathered those scarred victims together Lucia emerged on the tallest tower. She blasted the castle into a million sparkling shards of ice—along with everyone trapped inside.”
“What about Aunt Lucia?”
“We’ll not call her Aunt Lucia anymore, Allium. My sister is gone. One cannot do what she has done without consequence. Whether she is dead or not, I do not know.”
See you tomorrow for Episode 11: Kinship Will Out
2 thoughts on “A Cold Spring–Episode 10: Jagged Rocks and Jarring Reality”
That was an interesting story. Well done. Girl Who Reads
This was really interesting. Well done. Find me here.LINK