Chapter 64 Storm Signs
If the observatory predicted relentless rain over Aurelia Province, Zephyr could prepare and spare countless lives.
Sadie lifted her gaze to the hall.
Perhaps warning of disaster is one reason I was given this second life.
Buoyed by the notion, she strolled off to explore another shrine.
Zephyr, however, remained where he was.
He glanced toward the passage where Finn had vanished and murmured to Clifton, “Bring him in. I will question him tonight.”
Sadie wandered into a secluded chapel.
It was the very chapel her mother visited each year.
Outside, her father and the four siblings were locked in an argument with the sentries posted at the door.
Quincy flushed with indignation. “Lady Eleanor and I were once married. Surely I may see her for a moment!”
The guard stood firm. “The Duke forbids you from approaching The Duchess.”
Quincy yanked Daisy to his side. “Fine. I will stay back. My daughter only wishes to see her mother; surely that cannot be refused?”
The guard did not waver. “The Duchess decrees that no one may disturb her prayers. Even her own children are no exception.”
Quincy choked on his rage. “You people… have you no sense of decency?”
Amid the commotion, Eleanor stepped out after lighting the candles.
Quincy’s eyes lit up, and he hurried forward, all eagerness. “Eleanor-”
Swords flashed to his throat as the guards barked, “Address The Duchess properly!”
Quincy shivered, bowed low, and looked at Eleanor with pleading eyes. “Lady Eleanor, the provincial secretary of the governor’s office is retiring soon. When the post is vacant, could you recommend me to The Duke? We were married once. Surely you will help me?”
Sadie listened to her father’s servile plea, a chill glint slipping into her eyes.
He knew his former wife prayed here each year, so he had dragged the children along to ambush her, hoping she would whisper in Nicolas‘ ear and smooth his path to office.
Sadie lifted her eyes to her mother. Eleanor wore an ivory brocade jacket and skirt cut with aus precision, a single pearl pin anchoring the sleek coil of her hair.
Even in such restraint, her cool, regal beauty remained unmistakable. When Quincy pleaded, she did not so much as lift her gaze.
08:34 Wed, 20 Aug
Chapter 64 Storm Signs
Quincy barred her path, pleading, “Even if you refuse to spare a thought for me, at least think of the children! Adonis and the boys will someday sit for the imperial exams. Daisy is already of an age to receive suitors. The higher I rise, the more I can shield them. You are their mother. How can you be so cruel
Curious worshippers drifted closer, hungry for scandal. They remembered that Eleanor had once been the magistrate’s wife before she somehow became The Duchess of Northwatch.
Hearing Quincy’s tirade, they cast her as a woman willing to abandon husband and children for luxury, careless even of her own blood so long as she could chase pleasure.
Fingers pointed and tongues hissed, calling her a siren who lured men into ruin.
Yet beneath the swarm of slander, Eleanor stood untouched, as though none of it concerned her.
Eleanor’s voice was glacial. “Have you finished? Then leave.”
Quincy’s voice cracked: “You… You truly have nothing to say to me?”
Eleanor answered, “No.”
Color drained from Quincy’s cheeks, and resentment filled his stare.
Twenty years…
Twenty years before, he had pulled her from a river, and from that day onward, she never warmed to him.
Struck by her beauty, he turned gratitude into shackles and forced her to marry him.
He believed a wedding band would teach her obedience, yet she kept her hands from all chores, refused his company, and tried again and again to escape.
Convinced children might bind her, he compelled her to bear five.
Even that failed. She would not so much as cradle the infants they shared.
Daisy stepped forward, her voice timid yet resolute. “Mother, you and Father have been married twenty years. Does none of it matter to you? Is The Duke truly so wonderful? Beyond his rank and power, what can he offer that Father cannot? It seems to me The Duke only covets your beauty, while Father loves you with his whole heart. Life together need not be endless bloom and blazing fire. Living in simplicity is the best.” Voices rose among the spectators. “Miss Daisy is truly sensible. She understands what grown–ups cannot.”
Another person chimed in, “I heard she studied the classics from childhood. This must be what learning is for.”
Praise fluttered around Daisy, and she lowered her gaze with studied modesty while resolve hardened in her
eyes.
Adonis straightened his spine and declared, “Daisy is right. Mother, I may be Father’s eldest son, but your blood flows in me too. You cannot walk away after giving birth. You have a duty to help forge our futures.”
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