Strike at Midnight(98)
“Who was it?” I asked, but I may have growled it out of my mouth instead of speaking.
“Now, now,” she said, waving her hand in front of me. “Let’s not get hostile.” She patted her knees. “Before we begin, I need to let you know that I have a very important and volatile gift that I must use carefully in this world. One that must not be taken lightly, and one that doesn’t always get me well-liked.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I see too much at times, and with that information, I must play the hand that is meant and dealt to get things moving forward. That’s all I can say about it.”
“Look, Mia,” I said, more confused than ever at her spontaneous visit and cryptic words. “Just tell me what you came here to say.”
“Very well,” she said, straightening the skirts of her gown. “I saw and I acted, and I was the one to anonymously alert the authorities about you.”
“What?” I shouted after the brief shock subsided. “Why?”
“Like I said, it was time for me to play the hand and move things forward.” She shuffled forth in her seat and held my gaze with the most serious of looks I had ever seen from her. “The prince crossed your path for a reason, yet you still deny the gift that has been given. With what I saw, I needed to put you at a crossroads where you would either move forward in his direction or step out of a place where you had tied yourself down with alcohol and self-loathing. Action was needed for you to take a step, Rella Rosewood, and I am only the executioner of such an action. Everything else is your decision from this moment forth.”
What exactly was she trying to say to me? Had she accidentally come across the castle’s liquors supply and had a taste before coming to see me?
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say,” I said, only understanding the part where she said she had been the one to put me in harm’s way. “They were going to have me hanged for Dumpty’s murder. Was that your intention too?”
“Of course not,” she said, her look of smugness returning as she sat back in her seat. “I would never have let it get that far. But you needed the chance to see the prince in his own environment, to see him as he truly was, so you could look beyond your own fears, your own prejudice. My interference has given you that.”
“And what about everything else that has happened?” I asked, the anger starting to boil within me at her audacity. “The duke, the kidnappings, Lord Peacock?”
“All of their own doing, I can assure you. I am a witch who can only interfere when needed. Not before, and not after.” She studied me a moment before continuing. “I told you not to trust me, and I believe Briar told you the same. I am someone who has a purpose for something greater, and with that comes many burdens. People aren’t always happy to be shown what would make them happy. Sometimes their pride becomes too valuable a shield.”
Emotion welled up within me from her words, and I didn’t know where the hell it had come from. All I knew was that she was right, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the fact that she had played me this way and was sitting there looking like she had the right of it. How dare she?
“Think what you wish of me, child,” she said, and she tilted her head to look upon me with some affection. “I did what I had to do.” She grabbed my hand and leaned close once more. “Know you are worthy of the gift you have been given in regards to him and this kingdom. Know you are deserving of it. But only you can decide if you are going to throw that gift away or risk opening it. No one—not even me—can take that final choice away from you.”
She patted my hand before releasing it, and then she stood up from the chair. “I must be on my way,” she said as she swept herself off towards the door. “Just know your prince will be here very soon, and a decision must be made either way for his sake. Make the right choice, Rella,” she added as she opened the door. “Not just the easy one.”
*
Mia had been right about one thing. It wasn’t long after she had left that Prince Andrew came knocking on the door and walked into the study. He found me seated on the same chair where Mia had left me because I hadn’t moved an inch since her departure.
“Rella?” he asked as he approached me with caution. He sat on the chair that Mia had vacated and looked upon me with concern. “Are you well?”
“Yes,” I said, blinking myself back to reality to rid him of his worry. “Did you need me for anything?”
“I suppose I did,” he said, then he gave me a light smile that contradicted the flicker of fear that hovered in his eyes. “I have some news.”
“News?” I asked, trying to work around the emotions that were still reeling around in me from Mia’s revelations.
“We’ve just been informed that Lord Peacock has been arrested and Sir Raymond is escorting him back here to the dungeons with your friend, Marcel. They found him hiding out in Lord Dumpty’s house of all places, and he broke down with a confession when they had him cornered. He claimed that he didn’t mean to kill Lord Dumpty, but the man had been snooping in Peacock’s desk and found correspondence that highlighted his part in the affair of the kidnapping of the duke. Dumpty wanted to leave and tell the authorities, but Peacock panicked and smashed the poker into his skull.” He sighed. “I thought you should know that it’s all over now. You’re free to go if you so wish.”