House of Salt and Sorrows(54)

Morella’s breath caught in her throat, and she nodded, averting her gaze to the window. “I wish Ortun was here.”

“He’ll be home tomorrow, I think.”

When he’d left for Vasa, we’d all lined up in the foyer to wish him goodbye. He’d walked right by me, his jaw set in a tense clench.

Morella’s eyes grew pained. “He feels so far away.”

“Even if he was at home, I bet he’d be in the hallway, hiding with Roland,” I told her. “He gets rather squeamish about pregnancy things. I remember Mama teasing him he could stare down a forty-foot wave in nothing but a dinghy without a tremble, but a little bout of morning sickness was enough to send him racing for cover.”

She smoothed her hair back. “I’m just so tired. Would one of you mind helping me back to bed?”

Rosalie wrapped her arms around Morella as they shuffled back to the canopied bed. Morella crawled into the fresh sheets, pulling the duvet up to her chin.

“I just need to rest,” she murmured.

“Do you want us to stay with you while you fall asleep?” Though most of her color was back, her eyes were bright, and I worried there was a fever.

Her eyes fluttered up to the top of the canopy, staring at the great octopus making up the bed frame. Her jaw quivered as she studied it.

“Morella?” I prompted.

“I don’t need you all to stay, but…there is something I wonder if I could ask you to do?”

I sat beside her, careful not to jostle her stomach. “Anything.”

“The Churning Festival is only days away.” She pressed her lips together. “There’s still so much work to be done. I planned on getting to it once I felt better, but I’ve just been so tired the last few weeks. I…I feel as if it’s going to be a disaster. I don’t know how to do any of this. Plan the meals, plan the entertainment. I haven’t even assigned rooms for the guests yet.” She took my hand in hers. “Annaleigh…I just don’t know what to do.”

I heard a low tsking sound from the door. Camille had returned and was leaning against the frame, listening.

“We’ll help, of course. Do you have a list of the guests?”

She nodded. “On my writing desk.”

Honor scurried after it and brought the sheets of paper to the bed.

“Cook and I have gone over the dinner for First Night itself, but there are still the other meals to plan. I’m in over my head, I’m afraid. I’ve never planned anything on this scale.” Morella laughed, but it sounded small and sad. “I’ve never been to anything like this before. I don’t know what’s expected. I don’t want to embarrass Ortun.”

“Don’t worry a thing about it,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “You get some rest now. We’ll go downstairs and take care of everything.”

Camille immediately turned on her heel and left. One by one, everyone else nodded and offered little words of encouragement before heading out. Verity backtracked to the bed to give Morella a kiss on the cheek. I gathered up the papers and her notes and turned to leave.

Glancing over my shoulder, I smiled, seeing Morella ensconced in the bed, holding her belly and talking to the babies. How terrifying to feel as though you might lose something so precious.

“Annaleigh?” Verity called after me.

Morella looked up, surprised she wasn’t alone. She offered me a small smile, bidding me farewell.



* * *





After retrieving my robe and running a comb quickly through my hair, I headed down to the Blue Room. There were several familiar names in Morella’s notes. Sterland Henricks and Regnard Forth topped the guest list.

They were two of Papa’s oldest friends and captains under the Thaumas banner. All three attended the naval academy together as young men. It would be good to see them. They were like uncles to us.

There were a few other captains, whom I knew in name only, and a pair of Papa’s clerks from the Vasa offices. I wondered if they would still be welcome after the incident Papa was currently trying to fix.

Running my fingers over the last name on the list, I froze. “Captain Walter Corum.”

Cassius’s father! He must have sent in his response before getting sick. But perhaps the tinctures Cassius picked up had worked and he’d be ready to travel next week. Cassius might even have to accompany him as caretaker.

I looked up and down the corridor, imagining Cassius walking it. Cassius roaming the grounds of Highmoor. Cassius and I sneaking into the solarium to steal kisses under the cover of an enormous frond…

I pushed the thoughts aside. There was a stack of papers to go through, and we’d need all the time we could get. I could lose myself in fevered daydreams later, once everything was managed.

Turning into the Blue Room, I stopped short. My sisters were scattered throughout the room, as if arranged by a portraitist trying to capture everyone in the very best light.

All of them.

Camille stood by the piano, her hand resting on the lid. Rosalie and Ligeia were on the love seat, with arms cozily linked behind their backs. Lenore stood behind them, her fingers perched on Rosalie’s shoulder. Honor posed at the window with an open book in hand, though it was upside down. Mercy and Verity were sprawled out near the fire on a thick rug. They appeared to be deep in a game of jacks, but nothing lay before them.