Heartless(20)

“What for?” Cath struggled to extricate herself. “I left the ball early and came right home. I didn’t think you’d be so upset. I wasn’t feeling well and…”

“No, no, darling, it’s fine, it’s just—” She dissolved into sobs as Cath’s father appeared over them, pressing a hand to his heart. His face was slack with relief.

“What’s going on?” said Cath, spotting Mary Ann, too, in the doorway. “What’s happened?”

“We didn’t know where you were,” her mother cried, “and there was … there was…”

“An attack,” her father answered, his voice somber.

Cath stared at him, trying to read his expression in the unsteady lamplight. “An attack?”

“Not just any attack!” Her mother pulled back and squeezed Cath’s shoulders. “A Jabberwock!”

Her eyes widened.

“It attacked the castle,” said her father, looking strained and exhausted. “Shattered one of the windows and took two of the courtiers right from the ballroom floor. Then it just flew off with them…”

Cath pressed a hand to her chest. The Jabberwock was a creature of nightmares and myth, of tales told by firelight to frighten little children into good behavior. It was a monster said to live amid the twining and tangled Tulgey Wood, far away in the country of Chess.

As far as Cath knew, no Jabberwock had been sighted in Hearts for countless generations. Stories told of them being hunted by great knights centuries ago, until the last of the Jabberwock was slain by a king who carried the mythical Vorpal Sword.

“It was e-enormous,” her mother stammered, “and terrifying, and I didn’t know where you were!” Her sobs overtook her again.

“It’s all right, Mama.” Cath squeezed her tight. “I’ve been home all night.”

“And still dreaming, I see,” said her father.

Her mother pulled back and gawked at the thorny rosebush. “Not another one. What is going on in that head of yours?”

Cath gulped. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where they’re coming from.”

Her mother slumped back and rubbed the tears still caught in her eyes. “Good heavens, Catherine. If you’re going to dream, try to dream up something useful.”

Cath knotted her fingers in the blanket. “Well, we can have fresh rose water, at least, and maybe I’ll bake up some rose macarons—”

“No, no, no. I don’t mean useful as in things you can bake with or cook with. I mean useful. Like a crown!”

“A crown?”

Her mother hid her face behind her thick fingers. “Oh, this night has shredded my poor old nerves. First that awful Cheshire Cat appears right when the King is getting ready to make his announcement, then you’re nowhere to be found, then the Jabberwock—” She shuddered. “And now a rose tree growing up in the middle of my house. Honestly, Catherine!”

“I don’t mean to argue, Mama, but a crown doesn’t really do much of anything. Just sits on one’s head, quite useless. Oh, I suppose it sparkles.”

“Focus, child. Don’t you see? The King intended to ask for your hand in marriage. Tonight!”

Mary Ann gasped, and Cath felt like her own feigned surprise was a bit sluggish. “Why, what an absurd suggestion,” she said, chuckling. “The King? Certainly not.”

The Marquess awkwardly cleared his throat, startling her mother, who spun to him with flapping arms. “Yes, yes, we’re done with you, darling,” she said. “Go on to bed. We need to have a mother-to-daughter chat.”

Her father looked grateful to be sent away. Dark circles were beneath his eyes as he leaned over Cath and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Good night, Papa.”

Mary Ann curtsied to him as he left, then cast an excited smile in Cath’s direction. “I’ll just … bring up some tea?” she suggested. “To calm everyone’s nerves.”

“Thank you, Mary Ann,” said the Marchioness. She waited until she and Cath were alone before taking Cath’s hands into both of hers. “My dear, sweet, stupid child,” she started, and Cath’s shoulders tensed in defiance. “It is not absurd at all. The King means to make you his bride. Now, I am overjoyed that you made it home safely, but that doesn’t excuse your absence, not on such an occasion as this. Where were you?”

Memories of chocolate caramels and unlaced corsets flashed through Catherine’s mind.

She blinked, all innocence. “As I said, I was feeling poorly and thought I should leave so as not to cause a scene. I didn’t want to interrupt the lovely time you and Papa seemed to be having, so I took one of the royal carriages. Besides, I think you’re mistaken about the King.”

Her mother’s face turned red as a cabbage. “I am not mistaken, you doltish girl. You should be engaged by now.”

“But His Majesty has never shown me any preference. Well, other than for my baking. But even if he had, we’ve had no courtship. No time to—”

“He is the King! What need does he have of courtship? He asks and you say yes, that is all the courtship required.” She heaved an exhausted sigh. “Or, it would have been. Now that you disappeared at the most inopportune moment, who knows what’s to become of his affections? He could be jilted—his attachment may be permanently severed!”