Page 74 of Feed Your Fiends

“But she never reconciled with you,” I ask.

“She did, for a few months and then when it was my turn to get married, she cut all ties again.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because she’d carried out our parent’s wishes of marrying for her bloodline and wealth. Our parents sacrificed so much to get us to where we are. She couldn’t marry a commoner. I couldn’t either. My husband, Silas—I’m sorry he isn’t here, by the way. He’s running late from work. Anyway, Silas was wealthy by then, but he’d come from very little. That was okay because Marisol had already secured our status. So long as my husband was wealthy, his surname wasn’t so important. It’s like I was the…”

“Spare?” I ask. “The second prince?”

She nods with a sad smile. “Precisely. The crown prince gets the most pressure. I was just the spare, and since the elder did her duty, I was given far more grace. More favour to do as I pleased. I don’t think your mother ever forgave me for the allowance. She thought it grossly unfair.”

“So she wanted you to have an arranged marriage like her?” I ask. “To be miserable like she was?”

“She thought it was my penance for the betrayal. When I didn’t get it, she was never satisfied. She loathed me for the life she always wanted. I fell in love and wealth. She fell into status.”

“After her first taste of love, it was cruel,” Elle says almost to herself.

“Very cruel. She resented me. In a way, I resented myself, but…I was in love. I’d had my first taste, too, and I was happy. Even though I could tell Mari was bitter, I couldn’t let go of my future for her sake.” She squeezes Sylo’s knee, and he stares at Elle.

Again.

“Like you said, Elle. This slice of land I have with my family is like a fairytale. One she didn’t think I’d deserved.” She looks at me. “That she didn’t think either of us deserved.”

“Did you custom build it?” Elle asks, and for a second, everyone just stares at her, but I know what my baby’s trying to do.

“Um, a restoration, actually,” Delphine smiles, grateful for the mood lightener. “It was an abandoned estate of an Earl.”

“Twentieth-century, gothic-inspired, right?”

Delphine's eyes light up. “You’re interested in architecture?”

“Since we take so many art history classes at Beaulieu, architecture comes up a lot. Lately, I’m considering it as a career if ballet doesn’t pan out.”

“Since when?” I blurt.

She hadn’t shared that with me.

Secrets, so many secrets she promised not to keep.

“Since life showed me that my dancing path isn’t linear.” She shuffles her boots for emphasis. “Besides, don’t you remember all those renovations I’ve been working on downtown? I’m really interested in design.”

Libellule.

Hale.

“How could I forget,” I say tightly.

She smiles back, but then her eyes fly to the end table beside me. “Is…is that a baby photo of Gant?” she asks, scooping it up.

Delphine’s smile broadens. “Mari never sent me any, but once in a blue moon, they’d pop up in the press.” Her eyes flicker to mine. “I know it’s a bit creepy to have it framed.”

I take the frame from Elle. My head barely passes my mother’s knee in the photo.

She cared enough to frame this little scrap of newspaper? Do they still print newspapers?

“You thought about me since I was two?”

“Since you were born. How could I not? You’re my nephew, my blood. I didn’t consider you any less just because your mother wanted nothing to do with me.” She shrugs. “When our parents died…family became even more important to me. I hoped it’d do the same for Mari. When I had Sylo two years after she had you, I’d hoped she’d let us reunite. I was feeling nostalgic and delusional because of the two-year gap since that’s how far apart we were. But…”

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