Page 34 of Tis The Season for Secrets
As per our agreement, your daughter Juliet will be provided for as a Frost, but she will never know of Yule, or our history. As a guardian, you swore an oath to protect Yule’s secret and obey its laws – an oath you and my foolish son broke. Going forward, I hope you will honour it and leave my son and granddaughter in peace. As hard as itmust be to leave your child, I hope you will put her needs before your own. I wish you and my son had considered the weight of your actions before engaging in a relationship that could only result in heartbreak and a daughter losing her mother.
I hope you will heed my advice, and accept the situation as it is. If not, and you try to reach out to my son or your child, I will be required to report your infraction to Mr Klaus and the Council of Yule. Let us all find some peace.
Reginald Frost
P.S. I have enclosed a photo, taken on Juliet’s first birthday. I hope it will bring you some closure to see that she is healthy and well looked after.
Juliet’s heart threatened to fall out of her chest as she read the letter again and again until the words bled together.Why did my grandfather threatenmy mom into staying away from me when he never treated me as anything other than a burden?
There was clearly more to her mom’s relationship with her father than she knew. And her mom was or had been a guardian of Yule, like Will!Am I making the same mistake my parents made?Pacing back and forth, she wondered why Will had approached her in that bar if he’d known he was risking his own banishment by helping her.Wasn’t he making the same mistake as her mom, breaking his oath to Yule because he was getting emotionally involved with a Frost? All the questions gave her a tension headache. Biting her lip, she turned to the other letters. There were a few shorter notes that she almost immediately realised must have been written by her parents. Heart hammering at seeing her mom’s handwriting, she picked them up and read them next.
Dear Jeremy,
I’m sorry, but we must end our relationship. Regardless of our feelings for each other, it’s against the law and I never should have revealed myself to you that day. I know you feel that we can overcome Yule’s laws, but if it were discovered that we are in a relationship, it would be my job to erase your memory. The thought of losing that day and every day since would be a painful fate. The 22nd of December 1995 will always be imprinted on my heart, along with the time we’ve spent together; I don’t wish for you to forget me, to forget us. The time we spent together has been the happiest time of my life. As hard as it is, we have to focus on how lucky we’ve been to have it. If we’re discovered, the harm done will only be to ourselves.
Forgive me.
E x
Juliet tracedthe letters as if she could feel an echo of her mom’s anguish. Had this been before she knew about being pregnant, or after? She moved on to the next letter.
Dear Eloise,
You haven’t responded to my last two letters. It breaks my heart to think that you’ve returned to Yule and that I might never see you again. I’ll keep writing to this address until I get a response – please don’t leave like this. Just come to me, and we can figure this out. We can petition the Council of Yule. I can go with you and we can plead our case. I’ll move to Yule, I’ll give up the Frost name, anything you want.
Yours eternally,
J x
Juliet read it again, stunned.Could that really be my father pleading, willing to give everything up for my mom?He sounded like an entirely different person to the man she knew. Why hadn’t Eloise agreed? She ripped open the last letter from her mom.
Dear Jeremy,
It breaks my heart to read your words. Before I’m reassigned, I’ll go to our place at ten pm on the 7th January and we can say our goodbyes. That’s all I can give you; please understand. I’m trying to do what’s best for everyone, but please don’t think my heart doesn’t ache as much as yours.
E x
Juliet sat backon her heels, her heart aching. The date of the ‘one last goodbye’ was roughly ten months before she’d been born. If her dad had let her mom go when she’d first written, without that final meeting, Juliet never would’ve existed. She couldn’t help but feel like her conception had been the final nail in their coffin.
Underneath the letters was what looked like documents relating to the Frost family’s banishment. They didn’t tell her much, but it was enough to confirm what Will and Lyla had told her. After skimming through a bunch of legal jargon, the page marked ‘Final Verdict’ was the only page she could make heads or tails of.
The Frost Family are charged with crimes against Yule and will be banished from the villagehenceforth. Their descendants will also carry the penalty of their crime. No legacy will be granted clemency, and their ancestorial Bell granting them access to Yule and citizenship will be stripped from them. However, to help the family assimilate to the OUTSIDE, and as a show of respect for the good deeds of the past Frost ancestors, all funds and assets will be transferred to OUTSIDE establishments. In accordance with our laws, a guardian will be assigned to watch over the family to make sure they follow the laws of secrecy. All contact will be prohibited. Any contact will result in memory erasure, monetary penalties, or imprisonment.
Juliet gaspedat the last line.Could Will go to prison? Does Yule have a prison?She’d hoped the memory erasure was just a figure of speech, but it certainly didn’t sound like it. She dreaded to think of what was being risked to reunite her with her mom. She ran her fingers over the faded signatures of the Frost ancestors she’d never known, and the names of those binding the sentence. She understood punishing those responsible for committing a crime, but condemning the following generations of her family for something they’d had no part in felt extreme. She needed to know more, but she’d read everything in the chest.What could their crime have been, to receive such a terrible punishment? Theft? Murder?She shuddered. It would have been helpful if Nana Rose or her mom had given her a little more information on what exactly had happened all those years ago so she didn’t jump to conclusions. She guessed her dad might have more letters at the estate, if he hadn’t destroyed them to cover up the forbidden relationship.
“Why are you still up?”Margot arrived home at three am after her night out with Harvey to find her sitting at the kitchen counter, rubbing her tired eyes. Juliet couldn’t believe the night had passed so quickly.
She shoved the papers under her thigh. “Couldn’t sleep. How was your dinner with the persistent gentleman?” She couldn’t believe how many hours she’d spent lost in the letters, dissecting every word.
Margot poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot Juliet had been nursing. “Persistent is an understatement – and no, we didn’t sleep together. It was all business; we were in the dining room of a hotel he owns for hours, just talking. I didn’t even realise it was just us! He has a way of hypnotising me with his mouth – something about his lips – but I refuse to be tempted. Signing him as a client would be a great fuck you to the family business. However, he wants me to work for his company exclusively, and the money he’s offering is insane. I’m not surprised by either point, since he does have a rather ruthless reputation in business.”
Juliet remembered what Fiona had said in the bathroom about Harvey Bryce being the type of man you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of. On the other hand, the biggest mistake anyone could make was underestimating Margot.
“So why are you pouting? At least you wouldn’t have to worry about money or having to take on clients you detest,” she pointed out, surprised Margot wasn’t more excited.
“You know I don’t mix pleasure and business. If I work for him, I can’t fall for that damn rugged smile. And thosecheekbones – swoon. I could barely listen to his pitch!” Margot plonked down on the chair opposite her.
“Seems like we’re both torn between our hearts and minds,” Juliet muttered as Margot drained her mug.
