Page 186 of House of Roots and Ruin
“Where…where are they all? The…bodies.”
“They were taken to the crypt. Beneath Chauntilalie. I don’t fully understand the People of the Petals’ traditions for burial, but I’m told the Sisters of the Ardor are handling all of the necessary arrangements. Everything will be properly done.”
“And Alex—does he know all this? Is he…awake?”
She nodded.
“Can I see him?”
She hesitated. “I don’t know how we’d get you to his room.”
“There’s no shortage of wheelchairs in this manor,” I offered, trying to smile.
Her lips rose in a half-hearted echo. “He’s not in the best of shape right now, Verity. He needs lots of rest. As do you.”
“I know. I’m sure of that, but…I need to see him.”
She smoothed out the cotton duvet covering me, running her fingers over the embroidered vines stitched across its hem. “You really love him, then?”
I nodded.
“I wasn’t sure, when I first received the wedding notice. I wondered if it was some sort of arrangement.”
“It started that way, as far as his parents were concerned.But…I love him. And he loves me. So, so fiercely. He’s a good person. I know we’ll both take care of one another, make each other so happy.”
Camille mulled this over. “I thought perhaps you were trying to punish me, trying to show you didn’t need my approval, my input.” She let out a slow sigh. “I’m so sorry for how I acted before you left…how I’ve been acting, for years. I don’t know if I will ever be able to fully explain it, if I’ll ever be able to make you see…I truly was doing it all for you, Verity. I wanted to protect you. I wanted to keep you safe.”
I lifted my hand, indicating the cast. “It does appear that you had good reasoning to worry. This isn’t exactly how I dreamed my first trip from home would go.”
Her smile was small but there. “Will you forgive me?”
I stared at her for a long moment, taking in the dark circles beneath her eyes, the lines of worry pinching at her face. “Will you forgiveme? Running off in the middle of the night—all those things I said to you before I left…I didn’t…I just didn’t know how else to do it. To take hold of my life.”
“I’m sorry I made you feel as though that was the only option out.”
Tears bit at my eyes. “I was mad at first. So mad. But then…scared.” I took a deep breath. “I’d play out all these conversations in my head…. I’d start and stop so many letters to you. I was so scared I’d broken something between us. Really, truly shattered it. I knew you hated me and I knew you were right to do so.”
She pressed a careful kiss to the top of my forehead. “You’re my sister, you goose. Even on our worst days, I could never hate you. I’ll never not love you. Never,” she repeated firmly.
“I love you.”
She studied me for a long moment. “You really want to go see Alexander?”
I nodded fervently, even though it made my head feel strange and disjointed.
Camille squeezed my hand before pushing herself off the bed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Alex’s room was just down the hall from mine, but as Camille slowly pushed me there in a borrowed wheelchair, the journey felt miles long.
My heart ached as I spotted a familiar figure approach us, shuffling in and out of visibility.
“I thought I heard something,” Constance whispered, caught in another of her loops, unaware of anything but the past. “I think someone’s following us.”
She flickered out of sight, only to reappear at the end of the corridor, retracing her steps.
“I thought I heard something…”
“When the Sisters of the Ardor come,” I mentioned, reaching my hand up to still Camille, “you need to make sure they put seeds on the rose mounds. Their sacred seeds. At the side of the manor. It’s very important.”
