by Amy Cross
“Thanks for the dress,” she said, with a faint smile.
“I...” Lost for words, he watched as she made her way over to join him at the table.
“It fits perfectly,” she continued. “I'd ask how you worked out my measurements, but I'm not sure I want to know.” Looking along the table for a moment, she turned back and saw that Edgar was simply staring at her. “Is it too much?” she asked, suddenly worried. “I can go and change back into -”
“No,” he replied, “please... I just...”
She waited for him to continue.
“You're beautiful,” he said after a moment. “I mean, you look beautiful. I mean...”
She smiled, fully aware that she was starting to blush.
“I'm sorry,” he continued. “I didn't mean to embarrass you.”
“So you're planning a party?” she asked, hoping to change the subject. “Well, not a party, but a big meal?”
“Just for the household,” he replied. “There will be no guests from outside the house.”
“I'm a guest from outside the house,” she pointed out.
“I'm not sure that Madeleine or Benjamin will be joining us,” he continued, watching as she made her way past the far end of the table. “It might just be you, me and Nixon.” He sighed. “Damn Nixon.”
“How's Madeleine doing?” she asked. “I wanted to go and see her, but Benjamin said I should wait until tomorrow and I didn't want to put any pressure on her. I don't think he's doing well, either. I've never seen a man look so worried.”
“Madeleine's body will recover,” Edgar replied. “Her mind is another matter.”
“And her eyes?”
“They will grow back, given time.”
“I'm sorry we weren't able to... I mean, that night when Quill was here, I'm sorry we weren't able to do more to stop him. By the time we knew what was happening, it was too late.”
“There was nothing you could have done,” he replied. “Quill is my problem, and mine alone.”
“Have you found him yet?”
“He's still on the island somewhere,” Edgar continued, making his way over to join her. “I'm certain of that. Clearly he's trying to keep out of my way, I imagine he's regathering his strength after everything that has happened, although undoubtedly he is also embarking upon another of his plots against me. I'm the one who should apologize, Kate. I allowed him to trick me, to get into my mind and make me weak. That will not happen again. He is one step ahead of me at the moment, so I shall simply have to move two steps ahead of him.”
“So you have a new plan?”
“I will deal with Quill when the time comes,” he replied, as Jacob entered the room with a tray of champagne glasses. “He will not get past my defenses again.”
Taking a glass, Kate paused for a moment. “It doesn't feel right to drink this,” he told him. “None of this feels right, not when so many people are suffering.”
“You're referring to Madeleine?”
“And Jennifer, and Anna Kazakos. Edgar, I need to -”
“Champagne?” Nixon said as he entered the room. “Don't mind if I do.” Grabbing a glass, he immediately took a sip. “That's good stuff, Edgar. Is it from the crate you were given in Vienna?”
“Paris,” Edgar replied, keeping his eyes fixed on Kate.
“I think I might save mine,” she said, setting her glass down.
“Until we eat?” he asked.
“Until the time is right.”
“I'm starving,” Nixon continued, making his way along the table. “All this worry has really given me an appetite. I haven't eaten since lunch!” He glanced at Kate. “Wow, you're rather done up tonight, aren't you! Did Grethe get her hands on you?”
“Perhaps,” Edgar said quietly, meeting Kate's glance, “this should have been a dinner for just the two of us.”
“Another night,” she told him.
“I can make him go away,” he continued. “I can chase him out with a broom if -”
“Lobster!” Nixon exclaimed, grabbing a claw and biting it open, before stopping and looking over at them. “Sorry, sometimes my lack of manners shows through, doesn't it? Is it just the three of us for dinner, or will the others be joining us? I know Estella wouldn't want to -”
Stopping suddenly, he realized his mistake.
“Sorry,” he added with a frown. “I guess that was just a bad habit. I'm so used to her being here, there still seems to be a bit of a gap, doesn't there?”
“It'll be the three of us,” Edgar told him firmly. “We just -”
“What about us?”
Turning, Edgar saw to his shock that Madeleine and Benjamin were standing in the doorway. Although her eyes were still heavily bandaged and there were scratches on her neck, she'd managed to slip into a tight black dress that covered the bandages around her belly.
“I'm going to assume,” Madeleine continued, as Benjamin led her forward, “that you didn't invite us because you believed that I would be too fragile to attend. Nothing could be further from the truth, dear brother. In fact, I rather relish the idea of getting back to a hint of normality. It's certainly preferable to spending all day, every day flat on my back in that infernal bed, especially when the stitches in my belly keep me from exerting myself.”
“Careful,” Benjamin said, guiding her around the side of the table.
“You should rest,” Edgar told her, clearly concerned. “You're in no fit state to be up and about so soon.”
“Do I smell lobster?” she asked with a smile, stepping forward and bumping into a chair. “Oh, I do! Lobster is my absolute favorite, Edgar! Then again, you've always known that. Thank you so much for putting on such a marvelous feast!”
“This way,” Benjamin said, guiding her toward one of the seats.
Glancing at Edgar, Kate could see the concern in his eyes.
“Looks like the gang's all here,” Nixon said, taking another sip of champagne. “I don't suppose we can get started, can we? I'm so hungry, my belly is starting to rumble, and you know what they say about hungry werewolves, don't you? Definitely not the best dinner companions.”
“I'm fine,” Madeleine whispered, as Benjamin tried to help her to a chair.
“Almost there,” he told her.
“I'm fine!” she hissed, pushing him away before carefully taking a seat. “I'm not an invalid!”
“Of course not,” he replied, “I just...” He paused for a moment, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do next, before sitting next to her.
“Tell me about the room,” Madeleine continued. “How is everyone looking tonight?”
“Very smart,” Benjamin told her, as he glanced at Kate. “Kate in particular. I think maybe Grethe has worked her magic again.”
“For God's sake,” Kate said with a sigh, “how come everyone here knows Grethe so well, and I've only noticed her for the first time tonight?”
“Good old Grethe,” Nixon replied. “She really can work miracles, can't she? Not that you needed a miracle, Kate. Damn it, I've put my paw in my mouth again, haven't I?”
“I need to talk to you later about Anna Kazakos,” Kate told Edgar as he made his way past her. “It's important.”
“It can wait,” he replied.
“But -”
“It can wait!”
She watched as he made his way to the head of the table, and it was clear that something in his demeanor had changed. Madeleine's arrival seemed to have set him on edge.
“I might not be able to see,” Madeleine said after a moment, “but I'm pretty sure I can guess what everyone in the room is doing right now. Benjamin is most likely looking desperately worried, Nixon is certainly drunk by now, Kate's looking at Edgar with her usual expression of concern and desire, and my dear brother is scowling. Come on, guys, sit down and we'll have some fun together. Just because I looked into the gaze of a cold-blooded vampire god and then gouged my own eyes out, that doesn't mean the whole night has to be a downer.”
“
Enough,” Edgar said darkly.
“Madeleine -” Benjamin began.
“Do you all want to see the damage?” Madeleine asked, reaching up to remove the bandages from her eyes. “I'll show you my empty sockets, and then if you're lucky you can see the scar on my belly where my dear brother cut the child from my womb and -”
“Enough!” Edgar shouted.
“Oh, but dear Edgar -”
“Enough!”
Madeleine paused, before slowly a faint smile began to curl across her lips. “Now Edgar has that typical look of fury in his eyes,” she continued, “and Kate's still looking at him, still worried, still yearning. And I'm sure Nixon is just going to deal with it all by getting drunk.”
Stopping as he was about to take another glass of champagne from Jacob's tray, Nixon paused for a moment.
“There is no need to make an exhibition of yourself,” Edgar told his sister firmly. “I'm glad you felt well enough to come down and join us, but I would ask that you're civil and that you refrain from bringing disrespect to our family.”
“Fine,” she muttered, “I'll leave my bandages on. Obviously I wouldn't want to put you all off your food with my abject hideousness.”
“Here,” Benjamin said, setting a piece of lobster on her plate. “I'll help you.”
“Take your seat,” Edgar told Kate. “Please.”
“Where -”
“Right where you're standing.”
Looking down, Kate saw that a place had been laid out for her at one end of the table, directly facing Edgar. During previous dinners, it had been Estella's privilege to take the table's second head, and Kate knew as she sat down that Edgar had chosen this spot for her deliberately, probably as part of a subtle message.
“I will not have this house turned into an asylum,” Edgar said after a moment, as Nixon took a seat. “There has been enough pain and suffering for now, but I can assure you all that never again will I allow someone to strike at the heart of the Le Compte family. Vengeance against Quillian will be swift and brutal, and then things can return to normal. I very much hope that none of you will make the mistake of doubting my word.”
Silence fell upon the room for a moment, before Edgar finally sat down.
“Let the feast begin,” he told them. “And let us speak of better things, and of the future. Our darkest moment has passed, and this house will rise again.”
***
Once dinner was over and the others had retired to the library, Kate made her way along the dark corridor, looking for Edgar. He had excused himself some time earlier and still hadn't returned, and finally she found him standing alone in his study, looking out at the dark island. Something was clearly troubling him, and she couldn't shake the feeling that it was something he'd been keeping to himself, as if – despite all the chaos of the previous few days – he still had to keep back a few secrets.
“I need to talk to you about Anna Kazakos,” she said after a moment.
He turned to her.
“The others are busy,” she continued, making her way over to join him. “Madeleine wanted them to try drinking shots from her empty eye-sockets, but fortunately Benjamin managed to talk her out of it. He's doing his best to temper her wilder instincts, but it's taking a terrible toll on him. I'm worried he might end up collapsing.”
“She's out of control.”
“It's amazing that she's up and about at all,” she pointed out. “After everything she's been through... I don't know how I'd deal with losing a child.” She waited for him to reply. “It must have been hard for you too, having to... do what you did.”
“I had no choice.”
“Still, you -”
“Have you ever had to make a difficult decision,” he continued, “and felt that after, you had been changed?”
“Changed?” she asked. “In what way?”
“There are some things,” he told her, “that a good man just cannot do. If one does those things, one is left to conclude that one is not a good man. I feel that after the events of the other night, and what I had to do to my sister, I might not be the person I thought I was.” He paused. “Kate, I haven't been entirely honest with everyone when it comes to...”
She waited for him to continue. “When it comes to what?”
For a moment, he thought of the boat carrying Cerulesis and the child away from Thaxos.
“Never mind,” he said after a moment. “It's nothing. I just don't know if I can save Madeleine.”
“From herself?”
“From the madness that has gripped her. She has always been difficult, but now...” He paused. “By looking into the eyes of Ashalla, she has been tipped over the edge. She's strong, I've always known that. Very few people would still be capable of stringing together two thoughts after what she's been through, yet she shows signs of retaining at least some of her sanity. Still, I have failed her.”
“You haven't failed anyone.”
“You know that isn't true.” Turning, he looked back out across the island. “When I learned that Quillian had come after me, I allowed my fears to overtake my soul. I cowered, I froze, and I gave him the time he needed to set his plans in motion. I should have struck immediately, I shouldn't have given him time to even catch his breath. Instead, I have failed the people of this island.”
“Most of the people of this island are absolutely fine,” she told him. “Not all of them, though, and that's why I'm here. Edgar, I need your help. I know you have a lot to deal with right now, but Anna Kazakos was taken by a woman who has been working with Quill, and I think she's in an orphanage somewhere on the mainland. Do you have any idea where we can find her?” She waited for a reply, but once again he seemed lost in thought. “The woman apparently has a scar on her face,” she continued, “like a v-shape, with -”
“Elizabeth Eversham,” he replied darkly.
“Is that her name?”
“The girl has been taken to Raven's Briar.” He paused for a moment, before turning to her. “There is no hope of saving her. Tell the Kazakos woman to forget that the child ever existed. I do not believe that any child has ever escaped from that place.”
“Edgar, I just -”
“No child lasts long at Raven's Briar,” he continued. “Trust me, you have no idea what happens to anyone who walks through the door of that place. If you care about Jennifer Kazakos at all, you will encourage her to move on. Her child is lost.”
“We're going to find her,” Kate said firmly. “I'm going to go with Jennifer and -”
“Out of the question. It's not safe for you to leave the island at the moment.”
“It doesn't seem particularly safe to stay.”
“For all we know,” he continued, “Quillian is trying to lure you to Raven's Briar. He always thinks several steps ahead, and I doubt he had the child taken away simply for his own amusement. Trust me, Kate, there's nothing you can do for her now. If you went...” He paused. “The things they do to children at that place are unspeakable. I have long thought that one day I should go and shut it down, but such matters are for the future. Right now, you must remain here.”
“Edgar -”
“It's important,” he said firmly. “I need your advice, Kate, and I need...” He paused again, as if he wasn't sure how to get the words out. “I need your help.”
“My help?”
“I want you to stay at the house.”
“We talked about this -”
“The matter is not up for debate,” he continued. “You will stay here, under my protection, and refrain from going into town, at least while Quill is around. As for the idea of going to find Anna Kazakos, it's completely out of the question. I have failed Madeleine, but I will not fail you.”
“It's not your job to protect me,” she told him.
“You're only human, Kate. The most remarkable human I've ever met, but still only human. If anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself.”
“I still don't need to be protected,”
she continued. “Edgar, that little girl -”
“Forget her. She's lost to Thaxos now, and nothing you do or say will bring her back. I forbid you to entertain this foolish notion for even a moment longer. You must stay here, where I can be certain you're safe.”
She stared at him for a moment, barely able to believe what she was hearing.
“You... forbid me?”
He sighed.
“Seriously?” she continued, unable to contain her irritation a moment longer. “You think you can tell me what I can and can't do?”
“My way of phrasing these things might be archaic,” he told her, “but the meaning behind my words is not. There are dangers enough here on Thaxos, without rushing off to the mainland and inviting more. Kate, I...” He paused for a moment, before leaning closer to kiss her.
“No,” she replied, stepping back.
“No?”
“You don't get to forbid me from doing anything, Edgar. Especially when it's something I know I have to do.”
“Kate -”
“I have to find that little girl,” she said firmly, “and I have to get her back. It's not about what I want, or what I'm supposed to do, or about what you think is right. I get it, you want me to stay here so you can look after me.”
“Precisely.”
“Well, that didn't work out too well for Madeleine, did it?” As soon as the words had left her mouth, she knew they'd been a mistake. “I mean... Edgar, you know what I mean.” She waited for him to reply, but he seemed genuinely shocked by her sentiments. “Edgar, you did your best for Madeleine, and it's not your fault that Quill was able to get to her, but I'm not Madeleine and I can look after myself.”
“You don't even know how to find Raven's Briar,” he said coldly.
“With your help -”
“You will never get my help in this endeavor.”
“Then I'll do it alone.”
“I refuse to let you throw your life away.”