HER
I have only a moment to compose myself. Luckily, I've had practice.
A smile, fake but convincing, lights up my face.
"Lady Anna!"
I know this is the safest option out of everyone who stands before me. Adah knows exactly why I left, every horrible detail. Lady Anna received the slightly less real version, but enough that she knows I didn't abandon everyone for no reason.
I see suspicion on her face. But then it lights into a smile brighter than any summer day.
"Laura!"
She's on me in a moment, slender arms enveloping me with surprising strength. She's taller than me now, and has become even more beautiful.
Pulling away, I catch Mr. Stephens and Mrs. Hobbs' eyes. I incline my head respectfully, and they respond stiffly, but not rudely.
It's Aleksi I can't face. He stands further back, behind the group.
Before I have time to protest, Lady Anna is ushering me upstairs into the sitting room, calling over her shoulder for tea to be brought up.
I sit stiffly in an ornate chair, in a room far too grand. She fits in wonderfully, moving with preternatural grace, blending in with the soft glow of the evening sun.
It smells of fresh cut grass and the cleaner we used to use on the floor. The same as three years ago. I shouldn't remember this.
"When Aleksi told me you were here I nearly fainted!" She floats to the couch next to me, sitting with such grace it takes me a second to respond.
"I know my coming was rather abrupt…" I smile apologetically.
"You need not feel sorry!" She leans towards me and grabs my hands, all earnestness. "I am overjoyed to see you, Laura."
Something soft unfurls in my chest at my new knowledge. Time has not changed her for the worse.
"Am I…" For the first time, she hesitates. "Am I to assume then that all the things that sent you away are now resolved?"
I wince. A part of me wishes desperately to lie, but in the face of her gentleness, I force out the truth.
"No, my situation remains unchanged."
She leans back, sadness clouding her eyes. We remain quiet for a moment, but I watch realization strike her, and she leans forward once more.
Her grip on my hands tighten, biting into my skin.
"You are not safe here. Why have you risked it?"
Concern cracks her voice.
"It is a risk. But I had to come check on Amber."
She nods somberly.
"I keep trying to insist on our paying for a doctor, but Amber remains unmoved."
"I heard."
"You're leaving again, aren't you."
I smile, finally letting some of my sadness show on my face.
She stands, frustrated in a way I've never seen her before. Huffing, she stalks around the room, and it almost brings a smile to my face.
Some of her youth still shines through.
After a while of this, she turns to me, looking determined.
"Stay. Work here."
My heart lurches.
"Lady Anna—"
She rushes over, stopping me by sitting on the small table across from me.
"Listen, Laura, we will tell everyone you now go by a different name because you are married."
I flinch at her observation, this is part of the plan she was never made aware of. She does not know it is a lie.
"We will tell everyone to be discreet." She nods, becoming more and more convinced by her plan.
It's hard not to let her words spark hope in me.
It wouldn't work.
I'm shaking my head already, but before I say anything, she breaks in once again.
"Oh." The sadness in her voice sends confusion through me. She smiles sadly at me. "You must want to return to your husband."
I wasn't going to tell her, I really wasn't. But I hate to see her sad, or think for a minute I would not stay here if I didn't think it was impossible.
"This is only a safety measure, Lady Anna." I hold up my hand, adorned with the ring I picked out from a small market stall the first day I arrived.
Her face lights up again instantly.
"Perfect! Oh Laura, please stay. At least until Amber gets better."
A few months. With the money, it will only be a few months until Amber recovers. A few months to say the goodbyes I was never able to.
HIM
I lean against the wall in the stairwell, my breath heaving.
"What were you thinking?" Adah yells at me, the Slovakranian words bouncing off the walls.
"I was thinking everyone here deserves an explanation, including you." I glare at her, my words harsh. "Or so I thought."
She winces, looking more tired than I've seen her in years.
"Tell me the truth."
She just looks at me.
My muscles tremble from how tightly they're coiled.
"Did you know where she was?"
Defeat pulls her shoulder forwards, her only answer a small nod.
I nod, blowing out a breath. I swallow the angry words that bubble up my throat.
"When did you find out where she was?"
She meets my eyes again, looking confused. So very tired.
"Aleksi…"
A sinking feeling sends ice through my veins.
"How long?"
The pause is too long. I can feel the small fissure that had been growing between us widen into a chasm.
"I was the one that helped her leave."
We stand there, looking into each other's eyes.
I press my thumb against the scar on my palm, the one from fixing her sewing shears years ago. It throbs now, like a pulse.
Words pelt my brain, horrible things I want to yell at her.
I swallow them all.
I only push past her and pray she knows me well enough not to follow.
—
Everyone is gathered in the servants' hall, even a haggard looking Elliot. I stand near the corner, leaning against the wall and running through everything that's happened today. The room is so quiet, we all hear the pair of steps descending down the stairs.
It's not any easier the third time, seeing her. Lady Anna stands next to her, smiling serenely, but I can't tear my gaze away from Laura. She avoids meeting my eyes and my stomach clenches.
Collectively, the room stands, holding their breath.
Lady Anna finally clears her throat, breaking the silence.
"As you all know, Amber will be unable to come back to work for the foreseeable future." She shoots a sympathetic look at Elliot, who bows his head. "Mrs. Prescott here has been kind enough to, at great personal cost of her own, agree to fill in while Amber is healing."
I hear an intake of breath and look to see a scowling, pale Adah. My jaw clenches so hard my teeth audibly clack together.
This means I have a few months to make her explain. To answer every question that has haunted me for three years. Maybe I'll finally be free of her.
Mrs. Prescott.
I knew, and yet the words cut into me, far more than I'd ever admit.
When everyone begins to move, thinking her announcement over, I follow like a sheep. Being in the same room as her burns me like I'm standing too close to a fire. Before I can escape, Lady Anna breaks in once again.
"Oh, and, since being married she now goes by Beth Prescott."
Everyone seems to do a double-take, reevaluating her. I just blink.
Her eyes finally meet mine, hesitant. Pitiful. A bitter taste floods my mouth. I don't want anyone's pity. No one seems to care, though, as the whole room throws me meaningful looks. As if I'm some abandoned puppy. My nails dig into my palms.
Even though I'm censured by the worried looks, my mind is preoccupied with a far more important question.
What happened to you, Limonskiy?