“Would someone kindly explain what this mysterious contract is that everyone except myself seems so intimately acquainted with?” Lady Rivenna’s irritated voice carried from beyond Nirella. As Mariselle peered around her grandmother, she spied Lady Rivenna standing in the adjacent room, similarly disheveled, with arms crossed firmly over her chest. She wondered briefly if this was the first time the formidable proprietress of The Charmed Leaf wasnotthe first to be privy to the machinations occurring within her own family circle.
“Let me explain,” Evryn said with a sigh, walking out of the room.
After a brief hesitation, Lady Nirella inclined her head, signaling that she and Mariselle should follow.
“Lady Mariselle and I discovered this cottage during one of our—” Evryn paused, clearing his throat, “—nighttime excursions.”
Both grandmothers’ eyebrows shot up in perfect synchronization.
“We were racing each other on pegasi,” he clarified hastily.
At this, they looked even more horrified.
“I suppose that explains the unconventional choice of attire,” Lady Nirella muttered, eyeing Evryn’s riding gear with distaste.
“In any case, we found ourselves here, at Windsong Cottage. When our hands touched the door—Mariselle’s was cut, mine scraped—the door opened, and we discovered a contract inside. A binding magical agreement stipulating that Dreamland would remain sealed until heirs of both families willingly consented to its restoration. The contract clearly stated that thesignatories’ blood would activate it when freely given alongside a sworn oath.”
“And you both … what? Accidentally swore an oath?” Lady Rivenna asked incredulously.
“Uh, yes. In the heat of argument. As one does.”
Lady Rivenna shook her head, muttering something that included the word ‘fools.’
“This contract,” Evryn added with a pointed look at Mariselle’s grandmother, “was signed by Nirella Brightcrest and Valenrik Rowanwood.”
At the mention of these two names, Lady Rivenna’s gaze shot instantly to Lady Nirella, her eyes filling with betrayal. “You drew up this contract with my husband, and neither of you ever bothered to mention it me?”
“You and I were not exactly speaking to one another, were we?” Lady Nirella said primly.
“I cannot imagine what Rik’s excuse was,” Lady Rivenna muttered, directing her look of betrayal at the oak table now.
“I always wondered if he told you about it,” Mariselle’s grandmother said softly. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think either of us believed that any Brightcrest and Rowanwood heir would ever agree to it.” Her gaze shifted back to Mariselle then. “And I should note that we did not specify the exact nature of the binding mark. Curious that it should take the particular pattern it took.”
“Indeed.” Lady Rivenna crossed her arms and directed her gaze at her grandson. “So this ‘soulbond’ the two of you claimed to have suddenly developed—this ‘love’ you apparently have for one another—is all a complete lie?”
“No!” Mariselle and Evryn blurted out at the same time, their eyes immediately finding one another across the room.
“Well, it was at first,” Mariselle corrected. “But … things have changed.”
Evryn gave her a small smile. “Things have most certainly changed.”
Lady Rivenna groaned with dramatic distaste. Then she rolled her shoulders, straightened, and very firmly said, “Evryn, it is time we left.”
Mariselle watched as Evryn faced his grandmother and very simply said, “No.”
Lady Rivenna blinked, then fixed him with a glare that could have silenced an entire flock of gossip birds. “Evryn.”
“More than five decades, Grandmother. More thanfifty years.” Evryn’sgaze slid to Lady Nirella, then back to his grandmother. “Have you not hated each other for long enough?”
Lady Nirella drew herself up. “You do not know what you speak of?—”
“Then tell us!” he roared, throwing his hands up. “All these cryptic statements, these vague allusions. We are the ones who bear the weight of your hatred. A feud whose origins remain shrouded in secrecy while its poison continues to shape our lives!”
Lady Nirella huffed. “Now is not the time. Mariselle is still recovering, and we?—”
“I’m perfectly fine, Grandmother,” Mariselle said quietly, “and I shall remain here until this matter is thoroughly resolved.”
“You will do no such thing,” her grandmother told her. “You and I?—”
