Initium (The Nocte Trilogy 2.50)

The apple never falls far from the tree.

“Olivia,” Eleanor greets me with a single nod of her head.

“Eleanor,” I answer, and I can’t help it that my palms get sweaty. She glances at me, a slight hint of humor in her steely eyes. It must amuse her to intimidate everyone.

“Have you been out?”

The answer is obvious, as my feet are wet, and I nod.

“Yes, I was in town for a bit.”

Her mouth is pinched in disapproval. “Richard has been hunting for you.”

A wave of dread floods me at the mere thought of my betrothed.

Pale, with icy eyes and cold hands. The only thing colder is his heart.

His bitterness pulses through his veins and chills his blood with unhappiness.

“Very well,” I tell Eleanor. “I’ll find him.”

I turn and head toward Richard’s wing, the wing I’ll have to share with him when we marry. I must force my feet to move because they don’t truly want to carry me even one step closer to him. But before I know it, I’m standing in front of his door, and I knock with a cold, cold hand.

He answers with a voice even colder.

“Come in.”

My heart is heavy as I approach him, and when he turns to me, I have to force myself to meet his gaze.

“Olivia,” he says curtly, without sparing me even a simple glance. I think this might be what I hate the most about him. He acts as though I’m so unimportant, as though I don’t matter. He can’t spare a second to look at me.

I wait, and he continues, all the while re-arranging the ties in his closet.

“What do you think of this one?” He holds up a paisley green. I hate it, so I nod.

“It looks perfect.”

“I think so too.” He laces it under his collar and steps to me. “Tie this, please.”

My fingers do his bidding and he examines my handiwork in the mirror.

“A bit crooked, but it will do.”

Of course he would say that. The knot is perfect, but he will never acknowledge something good in someone. That’s not his way, or his mother’s.

He finally

glances at me for a scant moment.

“You’re wet. Have you been out?”

I nod, and I feel like a meek mouse, awaiting punishment.

His face clouds over, but he contains it. “Why?”

“I needed a walk,” I offer.

Richard rolls his eyes. “Then walk on these grounds. Lord knows we have plenty of them. There is no need to walk into town, Olivia.”