A Prelude to Penemue Read Free Page B

horn sounded across the landscape, not too far distant. “That would be my mother.” Hester slumped. “I cannot face her. She will not have an ounce more sympathy than that wretched, heartless Moll Aldias .”
     
    “We can take you anywhere you would like to go,” Cadmus said softly. “We can let her think you have perished. ‘ Twould be easy to accomplish.”
     
    “I cannot.”
     
    “Why? I heard what you said to that servant. I cannot promise you an ordinary life, but I can offer you a place that is far removed from the Regalii and the Primacy as well. As ordinary as it gets for our kind, anyway.”
     
    Emile nodded. “You would love it there. Master Cadmus has recently been accepted into House Gyony , and I will be studying for the trials for my House in the coming decade. It’s practically right around the corner.”
     
    Hester had to laugh at his enthusiasm. “What house would that be, young Emile?”
     
    “ Edulica , of course. And as empathic as you are, I daresay you would make a wonderful addition. We will speak to Lord Andrew as soon as we are home.”
     
    “Home?”
     
    “Home to Penemue .” Cadmus set his hand on Emile’s shoulder. “Say you will come, Hester dear. Leave all of this behind you.”
     
    “I do not know if I will be able…”
     
    “Kitty would be begging you.” Anna stepped out from behind the oak. “I apologize for eavesdropping.” She made what could have passed for a curtsey in some other country. “But really, m’lady , there is no love for you here. And if the Edulica deny you, you can train to fight with the Gyony . I will teach you quarterstaff myself.”
     
    Hester gazed at them, at their earnest faces. These were her battlefield companions; they had each entered into a pact with the rest, unspoken yet binding: the willingness to lay down one’s life for the other. No one had ever done such a thing for her. Sequestered away from the rest of the Grigori —the rest of the Nephilim , even—Hester had spent her days learning elocution, music, embroidery, languages...and to what end?
     
    She thought of Kitty’s face, triumphant as the great mechanical thing went down into flames and ashes. She thought of Marius and her own dear baby. He had taken her away from her staid life of nobility, he had given her what she had always wanted; he had given her happiness. She owed it to him to claim it for herself once more.
     
    “All right, then. Lady Hester Regalii shall be no more from this day forward. For all anyone will know, she died here with her beloved family.” Cadmus clapped is massive hands and Emile nodded. She managed a small smile. “So, then, we shall be off? I have no baggage; I can leave when you are ready, Master Cadmus.”
     
    “The day is still young. If we leave now and press hard, we shall be home by supper time.”
     
    “Home.” Hester breathed the word, for it still felt so new in her mouth. “Home to Penemue .”