Wulfyddia (The Tattersall Trilogy Book 1) Read Free

not have minded
a day alone in the Haligorn, but the sisters and their quiet demands made him
uncomfortable.  Mrs. Tattersall would have been perfectly comfortable turning
the girls away, but Spencer was not.
    He tried
to stall them, murmuring of his mother who had to be present for any visits,
but the elder one watched him with eyes that were altogether too perceptive,
and he knew the exact moment when she realized that he was not going to let
them see their sister, because her eyes lit with fury. He couldn’t quite work
up the courage to show them out, not when they were already sitting down and
especially given that the storm only seemed to be getting louder. He wasn’t
sure what to say to them, though, so they sank into an uneasy silence and
Spencer returned to his book.
    Lorna
just stared into the flames, chin on her knees, seemingly miles away. Daphne
was a little more restless. She kept glancing around the room, her gaze
lingering on the staircase more than once. Spencer got the distinct impression
that she was waiting for him to say something, but he did not humor her. With
every word he ran the risk of offending royalty, and Tryphena’s lot scared him
to death.
    Finally,
Daphne broke the silence herself. “Well, this is boring,” she said softly. Lorna’s
eyes flicked to her sister, but otherwise she did not move. Spencer couldn’t
explain it, but he got the distinct impression that Lorna was wary of her
sister. “You don’t mind if I read, do you?”
    Spencer
shrugged. “Why would I mind?”
    Daphne’s
smile was far too sweet. “Thank you! Books are my great love.”
    He had
assumed that she would select a volume from the bookshelf across the room, but
instead she reached into the folds of her gown and produced a small item from
some unseen pocket. Lorna shifted in her seat, catching her breath in what
sounded like dismay.
    Despite
himself, Spencer leaned forward curiously. It was a small book, no taller than
his hand but surprisingly thick. The volume was bound in blue leather and
closed with a fine metal clasp. There was no title stamped on the spine. Daphne
held it gingerly, and with both hands, as though it were heavier than it
looked. She must have felt his gaze on her, but she did not look up as she
smoothed her hand over the cover lovingly.
    “What
book is that?” He really hadn’t meant to ask.
    “It’s my
favorite.” Daphne looked up and her eyes were glittering almost black in the
flame light.
    “What’s
the title?” He asked, slowly standing.
    “It
doesn’t really have one,” she answered softly.
    In her
chair closer to the fire, Lorna had moved, put down her knees and shifted to
face her sister. Her fingers were digging into the armrests. 
    “It must
have a title.”
    “But it
doesn’t,” Daphne answered simply. “Come see for yourself.” She was still
stroking the cover with her long fingers. He should have sat back down and gone
back to brooding silently. Instead he crossed to her side, trying to keep a
respectful distance and get a closer look at the book at the same time.
    “Here.”
Much to his surprise, she handed it to him. It was heavier than he had
expected. It felt more like a book two or three times its size, and he too
needed two hands for it. “Have a look.”
    The
cover was truly beautiful. At a distance it looked blue, but now that he had
come closer he could see threads of many colors woven into the fabric. “Open
it.”
    The
clasp was shockingly cold under his fingers, and when it finally came undone
the click was surprisingly loud. It startled his cat; she stiffened suddenly,
fur bristling, and yowled loudly before darting from the room. Daphne stood,
taking a few steps back, and Spencer slowly looked up at her. His vision
rippled strangely, so that for a minute Daphne’s head was oddly distorted, but
he could make out her encouraging smile, so he raised the front cover and
opened the book to a page in the middle.
    Later,
he would remember, as if from