Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

"I t is time for sup, Mama," Lista said from her position in the doorway of her mother's tower chamber. "Pull yourself together and come down to the hall. The men will more than likely want to celebrate Amaury's life and you should be part of it."

The smoke in the chamber had cleared away for the most part, leaving a sickly sweet smell behind that permeated everything– the walls, clothing, the floor. Everything. It stank and Lista resisted the urge to sneeze as her aunt stirred on the floor and her mother sat up from the small bed she'd been lying on.

Lethargic and pale, they looked as if they'd been sleeping for fifty years.

"I think not, Lista dear," Meadow said. "We are weary from our travel."

Lista had no sympathy for either of them. "You mean you are full of that intoxicating smoke," she snapped softly. "You are full of that horrible weed and anything else you have ingested. Well? What else have you eaten, sniffed, or inhaled since we came home?"

Her sharp tone had Flora stirring more than usual. "Shut up, Girl," she said, throwing her arm over her eyes as she lay there. "Shut up and go away."

Lista had never had much of a liking for her aunt, but that was never more evident than it was at this moment.

"I would watch myself if I were you," she said slowly. "You have caused enough trouble."

That brought Flora off the floor. "What trouble?" she demanded angrily.

Lista's jaw ticked. "The death of a man who was far better than you could ever hope to be," she said. When Flora opened her mouth to retort, Lista nearly shouted at her. "You heard me, Flora. You caused the death of a good man with your sickening behavior and if you do not watch yourself, I will have you thrown out of Felkington and you can fend for yourself."

Flora's face began to turn red. "How dare you speak to me like that?" she hissed. "Meadow? Are you going to allow her to speak to me that way?"

Meadow, the weak one, didn't want to get between her loud-mouthed sister and her strong daughter. That was a situation she could not win, so she simply put her hand up in surrender and shook her head. Seeing that her mother wasn't going to interfere pleased Lista immensely.

"Of course she is going to allow me to do as I please because whatever I say or do, you deserve it," she said. "You are a worthless cow, Flora d'Orbec, and you have cost a good man his life and that is something I shall never forgive."

"It was not my fault!"

"If I tell the men in the hall that you caused Amaury's death, they will happily throw you out of Felkington," Lista fired back. "In fact, you'll be fortunate if that is all they do. Be thankful that I've not yet told them, but if you do not behave yourself, I shall show no such restraint."

Flora wasn't used to being challenged, although she and Lista had never had a cordial relationship. Lista tolerated the woman and that was about it, but they had been known to butt heads from time to time. When a rash, entitled woman met a stubborn, rational woman, things were bound to happen.

Like now.

Picking up the bowl that contained the ashes of the burned leaves, Flora threw it at Lista as hard as she could. The bowl only flew about two feet in the air before landing heavily, ashes scattered everywhere.

"To hell with you," Flora snarled. "You have no power over me."

Lista lifted an eyebrow. "That is where you are wrong," she said. "Do you care to test that theory?"

Flora was infuriated but, even in her current state, she wasn't stupid. She eyed her niece for a moment before turning back to her bed upon the floor.

"You need a husband," she grumbled. "A man to hold power over you. Then we'll see how bold you really are."

Lista shook her head at her ridiculous aunt. "A husband will have no bearing on how bold I am," she said. "Especially when I am right. You will remain in this room until I decide what to do with you. Meanwhile, Mama, you will come down to the hall."

Meadow had been watching the situation between her daughter and sister unfold with apprehension. When the focus was back on her, she looked at her daughter fearfully.

"You should not speak so to your aunt," she said, scolding her as much as she dared. "Please, Lista. Be kind."

Lista's patience was gone. "Mama, I know you believe she has helped you since Papa and Simon's deaths, but all she has done is ruin you. She is mean and cowardly and cruel, and she as much as murdered Amaury. I was there; I saw it. I know what she's done."

Meadow reached out her hands, pleadingly. "It was an accident."

"It was her stupidity!" Lista was back to shouting again. Her mother's blind spot when it came to her sister always enraged her. "Mama, she has done nothing but harm you and harm me and now she's killed Amaury. I want her gone. You can tell her to leave or I will, but either way, she will be gone by the end of the week."

Meadow was stricken. "But… but where shall she go? This is her home!"

"This is not her home," Lista said firmly, looking over at Flora, who was glaring at her. "She has her manse in Scarborough and she can return to it. She does not belong here, Mama. I have tolerated her because I know she brought you comfort, but she has only succeeded in ruining you and killing Amaury. I do not care where she goes, only that she does go. If you do not support me in this decision, then I shall tell the soldiers what really happened to Amaury and let nature take its course. Felkington used to mean something before she came and tried to ruin it. It will mean something again after she has gone."

With that, she quit the chamber, slamming the door behind her. There was a deafening silence in her wake as Meadow struggled to show some backbone when it came to her sister. Perhaps she knew that everything her daughter said was true, but the weak woman in her needed her sister's presence. She needed the woman to help her find relief from the crushing grief she experienced every hour of every day.

But perhaps she knew, deep down, that Flora was indeed destructive.

She simply couldn't bring herself to admit it.

"Do you hear her?" Flora finally said, hissing angrily. "She is trying to take Fuckington away from you, Meadow. She will do it, too, if you do not marry her off quickly. I told you to speak with the de Velt son. You must do it now!"

Meadow couldn't bring herself to look at her sister. "She will see reason, in time," she said. "The death of Amaury has upset her. She did not mean what she said."

"She meant all of it," Flora snapped back. "She means to throw me to the wolves and you must do something about it or the next person she throws to the wolves will be you. Thrown from your own castle! Marry her off immediately, I say. She needs a husband to control her!"

Meadow knew her daughter needed to marry, but Flora was using marriage like a punishment, anything to subdue Lista and her intention to remove Flora from Felkington. But it wasn't like Flora was destitute– she wasn't. She had money and a small manse near Scarborough called The Filey . Her husband had bought it years ago because it faced the sea, but it was damp and cold and Flora didn't like it.

She wanted to be in the enormous castle with an unlimited supply of weeds, herbs, and alcohol and her sister paying for everything.

Deep down, Meadow knew that.

But she still couldn't give her sister up.

"I will speak to the de Velt son," she finally said, sounding defeated. "Tomorrow, I will do it."

Satisfied she'd manipulated her sister yet again, Flora lay back down to sleep off the effects of the smoke she'd been inhaling for the past few days. But she slept with the confidence of knowing that her niece would not have the last word in all of this. Above all, Meadow was the Lady of Felkington and as Lady Felkington, her commands would be obeyed above her daughter's.

That was the hope she would cling to.

It would be a harsh reality for Lista de la Mere.