It was just a regular pendant. Nothing special about the mounting, which was as plain as you can get. The green jewel wasn’t even a precious stone. Just something pretty that a commoner would wear.

But he could feel the power of lightning and water wrapped together and inserted inside.

For luck, she’d told him. Firmly. Don’t take it off. Ever. You hear me?

That woman… ever since he’d met her two years ago, when she was pretending to be a mercenary, she’d been an enigma that had continuously baffled him.

She’d called him to the Palace just to give him this.

If the Crown Prince found out, he’d be furious. He may be a neglectful bastard, but he was well known for his possessiveness. The Princess’s favor… was not something that would be good for the Grimshaws to have.

Still.

He ran a thumb over the polished surface of the stone. Then stuck it back in his pocket.

What else had his brother been up to? He opened a drawer and started going through paperwork.

***

Tracy finished with Em’s hair and leaned down to hug the little girl.

“Last day of black,” she whispered. “Personally, I think the Mistress will be glad you can wear pink again. She really loved it on you.”

Em nodded and wiped away a surprise tear.

Gods of this world! She giggled to herself. Playing Emmaline was much easier than she thought. She knew those memories so well, and she felt so connected to them now, that she might as well have been Emmaline.

Sometimes it was hard to remember she was almost 18 outside the dream.

It was going to be hard going back.

The thought took away any humor she felt, and she hopped off the bench. Turning her back to the dressing mirror.

“How do I look?”

She spun in a circle, and Tracy clapped her hands with appropriate admiration.

“The ceremony won’t start for an hour. Would you like something to eat before that?”

Eat? She’d had breakfast only a couple hours ago. She could wait for the luncheon… maybe. The fuss that was going to start later would probably drive the luncheon out of everyone’s minds.

She’d have to figure out how to get food while the adults were freaking out.

For now, she shook her head.

“Then stay here. I have a few things to do downstairs and I’ll be back up for you when it’s time.”

Tracy patted her head and left the room.

Em turned in a slow circle. Looking around.

The black hangings were going to go. Not that they had covered as much of her room as they should have (since Tracy had put them up, she had decided that it wasn’t good for Em to be surrounded completely by black).

There were three new dresses in her wardrobe. Tracy had almost fainted when Em requested a yellow dress and a blue dress in addition to her old pink and white favorite. Emmaline had been obsessed and refused to wear anything else before the mourning period.

Em kinda liked the pink and white as well but whoever chose the dress styles sucked. It made her think of some old fashion doll and she wasn’t looking forward to wearing all the frills.

But it was still better than only black.

Maddie loved black. She’d look like a biker chick all the time if she didn’t have to look presentable on video chats.

Well.

Em didn’t want to stay here for an hour. If she did, she’d drive herself crazy thinking about Maddie and about what was going to happen today.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

With a decisive nod, she snuck out of her room.

Fortunately, everyone was too busy to do more than glance at her. If she was unlucky, someone might comment to Tracy that they’d seen her, but she doubted they would.

Twice, she offered to help.

It was a sign of the servants’ fatigue and stress that she only had to push a little before they gave in. Giving her tasks that didn’t require her to be seen by the guests and embarrass the Grimshaw family.

While she was taking a small flower arrangement to the reception room, where everyone would gather for the actual ceremony in an hour, a messenger stepped into the room behind her.

“Could someone help me?” he asked. A little annoyed. He held up something. “I have a letter for Commander Grimshaw. Can someone direct me to him?”

No one seemed to notice him other than Em as they hurried about their business.

Em frowned and put down her flower arrangement.

“Anyone?!”

“I’ll do it.”

She held up a hand, and the man’s face blanked momentarily.

“Oh, miss. Thank you, but-”

It was a servant’s job to deal with messengers. At least it was until the recipient of the letter was involved.

“Do you want to see my brother or not?”

The man sputtered, looked around, and sighed in defeat. Probably realizing that he’d be waiting for a long, long time if he didn’t go now.

“Thank you, miss.”

Em knew from what he’d been doing yesterday that Flint was probably in the office again. So she led the messenger upstairs, where the activity level dropped significantly. Really, it was almost eerie how quiet it was up there.

Finally, she knocked on the office door.

“What?”

Yesterday she’d been afraid of that voice. Remnants of Emmaline’s old feelings for him. Today, almost adult Em was more involved, and she squared her shoulders. She cupped her hands around her mouth and pressed it to the door.

“There’s a messenger for you!”

A pause. Then the door was opened by Flint. He frowned down at her then at the messenger. Who hurriedly bowed and held out the letter. Flint took it.

“Do you wish for me to take a reply, master, sir?”

“No. You’re dismissed.”

The messenger breathed a barely audible sigh of relief, and both he and Em turned to leave.

“What are you doing, Emmaline?”

“I’m taking him to the front door.”

“No, you wait a moment. Just follow this hallway and go down the front stairs, you’ll find the door.”

Oh, crap, Em thought as she fidgeted. Waiting while Flint frowned after the messenger. Then he opened the door wider.

An invitation to come in.

Reluctantly, she entered. And flinched when the door closed behind them.

“Take a seat.”

Flint waved at a chair that had been placed in front of the desk sometime in the last day or so. Cautiously, she sat down and waited as he went around the desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a small package and came back to her.

To her surprise, he got down on one knee and held out the little cloth-wrapped package.

Gaze intense but not directed at her.

Bewildered, she took it and carefully unwrapped it.

The little necklace had an intricate mounting, shaped like vines, leaves and flowers. All wrapped around a vibrant sapphire.

Her mouth fell open even as Emmaline’s memories supplied where it had come from. Tears filled her eyes.

“This-” she choked. “This is Mother’s-?”

“Yes. You were supposed to inherit all her jewelry-” He paused. His jaw tightening in anger. “However, this was the only piece that survived the past year. Take it now.”

Wiping her eyes, she dropped the handkerchief it had been wrapped in and tried to put the necklace on. Her fingers couldn’t quite get the clasp and she struggled for a solid thirty seconds as tears blurred her vision.

Then she felt a gentle set of fingers take the necklace and fix the clasp for her.

She wiped her eyes as her brother stood up.

The scary man walked around to the other side of the desk again. Sitting down and watching her as she fiddled with the necklace and looked between him and it.

“You have a question?”

She bit her lip and decided nothing she said here would hurt her.

After all. It was all just a long, strange dream.

“I thought you hated Mother.” And me, she added to herself before continuing. “Why did you save this?”

“I didn’t hate your mother.”

“Yes, you did,” Em insisted. “You were always so rude to her and Father. And you never came home if you could help it. And-and you never answered letters. And-”

If she wasn’t stumbling so much, she might’ve found other signs of his dislike for his own family.

The man held up a hand to stop her.

“I didn’t hate your mother.”

He paused and, sensing he had something else to say, Em stayed silent. Watching.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Rubbing his forehead.

“It’s a long story, Emmaline, but it wasn’t your mother that I hated. Father was the one I couldn’t stand. And I kept out of your mother’s way so I didn’t take it out on her.”

“Why? What did Father do?”

He snorted quietly and crossed his arms. “You want me to defame him on his memorial day? Let it rest, girl.”