“Come,” Henrietta had said, taking Emily’s
elbow. “I’d like you to meet my niece.”
Henrietta had pulled her through the crowd,
kissed Derian’s cheek, and introduced them. Derian’s expression had softened
when she’d seen Henrietta coming, and after a few murmured words Emily couldn’t
hear, she’d glanced briefly in Emily’s direction, nodded to her, and said
something polite and totally impersonal.
After downing the rest of her drink with one
swift tilt of her wrist, Derian had growled, “I think I’ve done my duty here
tonight.” She’d kissed Henrietta once again and disappeared into the crowd.
Henrietta had looked after her with a faint smile and shake of her head before
firmly pulling Emily off to the next group of people she wanted her to meet.
How young she’d been then, and how fiercely
Henrietta had championed her. Emily struggled with the sadness welling inside.
The doctors had said Henrietta would be well again, and that was what she must
cling to. Despite everything, she hadn’t given up on hope.
“I thought you might have left,” Derian said
from the doorway.
Emily started, feeling heat rise to her face.
How did Derian sense so much, when others thought they knew her but rarely did?
“Oh. How is she?”
“Sleeping. Probably conserving her strength
to start ordering everyone around the next time she wakes up.”
“I would never say I agree with you, but…”
Emily laughed. “I thought about leaving, only I might be too tired to move.”
Derian wanted to ask her what she’d been
thinking about a moment before. She’d had the strangest expression on her face,
half dreamlike, with a little smile that was sad in a way. But she didn’t know
Emily well enough to ask something quite that personal, and that constraint
irritated her. She must be tired too. She’d never once in her life asked a woman
what she’d been thinking. Had she never really cared enough to know? Aud had
been the only one she’d cared about, and they’d always talked so much she’d
never had to ask. The pain of their separation hit her out of nowhere, and she
shrugged off the past. The past was history, the future merely chance. All that
mattered was now, and she’d been determined to live it to the max since she’d
walked out on what was left of her family. “Well, I’m sorry you’re exhausted,
but very glad you’re still here. I owe you dinner, remember?”
Emily shook her head. “You definitely do not.
And you’ve got
to be even more exhausted than me. I’ve only been sitting here all day.”
“Right. Sitting vigil when no one else did.”
Derian held out a hand. “I owe you for that. I owe you for more than that too.
You took care of all the paperwork, didn’t you?”