Chapter 52: Chapter 50

I stared at my father, flabbergasted. What was he doing here? It had to be some kind of coincidence, I knew. Though whether it was a good or bad one, I wasn’t yet sure. It was convenient that he’d stopped our scuffle just before it started, but I didn’t want him getting hurt for my sake. My eyes shifted over to Silas as the boy took a step away from me. Da was usually busy managing the library. To be here in the Reeve’s home meant that he’d closed it. Had something happened, something important enough for him to come find me?

I released the breath that was caught in my throat.

Silas’s eyes narrowed. “You might be his father—“

“Her father,” Da interrupted. “I won’t tolerate anyone disrespecting my baby girl.” My cheeks reddened. Right. We were going to have to talk about that again — about the Vergent Souls and how I wasn’t truly a woman. Not to mention my Mark and the impending escape, assuming we got out of this mess. My insides churned from the all the growing turmoil around me.

“Yeah, whatever. ‘Her’ father, then.” Silas rolled his eyes. Hadn’t he been the one to make a big deal of who I was just moments before? Was he intentionally being an ass? “The point is, she works for the sorceress now. What she gets up to here isn’t any of your business.”

“My daughter will always be my business. I’d advise you leave before you say something you’ll regret, Silas.” The threat was slightly underwhelming in my Da’s scolding fatherly tone. More of a ‘I’ll make you sit in the corner for an hour’ than anything properly violent. Still, my heart swelled.

“Old man, I don’t think you realize just who you’re talking to. My father—“

“Will be getting a very stern talking to about the activities his son has been getting up to. And about how if I catch you harassing my daughter again, there will be some serious consequences.”

“Like what?” Silas challenged. As much as it hurt to do so, I had to admit that I was wondering the same thing. As much as I loved my Da, he was a gentle librarian. Silas’s father was as likely to listen to him as Silas was to me.

I opened my mouth to ask him not to continue, but was too late.

“You let me worry about that, son.”

“Da,” I muttered. He glanced over to me, seeing the pleading look in my eyes, and gave me a small smile with a wink. Oh no. I shook my head, hoping he’d heed my warning to back out of this. Silas was far too full of pride to stop.

The boy tilted his head up and stepped up in front of my father. “I think you’re bluffing. Just like an old growling hound with no teeth.” His boots stomped forward until his face leered down, scant inches away. “In fact, I think I could beat you down into the floor and come out none the worse for it. So why don’t you fuck off, you soft braindead librarian, before you get yourself hurt.”

My eyes narrowed, and once more my hands balled into fists. I was not going to let this jerk lay even a finger on my Da.

My father, somehow unfazed, responded, “Don’t do something you’ll regret, Silas.” It held that hint of disappointment I was so familiar with, from the varying times when I’d done something so colossally misbehaving and errant to bring it out. In any other scenario, I’d have been shamefaced in sympathy from the secondhand chastisement. But in that moment, I was only worried for my father. Hopefully, we could take the jerk on together?

Silas grinned. “Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Before he’d finished speaking, a punch flew toward my Da’s face. My eyes widened as I shot forward toward them. In a flash of movement, my father grabbed Silas’s arm and twisted around him. Silas dropped to his knees, his right arm held behind his back. Had I blinked, I was certain I’d have missed it.

W-wha—How did—?

Silas howled out, his voice filled with evident pain. “Ow, ow, alright. Let go! Let me go, you fucking—“ Another cry left his mouth as his arm wrenched upward again. “I’m sorry. Okay? Sorry, just—just please stop.”

My father released him with a gentle push, letting Silas tumble to the floor. The boy clutched his aching arm before getting back to his feet. With reddening eyes, he glared at my father.

Still somehow completely calm, my Da frowned and gently chastised him. “That wasn’t a fluke of luck, if you’re wondering. I’d advise you run off before you make another poor choice and I have to put you on the floor again.”

Silas huffed and snorted out like an angered pig, convincing me that he wasn’t done yet. I clenched my fists once more, just in case. Then he turned away from us, jerking his head up and to the side. Perhaps it was meant to be prideful or intimidating, but to me, it looked only childish. “You’re going to regret that,” he said in a dark, allusive tone.

The boy stormed off, holding his head high as though it could salvage his shattered pride.

I looked back to my father and took in a breath to ease my nerves now that the trouble had passed. For the moment, at least. How had he managed to toss Silas so easily to the ground? And why challenge him like that, when he could have tried to appease the boy or deescalate? Silas’s father wasn’t a noble, but he still held power in this town, being the owner of the mine. I had no doubt that Silas would severely distort the truth of what happened here when he went home crying over it. Not to mention that with the upcoming wedding, and Silas’s future as the Reeve, at least as far as everyone was aware, any kind of assault could be treated much like an assault on a noble.

“Da,” I said, filled with worry.

Before I could continue, the man engulfed me in a tight hug.

“My dear little girl. To think that I had no idea something like this was going on. I really have been a bad father, haven’t I?” He released me, allowing me to breathe once more.

“Da, no—“

Another voice met my ears. “That went rather better than I expected, I must be honest.” Turning, I watched as Camilla appeared out from a shadow several meters down the hall. Her shadowy dress rippled as it pulled the darkness along with her before the two snapped apart. Had she truly been veiled entirely in the darkness there? Or was she merely hiding around a corner, waiting for the perfect moment to make a dramatic entrance? “I thought I was going to need to intervene when he moved to hit you. Quite the surprise to see you had the whole thing handled, Roben.”

My father gave the sorceress a courteous nod with a subtle, proud grin. “Good to see you once again, Lady Camilla. A pleasure, as always, and thank you. I’ve had my fair share of scuffles over the years, I must say.”

She raised a brow. “I’d say it certainly shows.”

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“Camilla?” I mumbled out. Had she heard the two of us all the way over from her room? No, surely not. Perhaps someone had spotted Silas running after me and went to get her.

Her eyes turned to me. “Hello, Pearl. I’m rather ashamed to admit that I only arrived after your father, here. I should have been listening a bit more carefully. Though, I can assure you that I would have intervened should it have become necessary.” She really was apparently looking out for me. Even when she wasn’t physically present. “I hadn’t realized that you had someone harassing and threatening you. You can tell me about these things, you know? Or, I should say, I hope you feel that you can trust me enough to tell me about any issues you come across, no matter how small or large.”

She had a point. I really did need to get out of the mindset that I had to keep all my troubles hidden from everyone. It was something I was far too used to, both from hiding my desires for girlhood for so long and not wanting to drag my Da into any of my troubles.

“Umm,” I began, but was interrupted.

“I believe I’ve told you much the same, how many times now?” my father scolded.

“Sorry, Da.” I stared down at my feet.

“Still, you should have said something to me. You know that I would have done something about it,” he continued.

“But that’s why I haven’t mentioned it,” I admitted. “Or why I don’t normally. I don’t want you getting into any kind of trouble with Silas’s father or the Reeve.”

Da rubbed my shoulder, soothing my anxiety. “There’s no need to worry about me, Pearl. Neither Virgil nor Marlon concern me in the slightest. I’ve spoken with Marlon, in particular, a number of times over the years about his son’s behavior.”

“But—“ I began until my father gave me a look. Capitulating, I let out an exasperated sigh. It was certainly no secret where I got my stubbornness from.

“I must agree with your father here,” Camilla added in. “Even if you don’t feel comfortable confiding in both of us, surely you could have talked with at least one of us about this.”

My gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them, feeling very grouped up on. “I—I didn’t realize it was a problem, okay? He only just started bothering me.” I folded my arms and let out a huff. “And there’s been so many other things happening that I didn’t think much of it when I ran into him yesterday.”

My Da wrapped an arm around my shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze. “It’s alright, sweetheart. You let me take care of it. I’ll make sure he regrets even coming within eyesight of my baby girl.”

My cheeks reddened. He’d really just called me sweetheart and baby girl? Right here in front of Camilla? “Daaaaa,” I groaned. Girl or boy, the man seemed to know exactly how to make me embarrassed. “Don’t do anything that will cause trouble.”

I ducked down, extricating myself from his grasp. “Why are you here, anyway?” I asked, grumpily. Then my tone shifted to worry as I scanned him for anything that could be wrong. “Did something happen? Is the library alright?”

His hand patted one of my arms, just below the shoulder — a reassuring gesture. “The library is fine. I left up a sign to say that I’ll be out for a while.” As relieving as that was, his tone suggested there was something else. “No, I’m here for you, Pearl. To talk. I’ve admittedly been avoiding it, and because of that, I’ve been a rather poor excuse for a father the last week or so.”

“Don’t be silly, Da.”

I tried to shake my head and deny him, but he pressed on, “No, that’s not entirely right either. In truth, I haven’t been here for you since your mom…” His voice trailed and the man became lost for a passing moment. “But especially so for the last week. I told myself that you wanted space, that you were forging your own path forward in life. Among other excuses. All just so that I could pretend that—” He sighed and his eyes focused on my own. “We should talk, Pearl. Is there somewhere here that we can speak privately?” His gaze flickered over to Camilla. At first, I assumed he was shifting the question over to her, but then I saw a strange emotion hiding beneath that stare. As though he was uncertain, or… suspicious?

Camilla smiled. “We just switched rooms, actually, due to a certain overzealous sentinel having difficulties with the other door. Feel free to use my new one. It should be perfectly safe to speak in. Though I hope you’ll forgive the mess.”

My father slowly nodded before turning back to me and giving me a halting smile. “I suppose that’ll do, so long as that’s fine with you, Pearl?”

I nodded. “I trust Camilla, Da. We should be able to speak privately there.”

He took in a breath of air. “Right.” Turning to Camilla, he said, “I hope you can excuse my running off with barely a greeting, Sorceress Camilla. If it pleases you, perhaps we can speak later and make up for my little blunder?”

There was a strange intensity that passed between them, each eyeing the other. Then Camilla nodded.

“I’ll look forward to it. If it’s alright with you, I believe Pearl should be able to show you the way to the room? There’s something I need to do in town.” Briefly, one side of her lips curled up in mirth, and her eyes flickered my way, before she schooled her expression to a more neutral smile. “I should only be an hour or so.”

We said our goodbyes, and I stared as she swayed down the hall in what I could only describe as a happy trot until she left our sight.

My father took a breath. “She’s certainly something, I must say.”

Our eyes met, and the man raised a brow. “Daaaa, seriously.” How was I supposed to respond to that? He was really teasing me about how hot Camilla was now, of all times? Hiding the blush that was definitely touching my cheeks, I turned and began to head toward the room. “Let’s go,” I near-pleaded, hoping to leave any conversations about the nature of the relationship between Camilla and I well behind us.

Glancing back to make sure he was following along, I spotted the obscure, sly smile on his lips and yanked my head back around. Grumbling, I guided him to our new room. No, Camilla’s new room. I wasn’t sure if either the sorceress or I would live through me making that mistake. There was a chance my father would strangle her for ‘defiling his innocent and perfect daughter’ and then lock me in a windowless room in the library until I was forty…

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