"Leanne?" Her mother's sharp voice cut through her concentration. "I asked you a question."
"I came to find you. Can we cut my cake?"
"I didn't see you go in there, and I had my eyes on the cellar for the whole time I've been out."
"Yes, I went in there before you." 'Goddess, I am thick! What did I just do! Please help me, Great Mother. Protect me, please.'
Her mother's eyes were narrowed in suspicion. "What did you see?" Her voice was thick with warning.
"See? Was I meant to see anything?" Fear changed Leanne's voice into a high falsetto.
"There was a trunk down there. Did you look in the trunk?"
"Was I supposed to? I didn't see a trunk."
"Leanne." A warning note rang in her mother's tone. "Don't play me for a fool. You saw her, didn't you?" When Jeanett received no reply, she repeated her question. "Didn't you?"
"What do you want me to say, Mama? Yes, I know you've killed somebody. Yes, I know that it was out of jealousy? Yes, I know it was Papa's love? Yes, I know that you're a murdering cow?"
Jeanett staggered back slightly, not having expected that much admission. It was only fleeting. Her face turned cruel and nasty, like the mother figure had been a cover for this horrible witch of a woman. Leanne thought that she had gone too far.
"I see. Well, Veralidaine Sarrasri had to be... disposed of-"
"Killed to satisfy your plot."
"Because she posed a threat to your father's well-being. You, knowing what you do, are also a threat."
Leanne, being the precocious child she was, understood the threat. "But... I'm your child... You wouldn't..."
"Wouldn't I?"
Numair's daughter realised what Jeanett intended. The most powerful mage in the Eastern Lands was a pretty good fish, and Jeanett was not about to let him slip away. Even if it meant murdering. Even if that was her own daughter.
"If you did, Papa would know." Jeanett pondered over this; Leanne ran.
Bursting into Numair's study, her eyes flickered over the room, before realising that her father was not in the room. Panic filled her chest. Now she had no protection, and her mother would...
"Leanne?" She whirled around.
--
What did you think? Listening to Blink 182 "Rock show". I hope this chapter's ok. I failed with Unhinged and More than Words. I wish I could do cliffhangers. Wistful sigh. Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a pretty box, and if you've bothered to colour it, it shows what good taste you have! (I'm a right suck-up)
