Chapter 11: Only Time Will Tell
Lily and Jack had been afraid that Violet was going to collapse due to the expression on her face when she realized the time difference between this world and the world Darkness resided in. They called in a valet who attended the Queen and her sister to the Queen's apartments until Violet's could be prepared.
Once alone, Lily pressed for information – What had happened?
Violet told Lily exactly what Darkness had told her to say. She was taken and kept by her bridegroom, he was biding his time, growing his power until, eventually, he would resurface from his exile. Light could not exist without Darkness.
Lily's horror was evident. "But…he let you go? You're free?"
Her sister shook her head. "He comes for me in three days and then I shall be his bride. Queen of Shadows."
Though Violet sounded proud of her fate, Lily was troubled greatly and gripped her sister's hands in her own. "He shall not have you. I'll have the fae come into the castle, guard you day and night. We stopped him before, we shall do it again."
Violet removed her hands from her sister's grasp. "You misunderstand, Lily. In three days' time, I will be going of my own will."
Lily stared at Violet in confusion. "You are…confused…he's done something to you. Some sort of magic."
Before Violet could insist, the Queen stood and called for her lady's maids. In a rush they were gone for the physician, for Jack to send for the fae, for Violet's chambers to be made ready quickly. "And I want someone to help her change out of these clothes and burn them."
Troubled and unsure how to explain her feelings to her sister…No, she thought. To explain them to the Queen…Violet was lead to her chambers and stripped from her gown. She turned to the maid who held the clothes from Darkness and asked that she not burn them. "Please. Let me keep them. I will hide them away, just let me keep them." The maid submitted and Violet hid them under her pillow, the dark fabric contrasting against her lavender and white bedding.
Looking around her room now that the fire was lit, it all felt child-like. Everything was frills and pastels. She missed the black marble and dark woods, the crimson linens and largeness of the furniture in her old chambers. When the maids let her be she felt to tears before the fireplace and could only hope her longing would reach Darkness and he would come for her soon.
The physician arrived promptly. He looked Violet over and declared her in perfect health physically. He spoke to Violet briefly but she had no intention to speak back to him. She informed him that she would like to speak with her sister when he was done with his examination.
Lily asked the physician if her sister was addled, showed signs of confusion or dementia. He said no, but that she was withdrawn, distant, and seemed rather melancholy. "This is normal in a girl of her age though. You are recently wed my queen and your sister, she is of age to meet gentlemen of rank. Perhaps…she is lonely for romance as it seems that is what girls her age crave."
Taking all of this in, Lily nodded and dismissed the doctor. She turned to Jack and smiled, "I know what to do. Let us hold a ball, tomorrow night, for Violet. We'll invite all the local men of rank, Prince Nicholas from Getan will be more than happy to have a chance at my family again and the two will make a cute pair." She thought that if she could direct Violet's attention to a man, a human man, then her sister would turn away from Darkness.
Despite Violet's wish to see her sister and talk to her about what had happened, Lily sent a maid to help Violet to bed and started her plans for the next evening's ball.
The fae came the next morning. Gump himself examined Violet. He said nothing and Violet did not try to make conversation with the small man. After twenty minutes of quietly staring at each other, Gump left and went to Jack. "She has not been corrupted but there is something Dark inside the girl…something that grew there long before Darkness took her."
Jack was worried about what the Gump said but did not tell Lily for fear that his wife could not handle it. The Gump went back to the forest and told his companions about Violet. He said Lily had been easily corrupted though outwardly pure, he did not trust the Queen. Violet, however, was strange. She was dark, like fae were dark, a mixture of Light and Darkness that is natural for magical creatures…rarely seen in humans. "She doesn't belong amongst humans." Una sighed. The others agreed but it is not their place to study humans in their base complexities. Their worry was Darkness and Violet's announcement that he would come again in just two more days.