"Look after the children while I am away," she told Phoebe, feeling Helena wrap her arm around her leg.
"Be good, my love, I will be back soon," Alcina said, picking her up into her arms and kissing her cheek.
"How long will you be gone?"
"Not too long," Alcina reassured her. "I will call you later tonight."
"Okay," Helena said, growing teary eyed.
Alcina placed another kiss to her cheek before setting her down, departing for the abbey as fast as Aresian could get her there.
The region remained dark and gloomy all the way to the abbey. Once Aresian opened the door for her, she entered into the abbey where Beatrice stood in the Main Hall awaiting her arrival.
"Alcina," Beatrice said, tears spilling down her cheeks when they embraced.
"Oh my darling," Alcina whispered, placing a kiss to her cheek.
"Thank you for coming," Beatrice said.
"How is she?"
"She has been drifting in and out of sleep. When she is awake she is a bit delirious due to the medicine she is taking. She has also been calling out your mother's name often," Beatrice said. "Are you hungry?"
"No I am fine," Alcina said.
"I will take you to your room, then," Beatrice said. "Then I will check to see if Mother is awake to see you."
The two walked side by side up the stairs, a butler taking Alcina's bags and following up behind them.
Beatrice said nothing to her. Alcina noticing how thin she had become. Her complexion wan and heavy bags were underneath her eyes. A familiar sight to behold, for she looked just the same before and after her mother's death. It frightened her to see Beatrice in such a low state. Making a vow she would take Beatrice back home with her to ensure she was not alone.
Once they reached the guest room, the butler set the bags down and left them alone. Beatrice walking over to the windows and opening the curtains.
"Normally it is a beautiful view, but today is far too dreary," she said wearily.
"Come sit with me," Alcina said, sitting down on the bed.
Beatrice gave a faint nod and took a seat beside her. Alcina wrapped a protective arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Her friend. Her love went completely limp against her. A heavy breath she seemed to have held in for so long finally escaping her.
They sat like that for a time. Alcina talking about Josie and Helena, which brought up the topic of Beatrice's child, Dorothy.
"When Mother is in her right state of mind, she curses at me for not bringing Dorothy," Beatrice said. "How can she expect me to do that? She is dying! I do not want my daughter to see that. Then there is also the matter I continue to repeat that she is still too little to make the journey."
"You are not in the wrong," Alcina reassured her.
"She despises me. I do not understand why she cannot be grateful that /I/ am here for her!" Beatrice was breathing heavily, pulling away from Alcina.
"Your mother does not despise you. I think she is just afraid," Alcina said. "And so are you."
"All I ever wanted was to make her proud… to hear her say those words, 'I am proud of you', but never could she say that to me. Even when I was little I would do everything in my power to appease her. Singing lessons, dancing lessons or whatever she forced me to do, I would do it with the best of my abilities. I would stay up all night practicing and ensuring whatever it was I was doing was perfect in her eyes…" she snarled. "All I wanted was for her to acknowledge me, but never could she allow that. Never."
"I think your mother believed you should have always known she was proud of you. Your mother is not a very vocal woman to express her feelings, it is just the way she is."
"But is it too much to ask to hear her say it once? To say I am proud of you, or I love you? Tell me, Alci, is that really too much to ask?" Beatrice asked, noting the pity in Alcina's eyes. "Of course you were always her favorite. The daughter she had always hoped for."
"Stop Beatrice," Alcina snapped. "All of this is in your own head. You are the one creating these silly ideas. Fabricating these asinine thoughts between you and your mother."
"You believe that, but I know my real mother. The one she never showed to you or your mother when you visited. She fooled you both."
"No matter what happened between you two in the past, you must not allow this feud to continue as she nears the end of her life," Alcina insisted. "You will live the rest of your life regretting your bitterness and hostility without making some kind of amends."
"Sadly, Alcina, my mother and I are not like you and Lady Daciana. There will be no parting on good terms…"
Alcina had the urge to slap her across the face. To knock back some sense into her. She was unable to believe this was her Beatrice speaking like this, though she was correct on the part of she not truly knowing the Countess. What Beatrice said could be the truth. It would make sense why Beatrice always pushed herself in school. Driving herself to the point of insanity when studying for tests. How she would lock herself away for days' on end and have no contact with anyone. It was all to make her mother proud, and that was what bothered Alcina the most. She never exceled for herself, but for others. It was where they were completely different. Of course she had the love and support of her mother to thank for much of her success, where now it made sense that Countess Bogdan just expected the best, giving Beatrice no support or positive feedback.
"Perhaps we should go for a little walk," Alcina suggested. "Some fresh air will do us both some good."
Beatrice stared at her with a blank expression before she gave her a nod.
"To the garden and back?"
"Sure," Beatrice said.
"Do you remember how we use to run through these halls? You scheming every moment of it, especially when it came to stealing food from the kitchen?"
"Yes," Beatrice had begun to smile. "You would always go along with anything I told you."
Alcina tittered.
"You were better at planning than I."
"I cannot argue with you there," she agreed, reaching out her hand to take hold of Alcina's.
There was no hesitation as Alcina clasped her fingers around her friend's and squeezed lovingly…
{…}
Later that day:
Alcina stood in Countess Bogdan's room. A servant had found them when they returned to the abbey to inform them she was awake.
Beatrice leaving them in peace to attend to other matters while Alcina stood by the bed, waiting for the Countess to acknowledge her presence. She inhaled, opening her eyes slowly.
"D-Daciana?" she whispered.
"No, Countess, it is Alcina."
At first the Countess looked most upset, but her countenance shifted to that of a motherly smile.
"Daughter," came Countess Bogdan's weak voice.
Alcina knelt down and took hold of her outstretched hand and squeezed it gently. How thin she looked. The bones in her cheeks visibly protruding.
"I must look a fright…"
"You are beautiful," Alcina whispered, placing a kiss to the top of her hand.
"Just like your mother, you are a horrible liar," she chuckled.
"You are beautiful. That is the truth," Alcina said firmly.
The Countess held her smile.
"Thank you for coming."
"Of course I would come," Alcina said, her grip tightening, which made Countess Bogdan pat her hand gently. "You should go to the hospital."
"No," Countess Bogdan shook her head. "There is nothing they can do for me now. Please sit with me for a little while."
Alcina took a seat in the chair beside the bed, continuing to hold her hand and speak with her about Helena and Josie.
"Helena is a wonderful older sister. She is adjusting well and taking good care of her. I have not allowed her to hold Josie quite yet."
"You are not wrong to wait. She is still young," the Countess said. "Have you heard from Fredric?"
"No. I write to him occasionally, but there is no response…" Alcina said. "I try not to think about the war nor of him if that makes sense. If I allow myself to fall into that hole, I would succumb to my depression. Yet he is still with me. Josie looks more and more like him every day."
"You best prepare yourself for when she learns words," the Countess teased.
Alcina laughed.
"That is what I said about Helena. Her first word was 'idiot'."
The Countess burst out laughing.
"Why that word?"
Alcina's cheeks reddened.
"She may have heard me calling Fredric that on more than twenty occasions a day…"
The Countess was laughing harder, which was starting to make her cough.
Alcina was no longer laughing. Her gay attitude evaporated. The harsh coughing was just like her mother's.
"M-my pills," she said, pointing to the counter.
Alcina jumped to her feet and retrieved the pills.
"I will get you a cup of water."
When Alcina returned out of the bathroom with the cup of water, the Countess had calmed down, though her chest was rising and falling rapidly.
"Life is truly odd," she said. "One moment you are full of life and vitality." She placed the pill into her mouth and swallowed it down with the water. "Next you are hanging on to your every breath. Something all of us never even take a second to truly appreciate until we draw closer to the end."
Alcina sat back down in the chair, staring straight at her with a weak smile.
"You have grown so much," she praised her. "To keep your emotions in check. To not break down by my side as my Beatrice would be doing now." Countess Bogdan rested her veiny hand on Alcina's wrist. "I just wish the child had allowed me to see my granddaughter before my end…"
"Countess…" Alcina said, uncertain if she should be so bold. "Beatrice is doing her best."
"I know, but it is not good enough," the Countess said. "When I die the abbey is meant to go to her, but she does not want it. Instead it will go to the highest bidder. My home… it has been in my family for generations will be sold off to another family, because she does not want it. Because she does not want the responsibility. How I wish she was like you. I wish she had the drive as you…"
"Beatrice has the right to choose her destiny," Alcina said, starting to grow angry at her words. "My mother accepted many of my choices despite disagreeing with me. Particularly about my decision to marry Fredric, but she respected my decisions and allowed me to live freely and learn from the consequences."
The Countess said nothing more. A clear indication she needed to be alone now and think.
Alcina rose up from her seat and exited the room to look for Beatrice. She found her coming out of the kitchen, having told the staff what she wanted for dinner that night, she gave Alcina a little smile.
"Is she asleep?"
"I left her alone to rest," Alcina said. "She looked tired."
"I will go up and check on her. She normally wants a little something to eat at this time."
Alcina said nothing, watching her pass her by and walk up the stairs. While Beatrice was gone, Alcina decided to use the phone in the sitting room to call Phoebe and check in with Helena.
{…}
That night:
After the two had dined, Beatrice led Alcina to the dance hall. There had been new renovations to bring it up to a more 'modern' look. The floor had started to come apart and needed new floorboards.
"It looks beautiful," Alcina said.
"Mother had it done a few months ago before she fell ill," Beatrice said, approaching a piano and sitting down on the bench. "Do you still sing like you use to?"
"A little here and there. Mostly to Josie and Helena," Alcina said.
"If I play, will you sing?" Beatrice asked, already playing a gentle note.
"What shall I sing?"
"Anything that comes to you…"
Alcina closed her eyes, humming softly before she began to sing the lyrics. It was sadder than she realized. Wanting to sing a song that was uplifting and hopeful, but the longer she sang, the melancholier the lyrics became.
Beatrice ended it on a low note, having been staring straight at Alcina the entire time she had been singing. She rose off the bench, taking both Alcina's hands into her own and guided her to the center of the dancefloor. They now stood underneath the large chandelier, the lighting growing dimmer.
"Will you dance with me?" Beatrice asked.
"I will, but who will play?"
Beatrice smiled, snapping her fingers.
"Hector," she called out a name.
A young butler appeared from a doorway and there he took a seat on the bench. He turned the pages of the book until he got to one he liked. Placing his fingers on the keys, he began to play the notes.
Beatrice took the lead.
Typical.
Alcina could only smile as Beatrice took her around and around the room. A girlish giggle escaping her as Beatrice spun them faster and faster.
The music was growing faster, swelling into a final climax and then Hector stopped, Beatrice concluding by dipping Alcina low to the floor.
The two breathing hard, but smiling.
Beatrice lifted Alcina back up into a standing position, releasing her hold on her and giving her a curtsy.
"Thank you, Hector," Beatrice said.
He stood up and bowed his head to them before leaving the room. Once he was gone, Beatrice turned her attention back to Alcina, whose cheeks were flushed red.
"Alci…"
"Yes, Beatrice."
Beatrice took a step closer to her.
Alcina did not step away.
"May I kiss you?"
"You may," Alcina whispered, seeing stars as soon as Beatrice's lips met hers. She was firm at first, taking Alcina completely off guard. She was hungry. Starved of the affections she so desperately wanted, but never could get. Not from her husband. Only she could fill that emptiness that Beatrice so desperately craved. Alcina wrapped her arms around her midsection and pulled her in close. She, too, yearned to hold her second love. To be with her just as she had always dreamed about in her youth. It was then did Beatrice be the first to pull away out of breath. "Are you all right?" Alcina kept her arms locked around her, for she looked about ready to faint.
"I am fine," Beatrice said, giggling like she had drunk too much. "I—I saw stars for a moment."
"So did I," Alcina said, placing a kiss to her forehead. "Perhaps we should sit down for a little while."
Beatrice nodded her head, wrapping her arm around Alcina's waist and following her lead to the sitting room. When they entered into the Main Hall both stopped dead in their tracks due to someone screaming.
There was no hesitation as the two sprinted as fast as they could go upstairs. Following the sound of the hysterical screams to Countess Bogdan's door.
"What is the—" Beatrice's eyes widened unable to finish her sentence.
Alcina came to an abrupt halt in the doorway unable to register what she was seeing.
A strangled sob escaped Beatrice as she dropped to her knees.
"C-call the doctor," Alcina managed to get out.
The maid did not move.
"GO!" she bellowed at her.
The command in her voice doing the trick and causing the maid to dash out of the room in a flurry. As Beatrice continued to sob down on her knees, Alcina approached the Countess. She was so still. She was as white as a sheet. Her mouth gaping open as clear evidence she had been gasping for air. Tears of her own burned in the back of her eyes. Unable to comprehend the Countess was gone. It made no sense. None of it.
Her fingers trembled as she stroked the Countesses hair, placing a kiss to her forehead.
"Goodbye Mother," she whispered, slowly lifting her head and spying something peculiar on the pillow by her head. Alcina reached out and plucked the purplish-black feather up. Just as she had seen at the cemetery and flashing passed her window. The sensation of having seen this before, but not able to pinpoint exactly where further back in her memories. An overwhelming sense of dread overcame her. Making her fear for the safety of her children.
A sharp scream from Beatrice made Alcina turn around. She was holding her head in clear agony and then she collapsed to her side.
"Beatrice?!" Alcina rushed to her love's side, gently shaking her to get her to respond, but there was no response. "Damn it!" Alcina using all her strength to lift her up, she dragged her back to her quarters and set her down on the bed. The doctor would have his hands full this night…