Ágota stops, spins toward him, and waves a shaking finger in his face. “Undo it!”
“Your sister wants this marriage.”
“She is a little girl!”
“Who seems of a strong mind.”
“No! You do not understand! She needs to stay with me! I need to protect her! Mother told me so!”
“Ágota, you have done exactly as you promised. Yes, the situation here will be a bit dramatic for a time, but I will protect you and Erzsébet. I understand and accept what Soffia and some of the other witches are capable of and I will not abide any hostility toward you. I am the greater witch. I will not abide anyone coming against either one of you. Ever.”
“You are not my father,” I point out.
“No, I am not, but we are both witches. We share the blood of another world.”
“Can I call you father?” I have decided I like Balázs very much. Everything about him reminds me of Ágota. Additionally, he has honored my wish to marry Albrecht.
“Not in front of Soffia,” he says, and tugs on the end of my braid.
“You do not understand, Father!” Ágota leans over the desk and stares at him in desperation.
“You love your sister. I understand you do not want to be parted from her. You will have many years with her here in the castle before she departs. That is the way of life, Ágota. One day, you, too, will make the choices for your future. Who will father the new Archwitch with you? Will you stay here? Or venture out into the world? This is life, Ágota.”
Close to tears, Ágota mutters, “I have seen many possible futures for her and I do not like most of them.”
“That I completely understand,” her father answers. “You have just returned to me and I already fear the moment you will leave.”
Rushing around the table, Ágota throws herself into his arms and clings to him, sobbing piteously. I sense that all her fears and sorrow she has hidden from me so well during our journey have at last manifested. Balázs holds her close with one arm and stretches out his other to me. I join the embrace and lean my head against his shoulder.
“Nothing bad can happen to her. Nothing,” Ágota sobs. “I will not let it. I will stop it.”
Those words break the spell and echo in my ears as I am drawn away to the mausoleum.
Fingertips tracing the carving on the bier, my thoughts linger on this last recollection. I had completely forgotten that moment in Balázs’s study. Muddled with pain and frustration, I ponder my sister’s warning. Ágota was long gone by the time Vlad imprisoned me in the mausoleum, but she had sworn to protect me and vestiges of her magic linger in the world.
“Help me, Ágota,” I whisper in desperation.
Even from beyond the Veil, Ágota may yet be my salvation.
Chapter 13
The curse upon me is particular in which memories it allows me to recall with such lucidity it is as though I am reliving my past. Upon rumination, it appears evident that this dark magic does not dawdle with the mundane days of my life, but only those formative to my evolution. I wish the curse would allow me the pleasure of reliving one day alongside my sister where we simply went about our lives in Balázs’s castle. Those are the memories I long to remember, but I fear are lost to the haze of time.
My recollections of growing up in the castle are sparse. I do recall my sister pretending to teach me spells while funneling her magic through me, the opulent bedroom we shared that was fit for a princess, and some of the happy moments we spent with Balázs. Though he was not my father by blood, he regarded me as his ward and was very fatherly in his attention. In return, I adored him even though he could be a strict disciplinarian when I defied him.
“I miss him,” I say aloud to the darkness of the mausoleum.
The only answer is the scuffling of rats as they feast upon the remains of the gypsy girl.
My isolation is crushing my spirit.
The curse provides both solace and agony. It is comforting to see Ágota’s wild smile, Albrecht’s dark eyes, and Balázs’s fatherly admiration again, but, in the aftermath of my visions, I am lonelier than ever before. In spite of my determination to defy my husband, I find myself yearning for Vlad’s comfort to assuage the isolation I suffer. It is in these weak moments it is easy to forget his cruelty and only remember the passion between us. Even now, lying here as his captive, I struggle to remind myself as to why I have chosen to turn away from him. The temptation to relent is always enticing, but tonight I am close to surrendering.
For that reason, I hope Vlad does not make an appearance tonight or brings Cneajna once again to visit. I need to harden my heart and strengthen my resolve before I see either one of them again. I cannot falter. I will find another way to liberty that will not send me to my knees before him.
“Will I ever find release from this torment?” I murmur.
“Loving someone so deeply is often difficult,” Balázs says from the shadows.