I sighed. “I just, realized... I suppose, how stupid I’ve been. I never should have left. Never should have revealed my identity to our father. I should have just stayed here, or got a job in the human world. I’ve put all of us in mortal danger and for what? For a chance to know a man who literally threw me under the bus to save his own ass?” I shook my head. “I’m so sorry.”
Bella squeezed my arm. “Don’t be,” she said. “It’s not our fault that they are so much nastier... so much more...”
“Fucked up,” Courtney finished for her.
Bella shot her a look.
“What?” Courtney asked. “How are you not used to this by now?”
“You’re right,” Bella said. “The whole situation, the people, their rules, it’s all fucked up, Ava. And it’s not your fault for assuming that they would act with common decency. That they would treat you like an actual person. And our father... how disappointing for all of us that he’s a coward, but really... the only thing that matters is that you are safe. We all are.”
I glanced between my two sisters. “But I may have made it so that you two can never meet Matlock, that you won’t be able to travel as you’d like to,” I said. I pressed my lips together, looking down at my palms. I sighed, rubbing my nose with the back of my hand. “I can’t ever undo it, or take those mistakes back.”
And I would if I could.
I’d do it in a second.
Even if it meant never seeing Tavlor again.
“We don’t blame you, Ava,” Bella said.
Courtney knocked her shoulder against me. “Nah, not at all. We’re no worse off than before, whereas you’ve been to hell and back. And I didn’t mean to set you off, before. I just wanted to know... you know, if you thought things would change. If you could see us every getting out of here.”
I took a deep breath. “I can. But a lot would have to change. The Council would need to change their feelings on... well, everything,” I said. It made me feel better to focus on answering questions. Wallowing in self-pity wasn’t something I intended to do and, quite frankly, I had had enough of it. “They’d have to change the laws on illegitimacy, give me the rights of the born heir... and generally do a full back flip on everything.”
“And what is the possibility of that happening?” Courtney asked.
I laughed. I didn’t know how else to respond. “Um... one in a billion, I’d say. But I suppose that’s still something.”
We began to chuckle and giggle together, and I hugged my sisters tight to me.
They may have forgiven me, or at least didn’t hold me responsible for the shit storm that rolled around us. But I did, and nothing was going to change unless I decided to fight.
But did I want to? With so many lives in the balance?
Would I even know where to begin?
After my breakdown, I began to see the way forward. It took some time. I gave myself the rest of
the night to indulge myself. I cried. I wondered where Tavlor was and if he was thinking of me. Was I really worth the risk to him?
When the next day came, the worst was over. I began to think more positively than I had the night before. Unfortunately, the path in front of me was still thick with impediments, deathly traps, and perhaps heart-breaking rejection.
Did I have the right to fight for a place in magical society?
And not just a place... my rightful place.
To be my father’s daughter, whatever that may entail.
Chapter 10.
If the Council would accept me as my father’s heir, I would do whatever they needed me to do in order to conform to their society. They could stick me in a school teaching kids or being some kind of magical realm police office, issuing citations for faulty brooms. I really didn’t care, as long as my life was safe, my sisters were safe, and I could see Tavlor as much as I wanted.
Surely that wasn’t too much to ask for?
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, not bothering to stifle a yawn. I wasn’t exactly great, but I was better than I had been. I was with my sisters. We were all safe—for now.
I took a seat in the lounge and decided to grab as many books as I could that might hint at how I could escape my fate. Perhaps escaping wasn’t really what I wanted to do. I wanted to change it. I wanted others to accept me for who I was.