Hotbloods 5: Traitors

Ronad knocked softly on the door to Lorela’s room, his face anxious. I lingered behind him, not knowing how Lorela would welcome me this time. We hadn’t talked much during my last visit, with Seraphina being the main event, but I hoped to get a little more recognition on this occasion. She might have been sick, but that didn’t change the fact that I was her son’s girlfriend. She would have to come to terms with that, one way or another.

“Man, I hate visiting the parents,” I whispered, trying to make a joke to calm my nerves. My meetings with Navan’s parents rarely went how I wanted them to.

Ronad grinned. “You’ll do fine. Jareth’s the scary one, remember?”

I nodded, though I wasn’t entirely convinced. From my limited knowledge of boyfriends’ parents, the mother was always the one to watch out for. Even Jean hadn’t been immune to it, silently judging every date who came to pick me up from the house. Navan had miraculously managed to win her over with his charm, but he was pretty much the only one who’d achieved it—and he hadn’t actually been my boyfriend back then. I doubted she’d feel the same warmth toward him now, after my disappearance, but I hoped one day I’d get the chance to reintroduce them. For now, I had the memory of him standing at my door, introducing himself to my adoptive parents. It felt bittersweet.

“Come in!” Lorela’s feeble voice finally called from the other side of the door.

Ronad opened it and stepped inside, with me following close behind. Lorela was propped up in bed, a tower of pillows stacked behind her. She smiled as she saw Ronad, her gaze resting on me for no longer than a second. Once again, it seemed my presence wasn’t important. After all, as far as she knew, I was Navan’s pet—a plaything he’d picked up from some distant part of the universe.

“How are you feeling today, Lo?” Ronad asked, using a nickname I’d never heard. It suited her, making her seem less frightening, somehow.

She reached up her trembling hand to touch his face as he took a seat on the mattress beside her. “I feel better, my sweet boy. How are you? You look so unwell,” she remarked, frowning. “I’ll never get used to the sight of you like this. I just don’t understand why you’ve done this to your beautiful skin.”

“We’ve been over this, Lo. You don’t need to worry about me or my skin. I’m fine,” he assured her, holding her hand.

I walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down in a spare chair, folding my hands awkwardly in my lap.

“Why have you brought her?” Lorela asked, turning her gaze back toward me. This time, her stare lasted longer than a second. In fact, I could feel the full length of her scrutiny as she let her eyes drift across me.

“She is Navan’s partner, Lo,” Ronad explained, offering me an apologetic glance. “She’s staying here until Navan comes back for her.”

Lorela shook her head defiantly. “No, no, no, Ronad, you have it all awry!” she proclaimed. “My sweet child, you were never the sharpest tool in the drawer, though your heart was always the kindest. You must have things mixed up again. This creature is Navan’s pet; she is not his partner. Seraphina is his partner, remember?” She gave a soft laugh, as though Ronad were being stupid.

I thought about defending myself, but realized there wasn’t much point. No matter what I said, Lorela wouldn’t believe me.

“He is engaged to Seraphina, Lo, but this is—”

Lorela didn’t let him finish. “I have been thinking a lot about the upcoming nuptials between that exquisite young lady and my son. I know they have not always seen eye-to-eye, but I am certain they will be happy with each other, once they are wed. It is always the way.” She sighed wistfully. “Why, even Jareth and I were not always the perfect couple, though you would not think it to look at us.”

“You weren’t?” Ronad prompted.

Lorela chuckled softly. “Rask, no! The first time I met Jareth was at the ceremonial fountain, seconds before we made the vows that would eternally bind us together. Our parents were the ones who forged the arrangement, and we had to obey.”

“You didn’t know him at all?” I gasped, unable to stay quiet.

She shook her head. “I didn’t even know his name until the master of ceremonies told me what to say,” she whispered, strangely conspiratorial. “I loathed the very sight of him. I cried the whole day, knowing I would never get to marry Virado Hargen—a man I was already hopelessly in love with, who loved me too. Or so I thought.”

I watched her, baffled. At least Navan and Seraphina knew each other, but to enter into a marriage with no idea of who the other person was… It seemed totally outlandish to me, especially on a planet that was advanced in so many other ways.

“Anyway, the vows were made, the contract sealed, the ceremonial water consumed, and we were bound together for life,” Lorela continued, smiling to herself. “Back then, I did not know how sweet, and generous, and brave he was. No, I did not know how lucky I was until much later. Now, my Navan and that rare beauty, Seraphina, they are one step ahead of us! They are friends already and will be in love in no time at all!”

“What if they’re not?” I asked sharply.

“Love is a pleasant thing to have, but it is not necessary in a marriage. If they do not love one another, then they shall simply have to put up with each other until children are born,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Children change everything. Children can bring out love where it did not seem possible.”

I wondered if that was how Lorela and Jareth had eventually fallen in love, though it still seemed barbaric to me. She would have had to consummate the marriage without feeling anything but hate for the man she’d married. I doubted Jareth had been very happy about the arrangement, either. Maybe he’d been prevented from marrying someone he loved. I still thought Jareth was a complete asshole, but a small part of him had softened in my eyes, now that I knew he’d endured some hardship in his life. Lorela, too.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure if that made the arrangement between Seraphina and Navan worse or better. I would have thought they’d feel some compassion toward Navan’s predicament, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“I brought you some medicine, Lo, to take away the nightmares,” Ronad said, changing the subject. “Sarrask tells me they’ve been getting worse?”

Lorela nodded, accepting the vial Ronad offered. “I have such terrible headaches, my sweet boy, and my dreams are so terrifying. I cannot close my eyes for long before the monsters come creeping in.” Her eyes glazed over for a moment as she lifted the vial to her lips and drank deep. “I worry that it is my punishment.”

“Punishment?” I prompted, hoping the tonic wouldn’t take her too quickly into the Land of Nod.

She smiled. “Jareth could have done so much more, if it weren’t for me. He had such hopes for our nation. I made him choose,” she murmured sleepily. “He had the key… to change everything.”

“What do you mean, Lo?” Ronad asked, leaning down to shake her gently by the shoulders, but it was too late—her eyes had closed. The sleeping tonic had done its work.

I looked at him. “What do you think she meant?”

“No idea. It might’ve been the tonic talking,” he reasoned, taking the empty vial back and slipping it into his pocket. “It blurs the line between dream and reality.”

What if it wasn’t a dream? I thought. What had she meant by making Jareth choose? Did she mean choosing her over a job, or choosing a side? I supposed we’d never find out.