I closed my eyes and concentrated until I found what I needed. This new talent seemed better all the time. I was in the mind of one of the large mountain lions I’d left in the castle, seeing through its eyes. It wasn’t as easy as the others, harder to stay focused here than in the horses. He didn’t cooperate as well as I would have liked, but I was able to get him to move from his comfortable spot… where was he? I tried to look around but the cat became distracted by the sight of blood and I had to focus harder to keep him moving. Eee, hope that was whatever Dree was feeding them and not Dree… He’d been lounging high on a ledge, in the throne room I thought. I wasn’t sure how to get where I was going, still confused about the layout of the castle. But I thought I knew where to go – Ruby’s room.
As we wandered through the corridors my head began to ache slightly. The castle was pretty empty, but I didn’t know if that had anything to do with the presence of the cats. I tried several rooms, but most of the ones that were open held nothing of interest. I was wondering how I would ever find it when I came to a set of double doors that I’d never seen before. They looked more ornate than the others, which showed promise. With some effort, I reached a heavy paw up to pull down the lever that released the latch. The cat was bigger than I’d realized, its weighty body pushed the door right open.
He slunk forward, toward the sheered bed and I let him, looking around as we went. It seemed easier to “ride along” than to constantly try and control his movement. He pounced the sheers, pulling them loose, and then lazily plopped down on the end of the bed, looking out, around the room. I wasn’t sure how to know when I’d found Ruby’s room, let alone where to look for the diary, but this was definitely a woman’s room. There were rich fabrics everywhere, dresses draped over the wardrobe door. But, they were dusty, very dusty. I took a closer look at the bedding, it was also aged. So, this couldn’t have been Ruby’s room, it hadn’t been used for what seemed to be a exceptionally long time. Why weren’t the servants cleaning it?
I tried to move down from the bed to get a better look at the items on the vanity. We didn’t budge. My head was almost throbbing now but I tried harder. He didn’t behave as I wanted and I wondered if this was why so many less had shown up at the castle than I’d planned. Then his head turned suddenly, there was some commotion nearing the door. He was moving now, but I concentrated on making out the sounds.
“The seal has been broken… Miss Vita’s room… no, no, by one of the cats…”
I didn’t know whether it was the pain in my head or recognition of the name that brought me back, but I was gone from the castle in a heartbeat. I sat up on my blankets, rubbing my temples as I attempted to focus on the memories. Vita. My mother’s mother, I’d read it in the diary. She’d died, from grief, it had said. My mother had tried to see her, and her room later, but it was sealed, kept from her by her father.
“Headache?” Ruby was watching me. I had an audience. Big surprise. I opened my mouth to speak but was too exhausted so I just shook my head and lay back down. It was near impossible to examine the memories now, between the exhaustion and pain. So I tried to not think as I drifted off to sleep.
I felt better when I woke but I was positive I could have used a few more hours sleep. I was a little grumpy and more foggy than usual. By late morning, I’d remembered that I was mad at Ruby for keeping something from me and I shot a glare her direction.
Steed saw my sour face. “Don’t be sore with Ruby.”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“She had her reasons for the invasion.” He read the confusion on my face and continued in a hushed tone, “She’s very interested in your… lineage.”
I realized he was talking about her reading my mother’s diary and the anger was suddenly stronger. I had forgotten that part. He’d stopped talking so I composed my face and waited, trying to look patient.
He smiled at my attempt. We fell back from the others as he explained. “You know some of her story, that she’s a half-breed.”
Patience was a hard thing.
“Oh, I should just start from the beginning. It will be a long ride after all.” He could tell I was struggling.
His grin died as he began what I knew was a serious story. “My mother and father had a happy life. Their differences fit nicely together and their bonds were strong. But the horses couldn’t thrive on the mountains that my mother loved and my father traveled often to find new blood to bring in for the line, so he was gone sometimes for months at a time, as was I, once I began to learn the trade. Which is why we were both absent during the… incident in which she lost her life.”
I tried not to groan. I was sure the “incident” he referred to was the massacre single-handedly caused by my mother.
“We returned separately, as I was detained, in another matter, and so I was not there when he’d received the news.”
I realized I was holding my breath and focused on matching it to the rhythm of the hoofbeats.
“When I finally saw him, he was beyond distraught. He was… not himself. I was fearful for him but I too was in mourning. And I had my own duties to fulfill. So, I found myself gone again when the second tragedy befell him.”