I understood then what I was looking at. This was not just Elara being jealous or cruel. This was something she had learned, something passed down.
"You have been drugging him," I said.
"I have been helping him," she said. "Calder is not capable of managing his own emotions. He never has been. My mother understood that, she understood that some people need guidance." She looked at me. "That some people are better when someone else is making their decisions."
"That is not guidance. That is control."
"Call it what you want." She stood up and walked to the mirror. She looked at her reflection and smiled at herself. "The point is that it works. Calder is exactly where he needs to be."
"Which is where?" I asked. "Obsessed with me? Following me around? Losing his mind?"
She turned around.
