My Lover Cheated, I Read Our Fate

Chapter 3

When awareness returned, Avelisse found herself back at the Cauldrake home.

She opened her eyes to see Theron sitting beside her bed, watching over her. He looked utterly worn out as he leaned against the bedside, eyes closed in a brief rest, his brow drawn tight as if weighed down by endless care.

Avelisse felt a sharp pain in her chest.

She spoke his name softly, "Theron..."

At the sound of her voice, he started.

He opened rimmed red eyes further and pulled her tightly into his arms. "Avelisse, I know I have done wrong..." His voice shook, heavy with regret and shame. "It will never happen again. Please do not leave me."

It was rare to see him so afraid, this man who had always been so steady and sure in every matter.

He held her close, and warmth came from him in steady waves. Yet inside, she felt as though she had turned to ice. Every part of her grew cold.

When she did not answer at once, the calm she had always known in him broke. He looked frantic.

He raised one hand and swore solemnly. "I was lost for a moment, that is all. I will make her end this, the child will not be born."

So her foresight had been true after all.

Avelisse gave a faint, bitter smile. If it had truly been nothing but a moment's weakness... how could Maerith have conceived? And how could the spell within her have awakened?

It felt as though something had been torn right out of her heart, and every breath stung. And worse still, when she tried to recall the days at Whitepeak, the memories were gone. The spell had taken them. There was nothing there.

Avelisse stared blankly out the window, saying nothing.

Thinking she did not believe him, Theron stood up at once. "I will see it myself." He began to march toward the door, only to meet his mother stepping into the room, hurrying in with fury in her face.

"I should like to see who dares end my grandson's life!" she cried sharply before she turned her gaze upon Avelisse, her look so fierce it seemed she would tear her apart where she lay. "Five years she has been here, and not one heir to show for it. I say this marriage is finished."

"Mother!" Theron cut her off, his voice sharp with impatience. "This is between Avelisse and me. Do not interfere." He stepped forward, took hold of her firmly, and led her from the room.

Avelisse remained sitting on the edge of the bed, her mind in turmoil. Every feeling warred within her. She did not know how to bear such betrayal. And yet, the very thought of parting from him felt as though her heart was being torn from her chest.

As those of her calling would say, her heart had woven itself around his, and could not be untangled.

She endured that agony for what felt like a very long time before the door opened once more.

Theron walked in slowly, his face grave and heavy with regret. "Avelisse..."

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with all the love she still bore him, broken and hurting, yet still there.

His face softened with pain, and he went to her, holding her gently. "I will not see you suffer such pain. Let her bear the child. Then she will go, and never trouble us again. Is that... is that something you could bear?"

Avelisse knew him well enough to understand. When he spoke so calmly, his mind was made. Only moments before, he had sworn he would end the child's life.

Then she remembered.

Long ago, at the school for seers, when he had asked her to be his wife, he had said something very different. He had looked at her with all his heart and promised, "I love you for who you are. Whether we have children or not matters to me. We shall walk through life together... just the two of us."

And now... for the sake of an heir, he asked her to yield, again and again.

Avelisse swallowed the ache rising in her throat, then her voice came low and rough. "And afterward? Who will tend her through the months? Who will be there when the child is born, and what shall we say when it asks where it came from?"

Theron fell silent. He stood still, his throat working as he struggled to answer, and found no answer at all.

At last, he stepped back from her.

"I will find a way," he said.

With that, he turned and left the room.

Avelisse did not know what he meant to do. She waited until she was quite alone. Then, steadying herself, she took her tarot cards and set them out, along with scented candles.

She meant to cast a reading, to see what lay ahead for this bond, and for herself. She set the time carefully and began. But from the moment she turned the first card, her hands and feet grew cold. Cold sweat broke out across her skin.

When the reading was done, half an hour later, her face was as white as bone. She looked as though she had been pulled from freezing water.

She opened her eyes wearily and looked at what the cards had shown.

Great ruin.

The darkest possible fortune.