My Lover Cheated, I Read Our Fate

Chapter 6

Maerith seemed entirely unaware of the heavy silence in the hall.

She stepped forward, her arm slipping naturally through Theron's, while Avelisse watched with a heart full of pain and doubt.

"I have been waiting for so long. Let us go, shall we? The smoke here makes the baby feel unwell."

As she spoke, she took Theron's broad hand and placed it gently against her belly.

Theron did not pull away. He lifted his gaze and gave Avelisse one cold, distant look. Then he turned and walked from the hall, supporting Maerith by the arm.

The sight of them walking so closely together cut into Avelisse like a needle.

This was her home. She was the one who had stood beside him as his wife for five years. Why did she feel as though she had been cast aside?

Avelisse swayed where she stood. She leaned against a great pillar, her mind turning over and over.

How many times had he made excuses to leave her? How many times had he walked away just as he did today, to be with Maerith? And all those promises he had made, that he would send her away once the child was born, how much of it could she truly believe?

Caedryn saw her pale face and stepped forward gently. "Avelisse, men of business are often ruled by gain. You must not—

"Thank you, Caedryn." Avelisse forced a thin, painful smile as she cut him off gently. "Do not comfort me. And do not let my troubles disturb your peace and your work here." She turned and walked away, her spirit broken, back to her quiet room.

The school for seers followed a way of life where one lived in harmony with one's heart. No one would blame her for resting through the day.

Yet the moment she lay upon her bed, her mind filled with nothing but the cards Theron had drawn. No matter what had come between the three of them, the child was innocent.

Moved by kindness, and ignoring the exhaustion weighing her down, Avelisse rose, washed, and changed her clothes. She laid out her tarot cards once more, to see what fate held for the child. Breath grew harder to draw. Her chest felt as though crushed beneath a mountain.

When the final card fell, she could barely breathe. It felt as though every drop of strength had been pulled from her body. Trembling, she pushed the candles aside and studied the reading with great care.

Again, the cards showed the same truth, this child would not be born alive.

A great and heavy despair fell upon her. The world seemed to spin. She felt as though she had sunk deep beneath dark water, every breath burning, every part of her aching.

She leaned over the table, coughing violently, and then she crumpled to the floor, blood spilling from her lips, and darkness took her.

*****

When awareness returned, it was pain that woke her.

Deep within her, the curse was at work, eating away at her, pulling her apart, and tearing away her memories.

Avelisse knew what it meant.

Theron had given his heart to Maerith once more. But she could not remember what had been lost.

Bearing the pain, she reached toward the bedside table, for the album that held every memory of their five years together. However, as she stretched out, her hand failed her, and the album slipped and fell hard upon the floor.

Caedryn heard the sound outside. He rushed in carrying medicine, and caught her as she swayed. "You carry a curse already. Why do this to yourself? Why cast such readings?"

Avelisse lowered her eyes and said nothing.

Seeing he could not change her mind, sorrow touched Caedryn's face. He set the cup aside and lifted it to her lips. "This will hold the curse back for a time. But you must not cast any more readings. Rest. Grow strong. And I shall find a way to lift this burden from you."

His care was so gentle it brought tears to her eyes.

She drank the bitter brew and whispered, "Thank you."

Caedryn paused, his hand resting lightly. "You need not thank me. We have always been friends."

With that he turned and left.

Once he was gone, Avelisse reached for the fallen album. She opened it slowly.

There, on the very first page was their wedding photograph. Theron, dressed in black, lifted her high in his arms while she stood in white lace. He looked at her with such love it seemed nothing else existed.

Avelisse lifted trembling fingers and traced the line of his face.

She could almost hear the photographer's voice, "Sir, do not look just at her. Look this way..."

She ached for the man she had married. Those memories grew and tangled around her heart like vines, binding it tight. At each reminder of the man he used to be, tears spilled over at last.

"Avelisse." A familiar voice broke her away from her thoughts.

She quickly closed the album and wiped her eyes.

Theron stepped into the room, his face full of concern. "You are unwell? Should we go to the hospital?" He spoke as though nothing had happened, as though all the harsh words and accusations had never been spoken.

Avelisse could not so easily forget.

She gripped the sheets tight and said, "Are you not with Maerith? Is it not time for her appointment?"

Theron paused. He stepped closer and drew her gently into his arms. "Do not be angry. I did what I did for the child. And besides, night is falling. The paths are too dark to climb down. So I have asked Maerith to remain here, for now. Avelisse, you have the gift. You can make things turn out right. You will save this child, will you not?"

To change such a fate, to turn such a reading aside, would almost certainly cost Avelisse her life.

She pulled away from him, trembling. "I cannot.

Theron's expression hardened. His eyes grew dark and unreadable.

"Cannot? Or will not? Avelisse, remember. Once, long ago, I carried you down from that mountain. I saved you. Now I ask you to save this child for me."