Chapter 301: Whose mother was worse?
The two elders raised their hands, but Elias kept his lowered. His ears stiffened, his tail flicked in agitation. "No," he said firmly, though doubt lingered in his voice. "She is already confused about who she is. If we wipe her memory, we will be stripping more from her. She has to remember who she is, even if hurts. How can she protect herself and her family if she doesn’t know what to protect them from?"
The elders sighed. But Jess did not give up. "Let the decision be up to her then. If she does not wish to remember, she does not have to."
Elias looked at them with worry, "Her fear is not her maternal bloodline, it is you. She is afraid that from now on, when you look at her, all you will see is the granddaughter of a thief. That you will hide your jewels and money when you see her coming."
Jess snorted. "Between Sienna who has never asked for anything from us and your noble mother that actually stole from the family to fund her maternal relatives, who do you think we are more wary of?"
As bitter as it was, Elias managed a smile. He smacked his head with his right hand. "I can’t believe that I did not think of this last night when I was assuring Sienna that everything would work out." He turned and sprinted from the room.
He found the bedroom door wide open. Mrs. Miller and grandma Byra had finished giving Sienna the sponge bath. The mattress and sheets and been changed to fresh ones. The windows were open and the room smelled like daisies.
"The doctor has said she will wake soon. The fever has broken, and she is not shivering or sweating anymore." Grandma Byra informed Elias, as she passed by him in the doorway, tapping his arm in a gesture of comfort. "The children went out with my husband, he figured they need a distraction. Eli is already asking about the missing nanny. I told him she is on vacation. It will be up to you to tell him that she was a spy all along."
He nodded firmly. "Thank you." Elias did not look frantic, but he was. He wanted to talk to his wife alone, because he was sure she could hear him even in her feverish state. He dismissed everyone from the room and locked the door.
Alone, he sat beside Sienna, taking her hands in his. Her breaths came shallow, her lips slightly dry, and her eyes fluttered open only to close again. Elias’s gaze remained steady despite the storm raging in his chest. He leaned close, his voice low, meant only for her ears.
"Sienna," he whispered, "listen to me. You think your maternal bloodline is something to be ashamed of, but compared to mine....compared to what my mother did, it is nothing."
His words carried the weight of old wounds. "At least your mother’s crimes were during childhood. She didn’t have a choice in most of them. But my mother, she was of sound mind when she chose to take over 250 million in secret and subsidize her maternal family. It’s not taking--it’s theft, because she did it secretly. If she had continued unchecked for some more years, she would likely have bled the Veythar’s dry.
Do you remember when you went with my grandmother to take back what she had stolen? You emptied my maternal grandmother’s house proudly. You stood beside my grandmother Jess, strong, unflinching, even though it wasn’t your problem or burden to carry.
That day, I saw your courage in the midst of the comedy. You faced a house of nobles, went through the wreckage my mother had left behind and you did not falter."
Sienna stirred faintly, her fevered mind catching his voice.
Elias pressed on, his tone both bitter and tender. "Your mother is a saint, truly. She would never take from her own children to fill the pockets of others. My mother sold my personal belongings--things that held meaning only to me. My prized horses, the ones I raised from foals, she gave them away to her brother to pay his gambling debts. There we go-- I have an uncle who is a gambler." He laughed softly.
"See, I am the winner in the messed up family competition. I have never told anyone this, but there was a period of two years where I hated my own mother. I couldn’t stand being in the same room as her. She took the gifts my great grandfather gave me at my coming of age celebration and divided them among her nephews without my knowledge or permission. She treated my belonging as though they were hers to scatter. When my great grandpa found out, he almost set the Twindell estate on fire."
He jaw tightened, but his voice softened. "Every time I discovered another theft, another betrayal, it felt like a knife. I learned to live with the emptiness she left behind. And yet, Sienna, even with all that, my grandparents never forced my father to divorce. The never turned their backs on our family so they could never turn their backs on you. They like you. They respect you. The see you--your strength, your loyalty and they choose you. Just like I choose you."
Sienna’s fevered eyes opened briefly, glazed but searching. Elias brushed her slightly damp hair back from her forehead, his touch gentle. "You have nothing to fear. My mother’s betrayal was far greater, and still she is a part of the family. My family and I see you for the woman you are and not the shadows of your ancestors."
He leaned closer, his voice a steady anchor in her delirium. "You are not defined by the mistakes of others. Not your mother’s theft and not your father’s rebellion. Please, wake up quickly. Don’t leave me and the children. If you want to leave, then take us with you. We can start out own tribe. No matter what your past is, you are my future."
Sienna’s fevered breathing steadied slightly, her body relaxing under the weight of his words. Elias pressed a kiss to her hand, his voice a final vow. "Rest now. Heal. Take all the time you need, as long as you remember that there is nothing to be afraid of. You are loved, you are chosen, and you are safe."