Page 56 of Trial of Deceit (The Family’s Oath #1)

Chapter thirty-five

B ryony’s brows furrowed. “Wa you a talk ’bout?”

“It’s a long story…” Jediah muttered while standing.

Bryony crossed her arms. “Me have all day—”

“Miss B,” Jediah said, exasperated. “Please.”

She stared at him for a moment, then sighed while nodding.

Jediah gave her a tired smile. “Where’s Reine?” he asked, and Bryony shrugged. “I’ll go look for her,” he announced, and Bryony nodded as she walked past him. Her footsteps echoed behind him down the hallway until they went to different wings.

Stopping before the entrance to the wing, Jediah listened as noises from furniture scraping against the floor drifted down the wall. Exhaling a long sigh, Jediah nodded toward the guards before he took the first step forward.

He hadn’t been down this wing since his father died…

Now, as his footsteps echoed off the empty walls, his chest tightened.

He didn’t miss Kayon. No, he didn’t.

But something inside him was missing.

As he drew closer to the door — one he used to knock on to see his mother in the mornings when she had morning sickness; one he barged inside to glower at his disabled father — he realized what he was.

There was nothing else left to look forward to beyond this doorway.

Still, he pressed on, with his throat tight, heart racing, and hands sweaty.

He reached out a shaking hand toward the doorknob, then opened it. He pushed the door inward, and it slowly swung open.

His shoulders sagged as he noticed Reine by the window. She sat in Kayon’s chair, staring at the backyard with her arms resting on the arm rest. “Knew I’d find you here.”

Reine didn’t answer.

Jediah sighed and moved closer to his sister. He stopped behind her and raised his hand to lay on her shoulder, but she got up and took one step away. He sighed again while lowering his arm. “I deserve that…” he muttered, and Reine didn’t reply. “I’m sorry, Reine.”

She snapped her head to the side, her body shaking as tears grew in her eyes. “For which part? Playing wid mi feelings? Knowing Malia did alive?”

Jediah gasped. “Say whatever you want about me not saying anything about Sashoy and Dimitria, but I was just as surprised as you about our mother.”

“Mi find it hard fi believe that!”

“Believe wa yu wan’. Mi don’ in a the mood fi argue wid yu,” he said, and she scoffed. Jediah grabbed her by the arm. “Come mek mi show yu something.”

“Let mi go!” Reine tried pulling free as he dragged her out of the office, across the yard to the warehouse and down to the dungeon, but her attempts were futile.

He released her arm. They faced each other, both breathing heavily while glaring at each other.

“Mi tired a you a treat mi like a baby!” Reine yelled, her voice bouncing off the walls. “I can handle the truth.”

“And mi tired a you a be unappreciative fi every thing mi eva do fi yu!” Jediah yelled back. “Maybe mi coulda be happy if mi whole life neva revolve ’round yu already!”

Reine gasped. The fire left her eyes as she staggered backward. “I make you unhappy?”

“No, Reine,” he said with a heavy sigh. “You make me happy. That came out wrong, and I’m sorry.”

She crossed her arms and looked away. Guilt weighed on Jediah as Reine rapidly blinked, clearing tears from her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, then stepped forward. He hesitantly put his arms around her, his tense stance loosening when Reine didn’t pull away.

A few seconds passed before Reine’s arms circled his waist. “I’m sorry, too. Mi just emotional with all wa happen over the past few days. Mi still don’ fully process it, and mi tek it out pon yu.”

“I guess me can forgive yu,” Jediah joked, causing Reine to chuckle. He smiled, then kissed atop her head. “I have something to show you.”

Reine pressed her chin into his chest. Her brow raised. “What’s that?”

“Come.” He broke the hug, then led her down the hall.

They stopped before a heavily guarded door. Reine threw him a curious glance, but kept quiet as the guards opened the door. Jediah made her enter the chamber first. He clenched his jaw as she gasped. The door closed behind them.

A small cage was in the middle of the chamber. It could be observed from all angles. It was big enough to fit a chair, a small table, and the woman who was supposed to be dead.

Malia, who had her back turned, looked over her shoulder. Noticing her children, she gasped and quickly put down something — the glass of wine she’d requested — onto the table before standing. She moved toward the cage and locked her hands around the metal posts. “You’ve gotten so big…”

Reine stepped backward. She bumped into Jediah, who stood his ground. “W-why is she in a cage?”

“I couldn’t put her in a casket,” Jediah answered.

Malia’s gaze shifted to him. Her eyes narrowed slightly, her fingers flexing on the metal posts. “Remember, Jediah: I’m not your enemy.”

Reine gulped. Her wide-eyes were still locked on Malia, frightened as if she was staring at a ghost. “Why did you bring me here?” she asked Jediah.

“We have something to tell you,” Jediah said.

“W-we?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“The biggest secret you’ll have to carry for the rest of your life.”

Reine’s brows furrowed. “Huh?”

Jediah fixed his icy glare at her. He couldn’t allow himself to see her as his little sister.

She was just another Richardson — a vital member of this family, one needed to keep it afloat.

“You say you’re not a baby, right?” he asked, to which Reine slowly nodded.

Jediah’s focus lingered on her for a few seconds more, causing her to shuffle on her feet, before he looked at their mother and nodded.

Malia looked at Reine. Her eyes softened, then tears sprang to them. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “For leaving you. And lying for so long. I’m sorry for everything.”

“And what else?” Jediah urged, and Malia’s brows crinkled. “Tell her everything you told me.”

Malia sighed, then dragged her focus to Reine. “Tell the guards to get her a chair, or take me out of this cage. It’s inhumane.”

Reine looked at Jediah for the first time. That childlike hope was in her eyes again, the one she wore every day at Malia’s graveside until she truly understood that her mommy would not be coming back.

It broke Jediah’s heart all over again. Instead of allowing it to sway a decision he would have to firmly stand on, Jediah siphoned Reine’s hope away. He moved to the door. He knocked it, then it opened from the outside. He told a guard, “Open the cage.”

As a guard entered the chamber to comply with Jediah’s order, Malia gave Jediah a grateful smile. “Thank you,” she said, relief lacing her tone as the guard left the chamber and closed the door behind him.

Holding his mother’s stare, Jediah mustered a nod. “Don’t make me regret this,” Jediah said, ignoring how Reine’s brows furrowed as she glanced between them. “ Please .”