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k_a_webb“You want to what?” Fury filled Velia’s voice as they stared at each other and Clara found herself, inexplicably, smiling. “So you’re declining your inheritance and you handfasted without permission… I can’t believe you’re my daughter. How can you do this to me, Clara?”
For a moment Clara’s eyes met with her father’s. She could see pain in them, but he was also nodding, as though he understood. “Velia, it’s done now and this is not a conversation we should be having here. Clara, love, bring your husband and we’ll talk about this at home.”
“Don’t bring your husband anywhere near my home.” Velia turned to look at Terho. “This is all your fault. I always knew your blood was tainted, but I never thought…” She shook her head. “She’s never even met that woman.”
“The woman you’re talking about is my sister and admittedly she’s a bit different, but…”
“A bit different? She left the world years ago and she hasn’t come back since, because she ‘prefers’ travelling the worlds, like some common tramp. I would expect that of someone born on the surface.”
Clara looked over at her husband, who had been born on the surface, hoping that he knew, after all the time they’d spent together, her mother’s prejudices weren’t hers. ‘I love you,’ Andrei mouthed, making her feel stronger, and she couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel uncomfortable with her, but she hoped he was beginning to realise why she’d been so secretive about their relationship. It had never been because she was embarrassed by him – she just didn’t want him to have to deal with her mother. She’d even tried to talk him out of being at the ceremony as she had a feeling things were only to go from bad to worse when she declined her inheritance.
“Look, I know you don’t like my sister, even though you’ve never met her, but Clara is our daughter and we are going to respect the decisions that she’s made. She’s of age, she knows what she wants, and there is nothing you can do to change what’s happened, so deal with it.”
Velia shook her head again. “Being of age doesn’t mean she has any sense. Marrying someone from the surface.” She shuddered. “It’s not quite as bad as marrying an off-worlder, but it’s bad enough.”
Biting hard on her lip Clara looked between her parents. She’d had enough of standing there, so she sent a sympathetic smile in the direction of the mayor, stepped off the plinth, and made her way over to where Andrei was. It didn’t take her long to get to him, fortunately. When he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against him, she had to use all of her willpower to push away the tears that were threatening to escape, because she was not going to cry around people who were still whispering about her. Of course Velia’s outburst really hadn’t helped matters, but it was to be expected and there had been no way to get out of the ceremony – Clara knew that for certain because she’d hunted desperately for them.
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.