Chapter 27

Elara

I stared at the tiny rings made from flower stems, touched by the idea and yet feeling a strange heaviness settle in my chest. It was an innocent gesture, but the girls didn’t realize just how awkward the idea of us wearing rings truly was.

After all, Alaric and I weren’t husband and wife. Not in a way that mattered, at least. And the very moment these six months were up, we would get a divorce and shatter the very notion of the girls living in a whole household.

Zoe held out one of the little rings to me, her eyes shining. Ella did the same for Alaric. I glanced up at him through my lashes, wondering how he would react.

He had just allowed us to put a flower crown on his head, much to the girls’ great delight, but now they were offering these makeshift rings. I wondered if he would let them do this as well, if only to keep them happy—and avoid raising eyebrows amongst the staff, what with Clyde and Annie watching, after all.

For a moment, he hesitated. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

“That’s not necessary,” he finally said in a neutral voice. I couldn’t read his expression fully, but the tension in his shoulders told me that he was just as uncomfortable as I was. Meanwhile, Annie and Clyde just continued to watch us quietly.

The girls pouted in unison. “But it symbolizes a family, see?” Zoe insisted, waving her own tiny green-ringed finger at him. “Ella and I have them too!”

Indeed, I noticed that both girls were wearing their own flower stem rings. That was a little better, I supposed; so they weren’t entirely like wedding rings. But it was still saddening to hear the girls say that they symbolized a ‘real family’ when that wasn’t entirely the truth.

Finally, clearly unable to deny them, Alaric let out a small sigh and accepted the ring from Ella. “Fine,” he conceded. But just as he went to slip it onto his own finger, the girls stopped him, giggling conspiratorially.

“You have to put it on Mommy’s finger,” Ella explained, grinning widely.

“And she’ll put the other on yours!” Zoe added.

I raised an eyebrow, my heart giving a small, unexpected flutter in my chest. Alaric’s face was impassive, but I noticed the subtle tightening of his jaw before he nodded. Carefully, he reached for my hand, his fingers warm as they curled around mine.

I swallowed, trying not to seem too affected by the intimate gesture. These were just flower stems that would probably wilt and wind up in the garbage by the end of the day, but as he slipped the makeshift ring onto my finger, I couldn’t help imagining for a brief, traitorous moment that these were real rings we were exchanging.

The notion made my pulse turn hot, even though I knew better than to get my hopes up.

Taking the other ring from Zoe, I turned to Alaric and gently took his hand. His palm was warm and slightly callused. He allowed me to slide it onto his finger, his gaze never leaving my face. I tried to keep my expression calm, hoping he couldn’t tell what was racing through my mind.

When we were finished, Ella clapped her hands, clearly delighted. “There! Now we’ll all be together forever,” she declared.

I managed a bittersweet smile at those words. Together forever.

If only it were that simple.

Holding my breath, I shot a furtive glance at Alaric, but he just looked away, his face carefully blank. He was good at that, at shutting down whatever emotion that might be threatening to surface.

The girls, blissfully unaware, continued to eat their food and run around the picnic blanket.

Eventually, after the food had run out and the girls had skipped around the field a few more times, it was time to wrap up.

Annie and I folded up the blanket and cleaned up the dirty dishes. Alaric helped carry the empty pitchers and plates. Clyde stood, stretching his back and thanking me politely for including him.

The girls, flower crowns askew, still brimming with excitement, babbled on about how we should do this every week.

With the picnic concluded, we headed back toward the house. I noticed Alaric pulling away slightly, as if regaining the distance he normally kept between us. He handed me the basket, hardly even looking at me, before excusing himself to handle ‘some work in the study.’

I tried not to feel disappointed as I watched his retreating figure—six months, I reminded myself for what felt like the millionth time in the past days. Just get through these six months.

Inside the house, Grace was blissfully nowhere to be found. I took Zoe and Ella upstairs for nap time. But as I went to take Zoe to her room first, she tugged on my hand.

“Can I nap with Ella?” she asked.

I paused, glancing down at Ella to see her reaction. I doubted she’d want to share her bed with Zoe just yet, even if they were getting along pretty well lately.

But to my surprise, Ella beamed and said, “That would be fun! It’ll be like a sleepover!”

With that settled, we headed to Ella’s room. The girls glanced at each other, then climbed onto Ella’s bed together, snuggling side by side. I smiled at the sight. They had truly become inseparable in such a short time. It made me happy, even if I knew I’d have to leave them eventually.

“Sleep well, my loves,” I whispered, kissing each of their foreheads. Zoe murmured something sleepy and unintelligible, while Ella blinked slowly, her lashes fluttering as she drifted off.

I stood there for a moment, watching their peaceful faces, my heart aching..

Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and closed the door quietly behind me. I looked down at my hand, noticing that I was still wearing the little flower stem ring. It was starting to wilt at the edges, but it was still there, a small, silly token of what could never be. I turned it on my finger thoughtfully.

At that exact moment, I heard the sound of heels clicking rapidly on the marble floors. Before I could fully turn, I felt a sharp tug at my hair, yanking my neck back.

I jerked my head away and whirled around to see none other than Grace standing behind me, her eyes as cold and furious as ever.

“I made a hair appointment for you,” she said, as if this were some great favor. “You need to fix that awful hair. I can’t have a Luna looking like a farmhand.”

And with that, she turned on her heel and strode away.

I opened my mouth to call after her and tell her to go to hell with her hair appointment, but shut it again, thinking better of it. “Don’t fight with my mother,” Alaric had said. “It’s easier that way.”

Grace, however, noticing my hesitation, shot me a withering glare over her shoulder.

“Hurry up!” she barked, not even slowing her pace as she stormed down the hall. “We haven’t got all day!”