Lucia Heartwell's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Lucia pressed her ear to the stone and listened. Nothing came up the stairs but silence. She thought her message had broken through. Instead, the door groaned open. The old guard filled the doorway, helmet crooked, beard swaying as he shook his head. Behind him stood the dark-haired heir. "Your message," the guard said. "I gave it. She wants to answer it herself." He stepped aside and would not meet Lucia's eyes. Sebastian Ashford walked in. The girl she had come to help stood behind him, arms crossed, jaw set. She did not look at Lucia. She looked at the wall. "You told my brother to finish what you started," the dark-haired girl said. Her voice was flat and cold. "You think you know my heart. You don't." Lucia looked into her, the way she always could. Usually she saw everything. A hidden wish. A soft place under the anger. This time she found only a locked box, sealed tight. The fury had shut the lid. Even Lucia's gift slid off the surface and found no way in. "You wrote the letter," Lucia said quietly. "You love him. I know it's still true." "You stole from me. You read my words out loud to strangers." The girl's hands shook. "Whatever was in that letter, you killed it when you touched it." Lucia's chest went tight. She reached for the feeling under the anger and hit stone. For the first time, her gift failed her. Words had failed. The door had failed. Now her one true power failed too. So she stopped reaching in. She spoke from her own heart instead. "I was wrong to take it," Lucia said. "It wasn't mine. I hurt you to prove something. I'm sorry." The girl went still. Sebastian turned to look at her. The old guard held his breath. "I can't open your heart," Lucia went on. "You shut it because I broke in. That was my fault, not yours." She held out her small hands, empty. "I have nothing to steal now. Just sorry." The girl's arms loosened. Her eyes went wet, then hard again. She turned away fast. "Keep her locked up," she told the guard. "I'm done listening." She left. Her boots struck each stair. But at the bottom, they stopped. They did not go on. Sebastian followed her down, and Lucia heard two voices below, low and close, not shouting for the first time. The guard shut the door softly. "You didn't reach her," he said. "No," Lucia said. "But I stopped pushing on the lock." She sat on the cold floor. Her rabbit hopped to her knee, green eyes bright. Below, the two voices kept on. "She stayed to hear her brother. That's a start." The apology had cost Lucia her proof and her power. She had nothing left to bargain with. But downstairs, for the first time, the heirs were talking instead of fighting.