The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 323

Liora’s POV

My father was right. As much as I had truly grown to enjoy racing over the past few weeks, it was reckless, dangerous, and inconsiderate. It wasn’t worth the pain it put my family through, nor was it worth giving up school over.

I would miss it. But if I had to choose between racing and going back to school, then I would choose school any day, no hesitation whatsoever.

And my father was right about another thing: I needed to apologize to my mother.

I decided to prepare my mother’s favorite tea and cookies in the hopes of softening everything. The kitchen staff was surprised to see me, and we chatted for a few minutes as I brewed the tea. I took some of her favorite lemon snap cookies and put them on a plate with the tea, then added a tiny vase with a single flower just to butter her up a little more. A red rose; her favorite.

By the time I made it to my mother’s room, I could hear her voice within. It was soft, but I could hear a rasp in it, even from here. She must have been crying all night.

My heart ached as I heard those sounds. I lifted my hand and knocked gently.

A moment later, the door opened. Belinda stood in the doorway. She looked at me, then at the tray in my hands, then at me again.

“Princess,” she said, curtsying. Her movements were graceful, clearly well-practiced.

Witches at the Royal Academy were trained to deal with the royal family, as my father could call on any one of them for advising or other jobs at any moment. Usually, though, they stayed in their tower at the center of the pack and were only seen outside on official Academy business. Everyone recognized their blue robes. Some of the pack kids started rumors that the witches were up to something, perhaps communing with demons, but everyone knew that wasn’t true.

They devoted their lives to worshipping the Gods and studying the arcane, and while they couldn’t shift and had no wolves, some would argue that the magical abilities granted to them made up for that.

“Belinda,” I said, glancing over her shoulder, “is my mother able to take visitors?”

Belinda nodded and stepped out of the way. As I passed her, our shoulders lightly brushed. She sniffed the air a couple of times, then stiffened.

I glanced at her. “Is something wrong?”

She looked at me strangely for a moment. Once more, something about the look in her eyes made the hairs rise on the back of my neck.

She leaned close, then whispered, “Your wolf…”

I froze. She could tell I had no wolf; that was something that my mother wasn’t aware of yet, and if she found out, it would destroy her. I shot Belinda a warning look as if to say “Don’t,” and to my relief, she said nothing more on the subject. Just turned and walked away, almost appearing to glide beneath her robe with the way her footsteps were so light and smooth.

I watched her go, shuddering. Something about that woman made me uneasy, but I couldn’t explain why. I figured it was just the way that Academy Witches were, and nothing to do with her as a person, and entered my mother’s room.

My mother looked a little better today. She was sitting up, at least, which was a good sign. She still looked pale and delicate, though, more so than usual, although there was a faint flush to her cheeks that hadn’t been there the night before.

“Mother.” I curtsied and set the tea down on her bedside table. “It’s your favorite. Rose hip tea and lemon snaps.”

She nodded. “I was young once, too. Before I married your father, I was…” She shook her head, voice trailing off. “Well, it’s all ancient history now. But I hope you know that I do understand your position.”

“That… means a lot,” I said.

My mother smiled faintly, then shut her eyes. We laid like that for a few minutes in silence. Suddenly, I recalled something else.

“Mom,” I said suddenly, sitting up, “I want you to know that I’m going to get your brooch back, and I’m sorry I lost it.”

With her eyes still closed, she said, “It’s not about the brooch, darling. It’s that awful girl and what she has done to you. To us.” She cracked one eye open. “You must reveal yourself to her this semester. Put her in her place before she takes more than a brooch.”

My jaw tightened. Bianca had already taken more than that, and we both knew it. But then again, Callum had let himself be taken, so it went both ways. Maybe, if he hadn’t been so focused on fulfilling his duty of marrying a “princess”, he would have found out that Bianca wasn’t the princess he thought she was at all.

By that point, my mother was starting to lose some of her color again, and she looked exhausted. I decided to leave her to rest. I returned to my room, where I began packing my things for school. I’d be returning to campus in a week and a half, so I knew I had plenty of time, but I was so excited that I simply couldn’t wait.

My phone buzzed halfway through. I picked it up to see a text from Zane, which was strange for this hour.

“Can you meet me outside?” the text read. “I have a surprise for you.”