The Stargazers Read Online Free Page B

everyone else had forgotten, and she would still have her revenge. Aster glanced at Holly and Quercus to see if they were going to join in, but Holly was rubbing her arm, easily cowed by Oleander’s bullying, and Quercus was like a wax statue, staring at his empty plate.
    “You’re the most ungrateful sacks of offal in Ellemire,” said Oleander. “If it weren’t for me, you’d be street urchins, doing parlor tricks for moldy bread.”
    For once, Aster welcomed a fight. Maybe while the women were busy cursing one another, she could escape with a few dinner rolls and spend her last night in her room with Larkspur curled up and purring beside her. At that, she felt something new welling up inside her: an exhilarating sense of impending freedom. After tomorrow, she’d have a whole world through which to move as she pleased. The other stuff—meeting a boy, getting pregnant—was all now light years out of her mind.
    She stood up and started fixing herself a plate to take back up to her bedroom.
    Oleander stopped in the middle of her tirade and looked at her with a scowl. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
    “Fixing a plate,” said Aster.
    Oleander smiled triumphantly at the others. “See? She’s ready to eat too. Why you waste our time on such ceremonial nonsense—” 
    “I’m taking it upstairs to eat alone.”
    Oleander’s gape of outrage almost made Aster laugh. “You’re what ?” An ugly blue vein popped out in the middle of her forehead like a lightning bolt. Aster thought she could see it pulsing.
    “I don’t have to sit here and listen to everyone fight on my last night here. You all can all just carry on without me.”
    “Aster, honey,” began Dahlia.
    Oleander stood up and grabbed Aster’s wrist from across the table. “Sit down, you prissy pink haired bitch.” Greasy spittle flew from her mouth and her eyes flared like fireflies.
    Dahlia flew up out of her chair with an outstretched hand. An instant later, an explosion of green gelatin and fruit bits erupted in the middle of the table and coated Oleander’s face. All the women stopped to observe the moment in shock, none more wide-eyed than Dahlia, who was now staring at her hand as if it had sprouted an extra finger.
    Oleander’s wrath would be enormous over such humiliation, but Dahlia didn’t waver. “Don’t you ever talk that way to my daughter again, or the next thing that explodes will be your head, you miserable hag.” 
    Larkspur hopped onto the table, upsetting Aster’s wine glass, and hissed at the goop-covered witch.
    Aster glanced at Nanny Lily, who was staring into the candle flame with a sad but thoughtful expression. “I’m so sorry, Nanny.”
    The old woman never took her eyes from her two daughters. “You and your familiar go on upstairs now, Aster. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
    She went, but couldn’t resist one look back at Oleander. Congealed clumps of green gelatin slid from her face and hit the table with wet splats. It looked like a giant with a nasty cold had sneezed on her. “This isn’t finished, Princess,” said Oleander through gritted teeth. “You might think it is, but it isn’t. I should have drowned you the minute you popped out of your mother’s wretched womb.”
    Aster fled up the stairs. As soon as she slammed her door shut, she leaned against it and began to sob.

- 3 -
     
    Oleander dragged Holly out the front door and along the path to her living quarters above the barn. The useless little mutt of a sister came willingly enough, and she kept her mouth shut, which was smart of her. Rose-scented green gelatin was drying on Oleander's face a nd filling her nose with enough of the floral perfume to make her stomach churn, which only made her angrier. How dare that whore Dahlia use magic against her! Not in all their years, no matter how heated their arguments go t , had they ever come to such blows.
    Not that Ole ander hadn't been tempted. Oh yes , there had been many cups of