Cara's Twelve Read Online Free Page A

have a strained relationship. I believe he found me almost as insufferable as I did him,” she said sheepishly. Cara blanched as a thought crossed her mind. “Will your mother be joining us, on the tour?”
    “No. She has her duties here to attend to.”
    “Well thank the goddess for that blessing.”
    Maeve burst out laughing.
    “Sorry. I shouldn't speak of her like that.”
    “To tell you the truth, I am more than happy to have the interlude myself. She can be particularly demanding at times.”
    Cara smiled and assessed the young woman. She appeared to lack the maliciousness and pomposity that dominated her mother's presence, and she thought that in any other situation they would have become friends easily. As she looked more closely at the girl, she saw the evidence of her long drawn-out illness. She was painfully thin, her skin appeared almost transparent, and her eyes were clouded, lacking the vibrancy of her youth.
    “I hope you don't take offense to my asking, but are you well enough to travel?”
    “The Queen's physician says that I am.”
    Cara saw the apprehension in Maeve's eyes. “Sorry, I shouldn't have asked.”
    “No, I'm thankful for your concern.” She crossed the room and sat on the edge of the unkempt bed. “It's been so long that sometimes I feel like that the illness is so much a part of me that people see nothing else.”
    “I felt similar when my mother died. For a long time it seemed like my identity was tied to her death. It's strange.”
    Maeve nodded. “I was sixteen when they first thought something was wrong. Intense headaches made me extremely nauseous, and my vision started failing. At first they thought that I was faking being ill, because they couldn't find anything physically wrong with me, other than that I was not maturing the way a sixteen-year-old girl should.”
    Cara walked over and sat on the edge of the bed beside her cousin.
    “They tried herbal remedies, bleedings, and a mass of other treatments, but nothing would bring forth my monthly cycles. When I had my first convulsive fit, the physicians swore that I was cursed by the goddess.” Maeve shrugged, “Perhaps I am.”
    Cara shook her head at that notion. “Is that how you got the bruise on your cheek?”
    Maeve smiled sadly, gently touched the ugly green and yellow bruise, and didn't answer.
    They sat in silence for a long time. Finally Cara turned and gently took her cousin's fragile hand in her own.
    “I want you to know that I didn't want this. I was happy with my life, and I never imagined that I would ever be here. I know you don't want my pity, and I promise you will never have it. But you must know that I am grieved by your loss, and if there was any way to give you back your title, I would do it.”
    Maeve stared at her, an array of emotions flittered across her face. A single tear fell down her cheek as she squeezed Cara's hand. “And I promise you, sweet cousin, that I will do everything in my power to make sure that never happens.”

Chapter 3
    “You look beautiful,” Maeve squealed in delight as she entered the room. “The goddess herself will be jealous.”
    Cara rolled her eyes at her cousin's enthusiasm. She had been sitting for hours, while Wynnafor had fussed over her.
    The weeks leading up to the summer solstice had passed quickly with Maeve as company, and tonight she would finally be released from the Queen's sequester. Cara wasn't sure how she felt about it. She had enjoyed her time with her cousin, and they had grown close during her daily visits. But now she would be forced to interact with the strangers that lived within the palace walls.
    Maeve had helped Cara prepare for today's ceremony, and her upcoming tour of the kingdom. The memorization of vows, names, and proper protocol had proven taxing, and she was grateful that her cousin would be with her every step of the way.
    Wynnafor wove the last pearl into Cara's hair and handed her a bronze mirror. She gapped at her reflection.