Chapter 63: Like Mother, Like Daughter
Rowena nodded, then she suddenly shivered slightly as the memory of being caught with Marek came back. "There’s something else, Mother." She bit her lower lips.
"What is it, Rowena?" Eirene asked.
"Evander caught us." Rowena watched her mother’s face closely after uttering those words.
Eirene’s mouth closed fully, a subtle change Rowena had learned to read long ago. "Evander caught you and Marek kissing?" she repeated.
"Yes," Rowena said quickly.
"And how much did he see?" Eirene’s expression tightened.
"Everything. He stood there at the door. I saw his face. He left, but he looked angry. He looked like he would tell the world. Especially the twins."
Eirene was still for a few seconds, then she let out a soft noise that might have been a laugh if it hadn’t been so hard. "That isn’t helpful. Evander is volatile. He doesn’t think before he moves. If he tells Seraphina and Serene, they will take this straight to Aveloria."
Rowena’s chest tightened. "That’s a problem. They’ll tell Aveloria, and everything falls apart. If Aveloria hears that Marek kissed me, all hell will break loose. She’ll—"
"She’ll be angry," Eirene finished. "She’ll be wrong, but she will act. She will confront and demand. That’s why this cannot happen. We should have the upper hand in this situation."
"So what should we do, Mother?" Rowena asked.
"The twins are weak, and Evander is reckless. They think in moral lines; they do not plan. We have to deal with them before they decide to tell her."
Eirene answered confidently.
Rowena felt her blood go cold. "Deal with them how?" Her voice was smaller.
Eirene’s eyes went colder, clinical. "Remove them from the equation. Make sure they cannot interfere."
Rowena’s forehead creased. "What do you mean?" she asked, though she could already feel the shape of Eirene’s meaning forming in her head.
Eirene’s voice dropped to the soft, specific tone she always used when she wanted something done and wanted no debate. "They’re young and loud. If they are out of the way...I mean, if they are removed quietly, then we will only have Aveloria to handle. And she will be easier to isolate once her support is fractured."
Rowena’s skin prickled. She had watched Eirene stop people before. She had seen how her mother removed specific threats and make them disappear over time without scandal. But the word "removed" hovered in the space between them. Rowena imagined the implications. They were heavy.
"Do you mean...kill Evander, Seraphina and Serene?" Rowena asked the question, slipping out before she could stop it.
Eirene’s face did not change. She nodded once. "Yes. If it comes to it, it would be cleaner and faster. The twins speak, and Evander acts first. Remove the rumor before it becomes a fact. There will be less scrutiny if no one is left to corroborate a story."
Rowena felt a rush of fear, then, oddly, a thrill. Being part of planning something like that made her feel like she was finally a part of something bigger than herself, something decisive. It was also terrifying. She had never killed anyone, not even a sparrow. But her mother had, in ways that were never spoken. Eirene’s calm made it feel manageable.
Rowena looked at her mother. She wanted the same certainty. She wanted to be able to do what needed to be done without hesitation. She wanted to be powerful like her mother. But Rowena knew she still had a long way to be like her.
"Will it be messy? Will people notice?" she asked.
Eirene’s voice was clinical. "There are ways. It will not be simple, but it can be done. Carefully. Quietly. Some figures take on such jobs to survive. If it happens, their deaths will be tied to wanderers or an accident. The right story will be told, and no one will connect it to us. No one will ever find out the truth." She explained.
Rowena swallowed hard. Eirene’s plan made sense in a cold, efficient way. Her hands trembled a little. She had wanted power; now she was being offered a path that went through blood and secrets.
"Let’s do it, mother, as soon as possible."
Rowena said.
When Rowena stood to leave, Eirene rose with her. She held her daughter’s hands for a moment, squeezing them. "You did well, my child." She said. "You followed the lesson. You used your words, and you learned to wait for the right moment. Keep doing that, and one day you will be ready for more."
Rowena nodded, and for a moment she felt a surge of loyalty that was sharper than fear. "I want to be like you, mother."
Eirene looked at her, and something like pride softened her features. "Then learn from me. Learn everything I show you. But remember: power must be held quietly until the moment when force is necessary. When that time comes, you will not hesitate."
Rowena left the room with the bracelet warm on her wrist and the image of Evander and the twins’ death burned into her mind. The memory that had made her panic now felt like a threat to be neutralized. Her eagerness had not faded; it had hardened. She wanted her mother’s steady certainty. She wanted to be able to remove obstacles without flinching.
As she walked back through the corridors, every step felt like a lesson. She would have to be patient and learn to act when Eirene told her to. The idea of killing the twins and Evander was heavy, but it also felt like the final proof that she could be trusted with power.
She rehearsed everything in her head once, twice, thrice, not thinking about the violence but about the outcome: Marek more hers, her desires secure, the throne moving closer.
When she reached her own chamber, the excitement was still there, but it had been tempered by something hard and cold. She touched the bracelet and felt its presence. The path forward was clear. She only had to follow it.
