The hall was packed with guests, and Scarlett held tightly to Ishan's hand. Their two younger daughters - Niniane and Nyneve - waited with their parents. Thirteen and fourteen respectively, they'd been allowed to stay with their mother, something which Scarlett was grateful every day. Chika's revenge in taking Nimue from her was nasty enough without losing her two younger daughters, but she supposed they weren't the chosen ones like their sister.
She spied Winter in the crowd, and her heart twisted into a tight, painful knot at how much he resembled his late father. Ishan gave her hand a squeeze. "He's the spitting image of Ihenri," he murmured. "I wasn't much for reincarnation, but if there is such a thing, your son is proof."
Marigold, Winter's foster mother, gave them a cold stare before deliberately moving and blocking Scarlett's view of her firstborn. Scarlett just looked at her, unblinking, until the other woman blushed and looked away. She still maintained her position, however, and Scarlett sighed. "Miserable bitch," she muttered, too late remembering her daughters' tender ages. The girls, however, smirked at their mother's apt choice of words, and Scarlett ruffled their hair.
A hush fell over the crowd, and all eyes turned to the stairs. There, on the first landing, stood Nimue, wearing the most indecent dress Scarlett had ever seen. It was, in essence, a sheer gold bodysuit with a skirt that was practically see through, and while Scarlett was no prude, seeing that on her fifteen-year-old daughter was outrageous enough for her to turn a dire glare on Ivy, Nimue's foster mother. Ivy just smirked at her, until a whispered rustle swept the room, and Ivy's smirk was wiped clean off her face when she saw what her own daughter was wearing. Outrage replaced smugness, but just as she opened her mouth to demand what the hell was going on, Chika intervened. "Let them come down," she said, her voice like acid, her eyes burning with a rage Scarlett had not seen for many years.
The girls came down the stairs, conscious of all eyes on them, but Scarlett, despite her motherly outrage over the thin bit of gold cloth her eldest daughter had been forced to wear, was proud of Nimue, who kept her head held high. Ishan squeezed her hand again as they stepped forward to greet their daughter - only for Ivy to bar their path. "She has a mother," she said coldly. "And I will find out what you have done to my daughter."93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qb1szdei8
"I gave birth to her," Scarlett replied calmly. "I have a right to greet her.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBADEjsuowT
Chika once more intervened. "Let Destiny see her daughter," she snapped. "Even though she has two other daughters, whom she has been allowed to raise without interference. Need I remove them also?"
Her tone carried a threat to visible to be ignored, but Niniane and Nyneve rolled their eyes. Jaiden intervened before things turned ugly. "Let it go," he told his mother, his voice like iron. "You got your way; at least let Scarlett have this moment."
Thus confronted in front of hundreds of guests, Chika had no choice but to back down, but her eyes were like fire as she guided Ivy out of the way. Scarlett ignored the two crotchety bitches to give her eldest daughter a long-overdue hug. "I've missed you," she said, blinking back tears.
Nimue hugged her just as hard. "Me too," she whispered.
An abrupt throat-clearing, followded by a none-too-gentle tug on the back of her dress signalled to Scarlett that Ivy - or Chika - was ready to pull her away from her daughter by force. She tightened her hold briefly before letting go and stepping back, whirling to give Ivy - who went pale at the fury in the other woman's eyes - a glare dire enough to reduce her daughter's foster mother to a smoking ruin on the ground. Nevertheless, Ivy recovered and gave Scarlett glare for glare. "You had your moment," she snapped. "Now get back in the crowd and shut your mouth! Any further outbursts will result you in being ejected from this house immediately and forbidden to return! And don't think you'll be able to use your husband's magic - I've laid wards on this place that will harm anyone not of sun elf descent!"93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1x2qFgWn8L
Puzzled glances were exchanged by those not of sun elf descent, but it was Winter who voiced what the crowd was feeling . "My, my," he murmured. "Sour grapes, much? Well, do tell us all how you're really feeling, my dear esteemed future mother-in-law."
The stinging sarcasm in his voice rocked Ivy, and her face went even paler when she saw the fire in Winter's eyes, a sharp contrast to his urbane tone. She swallowed, stiffened, then faltered again when his steely glare refused to abate. He was, Scarlett sensed, ready to chew holes through bedrock.
Ivy took a deep breath. "Forgive me," she said tightly to Scarlett. "I seem to have mislaid my manners."
"That's not the only thing you've mislaid," Winter chided. "I hear you've beem mislaying countless other things throughout the years. Shall I name them all?"
Marigold finally recovered her own poise. "Stop it!" she snapped at her foster son. "You're being very rude and ..." The words died in her throat as Winter turned to her, all urbanity.
"Forgive me," he said, bowing deeply. "I appear to have mislaid my own manners." Smoothly detaching himself from the situation, he strolled to a smirking Scarlett, kissed her hand and smiled at her with equal wicked devilry. "Mother," he murmured, genuine warmth in his eyes and voice. "It's been a dashed long time since I've been permitted to see you. I see motherhood and marriage agrees with you."
Scarlett smiled at her son and kissed him on the cheek. "Your father would be proud to see you now," she said. "You're molded in his very image, though the biting sarcasm is new."
Winter shrugged lightly. "When the weight of the world is on your shoulders, sometimes biting sarcasm is all that you can employ." His face showed brief bitterness before he greeted his sisters, all of whom were overjoyed to finally meet the brother they'd heard so much about. Scarlett did tense when he turned to greet Nimue, but he was the soul of courtesy as he embraced her and kissed her on the cheek. Scarlett soon found herself grinning when he turned to Saffron, smiling at the interested sparkle in her eyes, before kissing her with a passion that left quite a few faces red at the display. Ivy gaped like a landed fish, Marigold looked ready to faint, Nimue smothered a smirk, and Chika looked ready to do murder.
Ishan buried a laugh in his wife's hair. "I think everyone's best-laid plans just got turned upside down," he whispered. 93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKzKhy2Pui
"I think so," Scarlett agreed, but her smirk died as three very furious women stormed from the hall. Jaiden cleared his throat, and Winter finally let Saffron up for air, grinning as he cradled his breathless fiancee against his chest. His eyes met Nimue's for a second, and she nodded, relief clear on her face. She would have done her duty had it fallen to her, but fate had provided another willing participant in the form of Saffron, and Scarlett couldn't smother another smirk as she wondered just how Chika, Ivy and Marigold would handle this latest twist in their Grand Plan.
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