Gavriella was pale with shock that her aunt should speak so freely of that horrible event that had ruined her life. She said it in front of Aurelia, no less, who was staring at Gavriella in shock before assuming a gloating expression.
That threw Gavriella over the edge.
“Did my father tell you that I was abducted and beaten and raped?” she asked, her voice beginning to tremble. “I had no control over the men who abducted me from the village and assaulted me. I did not willingly fornicate with anyone, I assure you, Auntie. My father is embarrassed and frightened by what happened, so he sent me here so that he would not have to look at me. I was not a willing partner in anything, Aunt Drucilla, certainly nothing like your daughters are when they sneak out of your home in the middle of the night to attend a guild called Gomorrah where they kiss and dance with men they do not know, and I am sure they have done much more than that.”
Drucilla’s expression went from one of severity to one of shock. “They what?”
Gavriella was going for the proverbial throat. “Did you even know Aurelia leaves your house nightly to go to this place?” she said “You should ask the guards on night watch. Or mayhap you should watch for yourself. If anything, I do not need the horrible and scandalous influence of your daughters, who are shaming the House of de Kennet every single night.”
She was nearly shouting by the time she was finished, pointing fingers at Aurelia, who let out a scream of shock and fear and anger. Drucilla was on her feet, looking between Gavriella and her daughter in horror.
“Silence!” Drucilla bellowed, holding out a hand to stop Gavriella’s rant. “This is not about my daughters! How dare you say such… such terrible things about them!”
Gavriella wasn’t going to back down. “Ask them,” she said through clenched teeth. “Ask Camilla. Ask the guards who watch the postern gate at night because they let us pass most easily, which tells me that Aurelia is either paying them to look the other way or she is fucking them to keep them quiet. I am not the sinner here, Aunt Drucilla. Tend to the whores in your own house before you accuse my house of being dirty!”
Aurelia screamed and ran at her, hands like claws. Gavriella saw her coming and, after having beaten an armed knight in the head only hours earlier, she was ready for her petty, weak cousin. As Aurelia drew close, she lashed out an open palm, catching the woman in the face and sending her tumbling. Aurelia crashed into the chairs and ended up on the floor as Gavriella pounced, grabbing her by the hair.
“Tell her what you do every night!” Gavriella cried. “Tell her how you sneak out and let men kiss your mouth and fondle your breasts! Tell her what a whore you are!”
Aurelia was screaming. “Let me go!” she said. “You have ruined everything, you stupid chit!”
Drucilla was on top of them, trying to separate them, but she didn’t have the strength and Gavriella was surprisingly strong. She called out to the guard near the hearth and he stepped in, grabbing Gavriella around the waist and yanking her off her cousin. But not before Gavriella came away with a handful of red hair.
Aurelia was hysterical and, by now, the entire house had been alerted. Camilla had come down the stairs, now standing in the doorway and weeping fearfully at the sight of Gavriella and Aurelia fighting.
Gavriella caught sight of Camilla as the guard dragged her away.
“Tell your mother what you do every night, Camilla!” she screamed. “Tell her that you sneak out to that terrible place where men and women fornicate for all to see! Tell her how you let strangers kiss you!”
Camilla let out a cry, her hands to her mouth as she looked at her mother and sister. “She knows?” she wept in a question mostly directed at her sister. “She told Mother everything?”
Aurelia was being helped into a chair by her mother, her hand on her head where Gavriella had yanked the hair out by the roots.
“Tell Mama it is a lie,” Aurelia insisted frantically. “Tell her that Gavriella is lying!”
Camilla had no idea what was going on. She was sweet, and weak-willed, and not particularly bright. “About what?” she said. “About Gomorrah? How does Mama know about it?”
Aurelia could see that her denials were crumbling. Her sister was too stupid to reinforce her claims. Therefore, she did the only thing she could do – she burst into tears.
“It was Gavriella who took us there!” she wept. “I did not want to go, Mama, I swear it, but Gavriella forced us to go. She threatened us if we did not!”
Gavriella was still in the grip of the guard. “I took you there?” she cried in outrage. “How could I take you to a place I did not know about until last night when you took me there?”
“Enough!” Drucilla shouted. The woman was shaken as she looked at her niece. “Gavriella, I have no choice but to send you back to your father. You are a disruptive influence to this house and you must leave immediately. Barnes, take her back to her chamber and lock her in. Then you will summon the men who brought her here. They are to remove her immediately. I am sending her home this very night.”
The guard nodded and began dragging Gavriella away, who realized she was not to be believed at all. The countess was taking her daughters’ side even though it was clear that what Gavriella had said was true.
But that didn’t matter.
Drucilla didn’t want the aggravation or the burden of her niece from the north.
Gavriella de Leia was going home.
When the guard locked Gavriella in the chamber she shared with Camilla, the impact of her aunt’s decision began to weigh heavily on her. It was not the fact that the woman didn’t believe her; nay, that wasn’t the issue. It wasn’t even the fact that Aurelia had it out for her and probably had since the day she had arrived. Clearly, remaining at The Asher would be a battle, every single day, with no peace from Aurelia. Gavriella didn’t even really care about that.
What she did care about was Andreas.
She was supposed to meet him on the morrow, but she wouldn’t be there. Her aunt wanted her removed that very night from The Asher and Gavriella didn’t even know where the man was staying. He’d said it once, but she couldn’t remember. The more she thought about not showing up to The Fox and The Wolf the next morning, the more distraught she became.
It was all her fault that she didn’t even know Andreas’ last name. She’d kept up that guessing game even though he’d asked, more than once, to end it. But she wouldn’t do it. She’d kept up the façade. Perhaps this sudden change in plans was a sign from God, cleaving her relationship with Andreas before it could go any further.
Perhaps this was the end, as it should have been all along.
There would be no more meeting the man in taverns or on the street because she knew, if things had continued between them, she would have eventually told him who she was and where she was from. Perhaps he would have continued to ask to speak to her father and, knowing that she turned to melted butter in the man’s hands, she would have given him permission.
And Andreas would have found out her deepest, darkest secret.
Damaged goods.
The tears began to come.
Perhaps this was for the best, then. Not showing up to the tavern tomorrow morning was the best thing for both of them. As much as it broke her heart, she had to believe that this was, indeed, for the best.