Read Virtue - a Fairy Tale for Free Online

mother’s daughter?” Lily asked, suppressing a yawn.
    “You look just like her.” Wick looked over at her. “Now get some rest.”
    Lily pulled the covers more securely around her, feeling warmth at the implied compliment, and drifted off to sleep.

4
    The Lord didn’t notice his daughter was missing until the morning, and that was actually more than Scelestus had hoped for. She had put a spell on the ballroom last night to keep everyone from noticing Lily slipping out with Lux, and it had worked too well.
    The ball lasted far longer than it should have because everyone was having such a good time, including the Lord. When it finally ended, it was so late, and he was so exhausted that he immediately went to sleep, without checking on his beloved child.
    He slept in late, feeling hung over from her spell, and he might not have noticed Lily’s absence until the afternoon if one of the maids hadn’t gone in to fetch her for breakfast. The staff were mostly leftovers from Iris’s reign as Lady of the house, and they cared too much for Lily. Scelestus had tried firing them all on several occasions, but the Lord was far too loyal.
    Still, Scelestus knew she should be grateful for the time she had. Based on what Valefor had said and Lux’s appearance, Lux seemed to be the right man for the job. He had to have Lily out of the Lord’s range by now. Really, anything on the other side of the Necrosilvam was beyond his grasp anymore, and that was only a few hours’ ride.
    Scelestus no longer shared a bed chamber with her husband and hadn’t since their first year of marriage. She could hardly stand being in the same room as him anymore, but it would look strange if she stayed away during a crisis like this.
    After a maid nervously came into Scelestus’s room, telling her of the events, she had thrown on her dressing gown and rushed to the Lord’s chambers. She smeared her makeup first to look like she had been crying. It’d be impossible for her to muster real tears over that infernal child.
    On the other hand, her husband was beside himself. His room had been torn apart, as if stripping the linens from his four-poster bed would bring his daughter back. His bedroom windows were cracked, letting the cool morning air seep in, but they had been that way for a while. The whole palace had fallen into a state of disrepair, but of course, he didn’t notice that.
    He spent the entire morning dispatching men to search for Lily and trying to contact anyone who had been at the ball. Nobody remembered seeing her or Lux, but nobody could seem to remember anything except the spectacular dancing.
    Scelestus felt some pride in knowing that she still had it. When Lux lumbered across the dance floor like a drunken idiot, she thought for sure he’d leave an imprint, but her spell was even more powerful than she’d thought.
    When the Lord had sent the last of his men away, leaving the two of them alone in his bed chamber, Scelestus realized sourly that she’d have to do something. He sat on the edge of his bed, his silk robe tattered around the edges. His graying hair stood up in manic tufts, and he looked older than ever before.
    Scelestus stood by a window, staring out at the fog rolling in, and trying to make herself look as sad and concerned as the situation called for.
    “Did I do something?” he asked wearily.
    “Whatever do you mean, darling?” Her voice sounded syrupy, and she hoped it had just the right amount of concern in it. She pulled herself away from the window and walked over to where her husband sat on the bed.
    “Did I do something bad to be cursed like this?” His red-lined eyes stared up her, filled with despair. “First my wife, then my daughter. Why is everyone I care about taken from me?”
    “You still have me, Gabriel.” Scelestus smiled thinly at him and placed her hand over his. He didn’t pull it away, but she was beginning to suspect that he felt almost the same about her as she did about him. Their