For hours, the family stayed gathered in the living room, sharing stories about how they had spent the past two weeks. Well, mostly it was Elena and Rowan doing the talking, while the others chimed in occasionally with a comment or a nod of agreement.
Finally, after dinner, everyone decided to call it a day and head to their rooms. Astra changed into her pajamas and got her things ready for school tomorrow. But just as she was about to climb into bed, she noticed the jug on her bedside table was empty. For a moment, she frowned at it, wondering why the maids hadn't refilled it, but then she shrugged. It wasn't a big deal. She grabbed the jug and made her way downstairs to fill it herself.
When she went downstairs, she realized she was not alone. Rosetta was in the dining hall, sitting on the chair at the right of the head, the chair which belonged to her mother. A glass of wine dangled loosely in her hand, and a half-empty bottle sat on the table in front of her.
"It seems like you are having trouble sleeping, nanny Rosetta," Astra said, walking inside.
Rosetta jumped, startled at the sudden appearance of someone but relaxed when she saw who it was.
"Oh, it's you," she said, twirling the wine glass in her hand.
"You seem rather revealed that it is me. Why? Are you doing something you are not supposed to?" Astra asked as she held the jug under the water dispenser, filling it.
A harsh scoff escaped Rosetta's lips as she took another sip of wine. "You should be in your room, little girl. Don't you have school for tomorrow?"
"And what does me having school have anything to do with you?" Astra asked, facing the older woman.
"It has everything to do with me." Rosetta put down her wine glass with more force than necessary, the red liquid sloshing dangerously close to the rim. "Everything in this house has something to do with me."
Astra placed her water jug on the table, studying the woman before her. "Is that so?"
"Of course it is!" Rosetta's voice rose slightly. Her fingers tightened around the wine glass stem as she leaned forward. "I've been here for decades. Decades! I've been the one holding this estate together. I was here when the boys were born. I changed their diapers, nursed their fevers, dried their tears."
She took another long drink of wine before continuing. "I arranged their tutors, planned their meals, managed their schedules. Everything - everything in this house runs because of me. The maids, the gardeners, the cooks - they all answer to me."
"But I still don't understand," Astra said as she slowly circled the table. "What does it have anything to do with me?"
"You-" Rosetta jabbed an accusatory finger in Astra's direction.
"Let me remind you of something, Nanny Rosetta, since you seem to have forgotten it yourself." Astra stopped directly before the older woman, her shadow falling across Rosetta's face.
"No matter what you have done all these years, you were paid to do that." The corner of her lips curved upward, but the expression held no warmth.
In that moment, Rosetta felt like she was looking at something dark and terrible wearing the skin of a young girl. The wine glass trembled in her hand.
"Heed my warning, Rosetta." Astra placed a hand on the older woman's shoulder and bent down until they were eye to eye. The touch was gentle, almost tender, which somehow made it all the more threatening.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Rosetta stammered, trying and failing to look away from those silver eyes.
"You have your eyes on something that doesn't belong to you," Astra's words were soft but carried the weight of steel. "The feelings you harbor for my father should never have taken root, but since they have..." She tightened her grip ever so slightly on Rosetta's shoulder. "You need to bury them so deep that no one can see them, not even yourself."
The grandfather clock ticked loudly in the silence that followed.
Astra's voice dropped even lower, barely above a whisper now. "If I catch you looking at Dad the wrong way one more time, you won't have eyes to look with anymore. If you ever see my brothers as anything more than the masters you're paid to serve, I will make you regret ever setting foot in this house." Her smile widened. "And if you ever - ever - disrespect my mother again, I will make you disappear from this world. Is that clear, 'Nanny'?"
The last word dripped with such venom that Rosetta physically flinched. The wine glass slipped from her trembling fingers, spilling red across the white tablecloth. Dark red liquid bloomed across the fabric like spreading blood, but neither woman moved.
Who was this girl standing before her? These past two weeks, she had dismissed Astra as nothing but a meek, naive child with a pretty face that she could manipulate and toy with. And never once had Astra uttered a word as if she had noticed anything. She thought this girl was stupid but at this moment, she realized this girl was anything but stupid. She just chose to ignore everything until now. Until Rosetta had somehow crossed an invisible line and awakened something terrifying.
It was scary, far more scary than Master Lennox's gaze but then again, Master Lennox had never gotten angry at her.
"Ye-yes, Mi-miss. Astra," she stuttered.
Astra held her gaze for several more excruciating seconds before finally straightening up and stepping back. "Good."
Then, without another word or backward glance, she picked up her water jug and walked out of the dining room as if the last few minutes had never happened. Astra paused when she saw the figure standing there, leaning against the wall.
Elena pushed away from the wall when she saw Astra and smiled.
"Shall we have a girls' night like we used to?"
"You have a husband waiting for you in your bedroom," Astra responded, continuing her path toward the stairs.
"Oh, he can survive one night alone," Elena laughed, stepping forward to interlock her arm with Astra's. "I have so much to talk to you about. You cannot imagine how proud I was when Rowan mentioned you've made friends - and they're all boys too!"