“She was born to be a mother,” Finola said. “Some are.”
“And mine wasn’t. I’m not blaming her,” Breen said. “It was a terrible night for her. I think it broke what was already starting to crack. She loves me in her way, but her way is limited. I have you, both of you, and Sinead, and Sally in Philadelphia. That’s a lot of mothers for one person.”
Aisling and Morena came in, and Morena eyed Finola.
“Now, what would bring a tear to your eye today?”
“A sentimental tear. And where are those boys of yours, Aisling?”
“Napping, thank the gods, and I’ve young Liam O’Malley minding them, as he can keep up with their energies once they wake again. And how pretty it all looks, Marg.”
“We’ve sparkling wine to go with the rest. A few sips for you won’t hurt that baby,” Marg added.
“The way she kicks—and I’ll keep saying she until I get me a girl—she could handle a whole bottle and not slow down.”
They sat with bread and jam, biscuits and tarts, and Marg poured the wine.
“Sláinte.” Morena lifted hers. “One and all. And now I want to hear it. Tell us the story, Breen.”
“I’ve only had bits of it,” Aisling added. “And from Mahon, who’s a man—as most are—stingy with details even if he remembers them. But tell me first: Is it true Shana tried to put a knife in your back?”
“She did.”
“Ah, the devil’s whore. We never liked her, did we, Morena?”
“Not a bit. She always looked at me as if I was something unpleasant on the bottom of her shoe.”
“She did.” Aisling gestured in agreement. “She did indeed. And to me it was a superior sort of smirk, queen to farmwife. And still, I want to know some of what she wore, as she had brilliant clothes.”
“There was a green dress, deep green with a sheen and a square neckline, and she didn’t quite hide the look that said I was considerably less than expected.”
She started the story at her approach to the Capital, her impression of it, and the village, and found as she went on—the scene staged in the courtyard, Shana’s visit to her room—their outrage equaled support. She could laugh, enjoy the wine and biscuits, and feel part of something.
A circle of women.
“I like Brian, what I know of him.” Morena slathered bread with butter and jam. “I can approve of him for Marco.”
“They’ll be relieved to hear it, as they really seem to be in love. And Marco looked very handsome for the Welcome, and he’ll thank you, Nan, for sending the outfit. As I do for the dress. I’ve never had anything so beautiful. Keegan said…”
Every one of them leaned forward.
“What?” Morena demanded. “Don’t leave us hanging on the hook.”
“He said I’d dressed in stars, and that’s how it felt.”
“That’s poetic coming from him.” Aisling nibbled on a biscuit. “I’ll have to see this dress for myself. It must’ve dazzled.”
“I was so nervous. It’s so different there. The grandeur of it, even though everyone—except you-know-who—was so warm. The banquet room, all the lights, the ceremony of it all. So lush after the strict protocol of the Judgment, and the heartbreaking beauty of the Leaving.”
She put her hand over Marg’s. “I missed here, even in that short time, but I got to see why Keegan is taoiseach, why and how the laws work, how the Capital and that community work.”
She told them of stepping outside, for the air, for Bollocks, and Shana’s attack.
“I know her parents a bit.” Finola spoke carefully. “Not well, of course, but I know them from visits to my son, grandsons, their ladies, and their littles. I’ve watched the girl Shana was, the woman she is. And the darkness in her—I thought, well, it’s just from some spoiling. But it’s far more than that.”
“I can see her using— It’s Loren, you say?” Morena shook her head. “I don’t know him, as her circle was never mine when I spent time there. I know Kiara, of course, as everyone does. I mean to say I can see her using someone as she used them. I can even see her breaking a First Law by trying the love potion. But I would never have seen her ready to take a life. I think my dislike of her blinded me to the worst of her.”
“How bad did you burn her?”
Breen shook her head at Aisling. “I’m not sure—she ran. But the way she screamed…”