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Day Nine-
Scarlett
A Missing Piece
December 11, 2024 Newsletter
“It’s snowing,” Scarlett grumbled.
“I know,” Sorin answered, tugging her along by the hand.
She tried to pull her fingers from his grasp, but his hold tightened. “It’s cold,” she whined.
He didn’t answer this time, but a spark of heat flooded through her.
Sighing, she went on, “Sorin, today is—”
“I know what today is, Love,” Sorin interrupted, turning the corner.
“Then you know I’d rather be in bed beneath the covers.”
“I know that’s what you’d like to do, but it’s not what you need to do today,” he replied, coming to a stop outside the piano room.
“And you think I need to play the piano?” she groused, finally yanking her hand free and crossing her arms.
He chuckled under his breath, which only served to further her irritation. And yeah, she could admit she wasn’t in a particularly great mood, but he’d also admitted he knew why.
His hand fell to her lower back as he gently pushed her into the room, and just because she was stubborn and grouchy, she dragged her feet.
And then her eyes landed on Juliette.
Sorin bent down, pushing her hair over her shoulder so he could speak low into her ear. “I know what day it is, Love. You think I haven’t noticed you slowly withdrawing into yourself over the last week? Spend today with your sister, Scarlett.”
Then he pressed a soft kiss to her temple and left the room.
The large piano occupied one side of the room, two comfortable armchairs facing it with a small table between them. How many hours had she spent in this room, her fingers on the keys, while Sorin sat in one of those chairs keeping her company? But there would be no music flowing from her fingertips this day.
Behind the chairs and facing the hearth was a sofa, and that was where Juliette sat, staring at the flames. Scarlett said nothing as she crossed the room, plopping down next to her and resting her head on Juliette’s shoulder. She wasn’t in riding leathers or a witchsuit. No, today, Juliette wore the same thing Scarlett did. Black pants. A black tunic. Boots and weapons.
Today they were both dressed like the Wraiths they once were.
Today, Juliette wasn’t the Oracle or the High Witch. Today Scarlett wasn’t the High Queen of the World Walkers.
Today they were sisters, missing the one who completed their whole.
Neither of them said anything for a long time. The only sound that greeted them the crackling of the fire.
It was Scarlett who broke the silence when she said, “I search for her sometimes. I don’t think Sorin knows. I tell him I’m researching the worlds, but really, there are days I sit in front of those fucking mirrors hoping to catch a glimpse of her.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Seeing her, I mean,” Juliette clarified. “The glimpses… I think they make it worse in a way.”
“Are the visions…unfavorable ones?” Scarlett asked.
“Sometimes,” she answered. “Others are not. That is the thing about fate. The smallest, seemingly meaningless action, can change things. It is why I am constantly telling you not to tempt fate.”
“Fuck the fates,” Scarlett scoffed. “I make my own.”
“And you have altered more histories than one. For better or worse, only time will tell” Juliette said.
Lifting her head, Scarlett hummed an acknowledgment, drawing tendrils of flames from the heart and winding her own white fire among the oranges and reds.
“What should we do today? In honor of her birthday?” Scarlett mused. “Last year I went to visit Azrael and annoyed him.”
Juliette snorted a laugh. “Of course you did.”
“But it’s been nearly four years, and this year, I…” She sighed. “I miss her, Juliette.”
“I know, Scarlett. I miss her too.”
“We fought a lot. More than you two did. But I still… She took my fucking daggers with her.”
“She won those in a wager.”
“And I’d like the chance to win them back.”
Juliette stood, swiping up a fur-lined cloak that was lying across one of the armchairs. Scarlett hadn’t even noticed the second one, along with hats and mittens.
“I can’t help with that, but I propose we do the same thing we did when she was here,” Juliette said, wrapping the cloak around her shoulders.
Scarlett stared up at her, arching a brow. “When Nuri was here, we spent her birthdays finishing shopping for Winter Solstice that’s three days away because she never started her shopping until her birthday.”
“Exactly,” Juliette said with a mischievous smile.
“You were always done Solstice shopping by the fall. Are you telling me you haven’t started?” Scarlett asked, but she stood anyway, grabbing the other cloak. Her soul already felt lighter.
“Don’t be absurd,” Juliette scoffed.
“I finished my shopping last week,” Scarlett said, pulling the hat down over her ears.
“We can still do the pastries and hot cocoa while we wander the streets though,” Juliette said, already striding for the door.
And suddenly, Scarlett didn’t mind the gently falling snow or even the cold. Not as they descend the stairs to the main floor. Not as Sorin met them at the front doors with cups of steaming cocoa.
“I hear Marcella has fresh pear tarts that just came out of the ovens at her bakery,” he said, handing a cup to each of them.
“Is that so?” Scarlett asked with a small smile as he adjusted her hat to make sure her ears were fully covered.
“Mhmm,” he hummed. “Today, simply surviving is enough, Love. We’ll be waiting for you whenever you get back.”
Scarlett pushed up onto her toes, brushing her lips across his. “Thank you, Prince.”
He flicked her nose as he stepped back. “All the way through the darkness. Even when you just need to sit in the mess.”
And she stepped into the gently falling snow, her sister at her side as the dark drew closer. But it wasn’t quite as lonely these days. A piece of her heart would always ache for Nuri, but she didn’t have to endure the hurt alone. And she couldn’t ask for a better Solstice gift than that.
©️Melissa K. Roehrich 2024