Chapter 8
Mindy had sensed my mother’s mood, too, and she was already crawling off the bed, agreeing, “Sure, Dr. Packwood. I should go to my room anyhow. Tomorrow’s a big day!”

When Mindy offered that reminder, my heart seized up with anticipation – and fear again. I’d managed to distract myself from thoughts of the wedding for a few minutes, but in just hours I’d don my dress, and a servant would arrive with the things I’d need for the private act I would perform first…

Would I have the courage…?

“It’s gonna be wonderful,” Mindy reassured me, no doubt seeing the blood draining from my face. “I mean, you’re getting married! To Lucius!”

Yes… I was… It was really happening…

Then she leaned in to give me a quick hug, said her goodnights, and left me and Mom alone.

I climbed off the bed, too, and walked toward my mother, curious about that look on her face – and the object that she held in her hands. “What is that?” I asked. “What’s going on?”

Mom smiled with her mouth – but that didn’t quite erase the sad, almost solemn, look in her eyes as she said, “I have an early wedding gift for you. Something I want you to have tonight.”

I looked again at the item she carried, thinking that the present was as strange as my mom’s mood. Unlike most wedding gifts, this one wasn’t wrapped in pretty paper. Rather, the package that Mom cradled, with obvious care, was covered by a plain white cloth, which she started to unwind, almost like a bandage.

“This is a special gift from both myself – and your birth mother,” Mom revealed, her fingers trembling a little as she continued to unwind the fabric.

I’d never seen Dara Packwood – always so strong and confident – ever really shake before, and that shook me. I drew a little closer to her. “Mom…?”

“I promised Mihaela that I would give this to you on the eve of your wedding – if you married Lucius,” she said. “Keep it safe, as Mihaela did, and then me, on your behalf. Because this, in turn, may keep you safe.”

She looked up from unwinding the cloth, and I saw that odd expression in her eyes again, and I understood, somehow, that Mom was, in that moment, giving me away. The ceremony tomorrow would be a formality to her. This act, to her – whatever she was giving me – it symbolized the completion of her pledge to raise me as her own – but for Lucius and for the family that I was returning to.

“Mom…” I felt the tears starting to form in my eyes. I wasn’t ready… I didn’t want to leave her…

But of course Mom knew that I was ready, and that I had to leave her, and she held out the present, pressing it into my hands.

“You’re going to be a wonderful ruler – and a wonderful wife,” she promised. “You are two incredibly special people, and you share a very powerful love. I knew that, even before you both did.”

Lucius and I… apparently we’d been the last to know…

Then, before I could really even see what she’d given me – maybe because of the tears I was still fighting back, Mom hugged me and whispered, “I’m proud that you’re my daughter. That Mihaela chose me to be your mother, too.”

“You’ll always be my mom,” I said, hating that it sounded like we were saying good-bye.

“I know, Jessica… Antanasia,” she corrected herself. “And you will always have a home in Pennsylvania. But I also know that from the moment you take your vows tomorrow, your life will be centered here – and that it always will be, long, long after your father and I are gone…”

For the first time that I could remember, Dr. Dara Packwood seemed unable to come to grips with a concept – eternity, as it related to me – and we both fell silent, just holding each other.

“I love you, Jessica,” she said, deciding to use my old name… maybe for one last time.

“I love you, too, Mom,” I said, as my tears really started to flow, soaking her shoulder.

After a few moments Mom pulled back, steadied my shoulder with one hand, and used the other to wipe the tears from my cheeks, like she used to do when I was little, and we both tried to smile again.

“You’ll help me get ready tomorrow, right?” I asked. I wasn’t sure that I could do that one frightening act of preparation without her by my side…

“Of course,” she promised. “Of course!”

I felt relieved, because I’d almost been afraid that we really were separating from one another. And yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had forever shifted between us.

I wanted Mom to stay a little longer, but she left me then. And when the door closed behind her, I dared to look at the gift in my hands, and I thought it was appropriate that it had come wrapped in a cloth like a bandage, because it seemed like my heart cracked and bled, just to hold something so precious.

My hands actually started to shake, too, and I wasn’t sure whether I was calling to Dara or Mihaela – or maybe both – as I said, softly, “Oh, Mom…”

Continue to Chapter 9....