Chapter 99: Chapter 99

Thirty-nine years later...

The car was speeding along the poplar alley. When her eyes discovered the castle through the foliage, my heart was relieved of a great weight, because I could already read interest in her gaze. Her half-open mouth showed her fascination with the magnificence of this centuries-old building. I couldn’t help but think back to the first time I had looked at this place myself, and how amazed I was at the entrance to the huge door. Mortain Castle stood there, like a majestic and eternal building, under a splendid summer sun. I had missed it so much. When my feet landed on the threshold, my breath quickened and the stress caused my fingers to tingle. I grabbed her hand for fear of running out of courage. I hadn’t been back since the day I left Carmichael to join Eric. So, when I entered, I still had no idea of the reception that would be reserved for me, especially since I hadn’t warned anyone of our arrival. There was no one at the entrance. A hubbub from the garden courtyard penetrated my eardrums. We walked toward the bay window and saw through the windows hundreds of people, most of them in bathing suits or scantily clad. A devilish party was taking place around the swimming pool. I had chosen my day well!

“Hey, I like this castle more and more!” she said, which made me smile.

“Welcome to Mortain!” I declared.

I opened the French window and took a few steps forward. Alcohol was flowing, tempers were heating up to the rhythm of the music, and the mood was festive. The first glances turned in my direction, then a few more. Their eyes, taken aback by my presence, said a lot about their thoughts. Some froze and stared at me, curious to know who the strange young woman with long white hair was who burst into their little party. And at that moment, I felt it. His presence filled me already. I looked for him. First, the dancers stopped moving, then others, and still others behind them. Each of the castes in these places now experienced the first glimmers of my presence. Some of them moved away, a grimace on their faces telling me they had to. And indeed, their bodies went to form a corridor, at the end of which a silhouette stood out. Standing, staring in my direction, there he was. I felt his sensual and powerful scent unfold to me, and I smiled as I felt the first sensations. Warm memories came flooding back to me, and then I did something I hadn’t done in a long time: I let my power of attraction spread throughout the entire courtyard garden. And as it radiated from my body in continuous vibrations, my gaze never left Carmichael. Like a creamy cloud, my tentacular pheromones coiled around each of the guests and merged with the power of their King. Carmichael still had a look marked by the surprise, but I couldn’t contain mine any longer. Where had his dreadlocks gone?! I then took a few steps to see him better. His shaved head further marked the powerful structure of his jaw. As I remembered, his face was flawless, and I could make out the clarity of his penetrating eyes, even from that distance. Tears of emotion crept into my eyes.

No one was moving now. The music stopped. Carmichael rushed in my direction. His words stuck in his throat as he stopped a few feet in front of me. A man stood next to him, his eyes startled. In his sixties, it took me a moment to recognize him: Nicolas Hanlon! His sister Abigail, whom I recognized immediately, appeared a few steps behind him. Growing old hadn’t taken away his childish features, and his eyes, surveying me as if I were a corpse returned from the depths of the earth, narrowed when at last a broad smile appeared on his lips. Then, in the same spirit, the brother and the sister bent their knees and prostrated themselves in front of me. All the castes present in the courtyard then had their doubts confirmed: I was their Queen, who had disappeared almost forty years earlier. They imitated the Hanlons and prostrated themselves. A silence settled while everyone marked their devotion to a woman they didn’t know yet. Embarrassed by such fervour, I lowered my head and felt Carmichael’s hand slide into mine. He kissed it.

“Does this mean you’re coming back?” he asked in that powerful voice that had always had the gift of warming my heart.

I remained silent, and my gaze entered his emerald eyes. He got up with a smile and tried to take me in his arms, but a gesture of my hand made him understand that it wasn’t time yet.

“Carmichael, this is my daughter, Isabelle Panchak.”

My declaration was accompanied by a movement of the arm which invited him to look behind me. My daughter moved closer and went to meet him, while Carmichael watched her closely. Her wavy blond hair fell to her waist. She looked a lot like me, at least, if you forget my pristine white hair and my strange appearance, which made me look like her sister, rather than her mother. Like Carmichael, my body hadn’t aged since my death, and my daughter barely looked eighteen, despite her real twenty-seven. She held out her hand to him in a graceful gesture as her beautiful blue eyes narrowed in a smile.

“I’m delighted to meet you,” he said, returning her smile. “We’ll take good care of you.”

Isabella, who felt at the moment the singular presence of her King, observed him with a certain astonishment. His smile widened again. Carmichael then waved his hand, and a woman with long brown hair immediately walked in our direction.

“Stella,” Carmichael asked her, “can you please have the Elizabeth Suite prepared for this young lady?”

“Of course,” she answered before addressing my daughter. “Would you also be tempted by a visit to the castle?”

“With pleasure.”

The castes having taken over the festivities, I didn’t know how to interpret whether certain eyes were fascinated or frightened by my presence. But I felt more and more their common fervour. The music had resumed, and the bodies swayed again under the furnace of summer and our common power of attraction. The already heated atmosphere was visibly igniting, and Carmichael and I agreed with a look that it was time to leave the party. He then grabbed my arm, and we went towards the Pomona room. He was almost running when we arrived at our destination. The room was completely empty and nothing had changed. The centuries had frozen in this place, a very long time ago.

“I’m sorry to show up with my daughter like this,” I said, embarrassed. “Did you know I had a child?”

“I was aware, indeed. Ethan always checks in with me after he stays with you.”

“Sure…”

A silence settled. I had the feeling of talking to him for the first time. All those years without seeing each other, without even a phone conversation, had created an abyss between us. But meeting him today, in the heart of this huge castle that I had cherished so much when I was younger, brought back memories that had been buried for a long time.

“Have you been happy?” he dared to ask, after this long silence.

“Oh yes, I was,” I replied, “but that happiness was snatched away from me two years ago, as you probably already know.”

I turned around as tears were welling up in my eyes again. It was still unbearable for me to talk about Eric’s death.

His absence had left a gaping hole in my heart, broken by the lack of his presence. Chaos had invaded my soul after a lifetime by his side.

We had always lived in the United States under the protection of Connor Burton Race. My brother-in-law had resumed his place as lord of the western territory and was granting us a comfortable income, which had allowed us to live well. However, I hadn’t seen him since my departure from the castle.

We first settled in Louisiana, where we bought a ranch. Eric had discovered horse riding in Mortain and had since had a passion for horses. Subsequently, we had to move many times throughout the country, but wherever we went, we were always surrounded by his animals. In general, we always looked for secluded places, so that rumours spread less quickly. My white hair and my eternal youth had the annoying tendency to feed the neighbours gossip. Lately, we had no choice but to pass me off as a housekeeper, so that Eric wouldn’t come across as the biggest pervert in the entire state of Montana. But, in everyone’s eyes, Isabelle was his daughter and that was his greatest pride, his greatest achievement. I had had three miscarriages before giving birth to the beautiful baby that she was, so we were both taking our chances. I knew, however, that it was madness to have a child whom I risked seeing die. I had refused for a long time before finally giving in. I had done it for Eric, so that he could experience a father’s life, as normal a life as possible, if that was attainable, alongside an eternal being like me. But I had also done it because an irrepressible desire for motherhood had awakened one day as if it were the last natural path to explore in my relationship with the man I loved.

And we had been rewarded because Isabelle had inherited my immortality, my telekinesis and the power of her father. We understood that her ageing had slowed considerably as soon as her powers appeared. So she seemed as young as me and, fortunately, she had not received the gift of attraction, at least not at a stage as developed as mine. Besides, she didn’t need it, everyone had already nicknamed her, as I had always called her: Belle. Which she hated. The relief I felt when I realized that my daughter would not age for centuries was matched only by the joy I felt when she appeared in our lives. She was part of Eric and the most precious thing I had in this world.

Our years of living together were full and happy. We had tasted it every hour, every minute, every second... He had died of a heart attack in his sleep, at the age of sixty-five.

I knew, however, that the powerful had a shorter life expectancy than other castes, in particular, because of the massive demand on their hearts by such power, but I still hoped for a few more years when he breathed his last. My only comfort was that he had known the death he wanted, he was so afraid of growing old to the point where he would find himself irremediably dependent on me. He would never have allowed it, and yet I loved him so much that I would have preferred that to having him taken from me so soon. I missed him so much. His eyes, his voice, his skin, his laughter… how painful it was to think about him. How painful was his absence…

Tears were still streaming down my cheeks, it was getting hard to contain my sobs. Yet it was a habit to try to hide them for two years. Carmichael put a hand on my shoulder, and the warmth of his hand comforted me. I turned to him again.

“Do you remember when I died?”

“How to forget it?!”

“Do you think you could help me like you did that time?”

“I’ll get the helicopter ready.”