Augustus nods, knowing that Randolph is right, but he’ll never get rid of the feeling of guilt anyway. He clears his throat, deliberately changing the subject. “Ruth won’t veto Livia, you know.” Randolph looks up in surprise. From what he gathered he did expect problems from that quarter.
“Why are you so sure?” Augustus rolls the stem of the glass between his fingers.
“She told me so tonight.” Randolph gets up and paces the room. “I thought I would have to have a talk with her,” he mutters.
“That won’t be necessary,” Augustus shakes his head. “She claims she doesn’t want to be hated by Natalie and Cassius. She wants to keep the peace in the family.” Randolph frowns, looking out of the window onto the sea.
“That doesn’t sound like Ruth at all.”
“I suspect she’s afraid of Cassius,” Augustus continues, thinking about their Truth or Dare game. “We should watch both of them carefully anyway. Do you think it wise to change Livia so soon? You’ll meet her on the day of the eclipse for the first time. What if you can’t make up your mind at once?” Randolph smiles, if Augustus only knew!
“Of course I’ll be able to. What’s more, in the light of Ruth’s attitude it’s only reasonable to get it over with as soon as possible.”
Chapter 44
“Hurry up, otherwise we’ll miss the plane!” Cassius admonishes me, and I quickly kiss Natalie on the cheek and run to the Jeep.
“See you tomorrow!” Cassius won’t let me travel alone anymore and refuses to ubilocate with me, which would theoretically be possible but is one of the Arash no-goes. Reasonable too, I think, an Arash can’t just grab a human and transfer him from one location to the next. Although thinking about the long flight, it would be rather welcome.
At the airport I switch on my phone for the first time in the two weeks I’ve been here. “I didn’t know I was so popular,” I murmur, a sinking feeling in my stomach, as the phone bleeps continuously. Cassius looks a bit worried too, and I jump when the phone rings, showing my parents’ number. “Hello?” I reply cautiously and wince at the tone of my stepmother’s hysterical voice.
“Livia, where on earth have you been? You just disappeared and Ralph wanted to call the police.” I step away from Cassius, hoping he couldn’t hear her.
“I’m on holiday, I told you I was going.” Well, I told them earlier, not two weeks ago actually. “What’s all this about? Has something happened?” The fuss she’s making you’d think somebody has died.
“That’s what we want to know from you! Your father met Professor Green at some gathering or other and he told us that you haven’t been attending any of your lectures lately, nor did you take your exams.” I roll my eyes. Green and my father were at school together and it was just my luck that they should run into each other.
“Well, I might be changing courses,” I reply cautiously. Now my stepmother is sobbing into the phone.
“We’ve been worried about you for ages,” she sniffles, unable to say anymore.
“Livia!” my father now barks into the phone. The strange thought crosses my mind that he isn’t my real father at all. “We went to the address you gave us and there are no flats there at all, just an empty warehouse.” I close my eyes in shock. When I gave them Natalie’s address I didn’t yet know about the Arash. Of course my parents couldn’t see the flat, it was a place like the Spanish bar. But how could I explain my way out of this now? “Livia, you have to come home at once! Are you travelling alone?”
“No,” I grumble, “I’m with my boyfriend.”
“I thought that was Ralph! Come home at once!” he repeats. “You need help immediately!” What the hell is he talking about? I’m an adult after all, I can do what I want, he just keeps forgetting that.
“So you want to punish me because I didn’t take my exams?” Now I’m mad at him too.
“No, nobody blames you.” What? That’s a first! “Under these circumstances it’s amazing how long you’ve been able to lead a normal life.” First I freeze, assuming that he is talking about me being half-Arash, but then I start to suspect that he’s talking about something else. I notice Cassius motioning to me to hurry up and decide to end the call.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine, but I’m not coming home right now.” Or ever again. “I’m going to Scotland. I’ll call you when I’m back.” I won’t of course and I feel a stab of guilt. But he isn’t my real father and he never liked me anyway. He’s still shouting into the phone and I say a quick goodbye, walking over to Cassius. “Ready to go to Blackmoore Castle?” I smile at him, switching off the phone.
“The sooner the better,” Cassius whispers and kisses me.
June 26th, 2010
Cassius and I have booked a room at the Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel and a connection flight to Edinburgh the next morning.
“Where exactly are we heading?” I ask as we speed up North in a rented Porsche.
“Blackmoore Castle is close to the sea near North Berwick. We’re nearly there now.” Within minutes we’re driving through the small town, afterwards heading towards the coast. Ten minutes later Cassius parks the car in a large parking area among the trees and leans over to kiss me. “We’re there, are you ready?” His green eyes are clouded, and I know he’s worrying whether Randolph will accept me. I wish I could tell him that there won’t be a problem, but I promised to keep the secret. Maybe I can tell him one day soon.
I gasp when we step out from under the trees: at the far end of a meadow overgrown with large ferns a huge castle rises up into the sky. Cassius is grinning at me. “That’s why I parked over there, I wanted you to see it in all its glory.” Tall ramparts run round the castle ending in two high turrets. I’ve never seen anything more impressive. Am I an heiress now? I giggle at the thought. Hand in hand we cross the meadow while the large wooden gate opens. Cassius’ grip tightens around my hand and he smiles at me encouragingly. “That’s him,” he whispers, leading me to Randolph who is standing in the middle of the courtyard, waiting for us. I have to suppress a smile. “Hello Randolph,” Cassius greets him formally, letting go of my hand. “This is Livia.” Randolph smiles down at me, offering me his hand.
“It’s good to meet you, Livia.” I blush and only hope that I’m as good an actor as he is.
“Hello,” I mumble awkwardly, shaking his hand.
“Natalie and the rest arrived yesterday. They’ve already told me a lot about you.” What’s the correct answer to this? I glance up and he winks at me. Again I’m stunned at the colour of his eyes. How nobody realised that they’re exactly like mine amazes me.
“I’m parched. Could we have something to drink please?” Cassius is trying to break the tension.
Randolph leads us across a huge entrance hall to the large kitchen where Will, Rupert, Natalie, Augustus and Ruth are waiting for us. I glance over at Ruth but she’s staring out of the window, not acknowledging me. The view is breathtaking, directly out to sea. On the horizon I notice a tiny island. Will hands me a glass of champagne while Natalie kisses me, inquiring about our journey. Then we clink glasses, that is, all except Ruth, who is still standing apart.