Chapter 5
Thora buried her face into the crook of Aldric’s neck, her small, trembling hands gripping the collar of his button-down shirt with desperate strength. The smell of his familiar cologne seemed to ground her, breaking the paralyzing spell of terror Heloise had cast over her for the past four weeks.
"Daddy," Thora whimpered, her voice muffled against his chest.
"I'm listening, baby," Aldric whispered, pressing a kiss to her tangled hair. "Tell me everything. No one in this room will ever hurt you again."
Thora slowly lifted her head. Her blue eyes, wet with fresh tears, darted nervously toward Heloise, but the solid wall of her father’s chest gave her the courage she needed. She raised a tiny, shaking finger and pointed across the expansive dining room, past the opulent dinner table, toward the heavy swinging doors that led to the kitchen.
Aldric followed her finger. The door was propped open slightly. In the dark, unlit corner of the pantry corridor, pushed carelessly against the cold tile floor, lay a filthy, torn woolen blanket and a flat, stained pillow.
"What is that?" Aldric asked, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
Thora’s voice broke as a fresh wave of tears spilled over her rosy cheeks. "Daddy… she makes me sleep there."
The words dropped into the silent dining room like a live grenade.
Several of the guests gasped audibly. One woman covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide with sudden, horrified realization. The favored cousin, eight-year-old Clara, looked down at her expensive party dress, suddenly realizing the severity of what she had been watching for the past month.
Aldric stared at the dirty blanket on the kitchen floor. He thought of the beautiful, custom-built nursery upstairs. He thought of the plush mattress, the silk sheets, the stuffed animals he had meticulously arranged before leaving for his trip.
"You made her sleep on the floor," Aldric stated. He didn't look at Heloise. His eyes remained locked on the squalid little nest in the shadows.
"It was temporary!" Heloise blurted out, her voice pitching into a shrill, defensive squeak. "Clara came to visit, and she needed a room with proper sunlight! Thora’s room was the only one that accommodated her allergies! It was only for a few weeks, Aldric! Don't make a melodrama out of a simple housing arrangement!"
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"You put an eight-year-old cousin in my daughter's bed," Aldric said, slowly turning his head to look at his wife. The fury radiating from him was no longer a burning fire; it was absolute, absolute absolute zero. "And you threw my five-year-old child onto the kitchen tiles like a dog."
"She survived, didn't she?" Heloise sneered, her back hitting the edge of the dining table. The cornered-animal panic in her eyes was rapidly mutating back into vicious, entitled arrogance. "You are overreacting, Aldric. You always coddle her because of her mother. It’s pathetic."
