Chapter 4 - Pearls and Ice
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound of a silver-tipped cane hitting the marble border of the floor.
The crowd of guests parted instantly.
They stepped back like water draining from a sink.
An elderly woman stepped into the warm light of the chandelier.
She wore a gold lace dress that swept the floor.
A heavy, triple-layered pearl necklace rested against her collarbone.
Each pearl was the size of a marble, gleaming with a sickly, oily light.
Her hair was a flawless, spun silver.
Behind her stood two men in identical black suits.
They did not blink.
The Matriarch stopped two feet away from the spilled champagne.
She did not look at the bleeding young man on the floor.
She did not look at Sebastian.
Her eyes, pale and colorless, fixed entirely on the small boy.
Leo shrank back.
He tried to make himself smaller, folding his knees toward his chest.
He hid his face completely in Sebastian’s jacket.
The Matriarch’s lips barely moved.
Her voice was like cracked glass rubbing together.
"His father is dead."
She stated it as a matter of inventory.
Like noticing a vase was missing from a shelf.
"He’ll be thrown to an orphanage."
The words hung in the air.
They carried no anger.
No malice.
Just absolute, freezing indifference.
Leo didn't know what an orphanage looked like.
He pictured a giant cardboard box in an empty room.
No windows. No blankets.
He dug his face deeper into the cedar-scented shirt.
Sebastian slowly stood up.
He lifted Leo with him, holding the boy effortlessly on his left hip.
His right hand remained curled by his side.
He looked at the Matriarch.
He looked at the heavy pearls around her neck.
Then, he looked at the young man, who had finally managed to stand.
The young man wiped blood from his mouth, grinning a red, stained smile.
He thought he had won.
He thought the gold lace and the pearls were his shield.
Sebastian gently set Leo down on a heavy velvet armchair.
"Stay here," he whispered.
He unbuttoned the single button of his dark suit jacket.
May you like
He let the jacket fall to the floor.
It landed silently over the shattered ice.
