Fae Fiefdom - M. Sinclair Page 0,4

Hell, I thought I would look good with about ten pounds on, especially if it went to my butt. But I didn’t need Denise to get on my ass (literally!), about that either. I was thin enough that she hadn’t put me on a diet, like Alice. It was ridiculous, since Alice, like her twin, was rail thin.

So I didn’t eat around Denise and she didn’t say anything. The last thing I needed was her micromanaging my meals. I had tried to talk to my sister about it, and she had shrugged her shoulders as if it was expected and normal. So I didn’t push it. It’s not like we were very close to begin with.

Without a word, I walked to the enclosed back porch and slipped on a dark jacket, my rain boots already on my feet. The fresh open air cooled my face and I inhaled, loving the scent of the roses from our grand garden up ahead. I loved the weather like this. It revitalized me as if I was a plant.

My eyes trailed over the forest that lined our massive stone estate that rose above the damp earth by nearly four stories. The estate had been settled here longer than the modern pavement and road that led to our stone laid driveway. In fact, our estate was the oldest in Village Worth.

Village Worth was set up a bit differently than most towns. The center was filled with the cute coffee shops and a large library you would expect. However, the main feature of the town was the historic district.

There were three other ‘gated communities’ within the streets of Village Worth, but ours was the historic district, so all the surrounding houses were older as well. Apparently, my mother’s family had owned this land and sold it to a developer a hundred or so years ago. I had no idea how much of that was accurate but I did know where we lived was considered important. It made us the very focal point of this small dot on the map. We legit had tourists who often came by, looking at our house because it was the exact geographical center of the United States of America. Obnoxious? Yes.

It was a pain in the ass to live somewhere like this. But we had large gated fences surrounding us, so I could ignore the tour buses that passed by. I couldn’t really complain, because they also went through the other three communities, each showcasing different periods of architectural development of this town.

Besides the communities, there was Village Worth Preparatory Academy where I attended school and the attached primary school. It was that simple. I knew these streets like the back of my hand. It was suffocating sometimes and I couldn’t wait to explore the larger world out there. It was practically beckoning me forth, a siren’s call that was impossible to ignore.

Interrupting my thoughts of traveling, a flash of a concept ran through my head but I swept it away. I remembered my mother telling me once that the entire house would be mine one day. I had no idea if she had meant literally…I mean my father would have told me something like that, right? I wasn’t positive that I wanted to give up the property so easily. Then again, I wasn’t positive it was worth the battle to stay.

It was more than that though. All of this, with my stepmother and absent father, felt wrong. To be honest, the entire scenario with my mom, my father, and Denise was an oddity that I thought about more than I cared to admit. I didn’t want to point fingers, but if I was going to, I would point it right at how fucking weird it was that he remarried so quickly. I mean it hadn’t even been a full year! If he had been the recipient of her will…that would explain how he and Denise were living so cushy.

I shook my head and tried to clear my thoughts again. I didn’t need to go down this rabbit hole. Honestly, I wanted to know as little as possible about my ‘family.’ At least that was what I told myself, but thoughts plagued me constantly at night.

In less than a few months I would be gone, and I planned to be one of the few members of my graduating class to attend University. I had always found that pattern weird within itself because our academy was so successful at forming brilliant students…yet