Artemis (previously The Lady Lockhart)

Chapter Seventeen

WHAT IS A CHILD TO DO WHEN HIS MOTHER DIES?

What is a child to do when he loses the guiding beacon of his life?

What is a child to do when he wakes to find himself with nothing left?

Emmett Lockhart was woken in the middle of one night – a still, hot night – when he was only ten and two, only a boy. His arm was being shaken violently, but he could not tell if it was that or the sound of Emmeline's cries that had woken him first. The first thing he saw was his twin sister in tears, her face contorted in panic and pain. She was still in her nightgown, her hair left down and hanging down her back. The grogginess vanished from his eyes as he scrambled to sit up in bed, an ominous sense of foreboding capturing his heart.

"What happened, Linnie? What has upset you so?" Although he would be a source of comfort for Emmeline, he too had flown into something of a panic.

"It's... It's Mama," she answered between sobs. "Emmy, what do we do?"

"Mama?" His eyes grew wide, and though he had not thought it possible, his heart began to beat even faster in his breath. Their mother had been sick for some time now, complaining of severe pains in her chest. He had a feeling that he understood his sister's intonations completely, but the truth was not one that he wanted to hear. Despite his sensibility, he asked her: "Is Mama in pain again?"

Emmeline shook her head violently, untied black hair sticking to her tear-stained face. She pushed it sloppily out of the way with the heels of her palms as she struggled to form a coherent sentence in her unstable emotional state. "N-no...she... Emmy, she..." But she could not bring the words to leave her mouth, as if they would make the situation all the more real, and she burst into tears once again.

"Father... Where is Father?"

"In...the...l-l-library." Emmeline managed to respond between sobs. "Th-the d-door is l-l-locked. H-he...He w-w-won't...s-see me. Em-Emmett, I'm...I'm scared."

"I...I need to see her," he choked out, pushing himself off his bed and sliding his feet into his slippers. He was about to run straight to his mother's chambers, but his sister's hand catching onto his arm stopped him. He turned to look at her, tears still streaming down her face, naught but fear in her eyes.

"Emmy... It is – it is frightening to see her...this way."

"She's my mother, Emmeline," Emmett said determinedly. "Nothing about her could scare me."

Emmeline nodded dumbly and released her hold on him. He bolted out of the room, twisting and turning through the calls, and nearly crashed through his mother's door. The bed was covered by a white sheet, and Anne Lockhart's maids in waiting were huddled in a corner, all in tears. They looked up in alarm upon hearing him enter.

"M-Master Emmett," one greeted. "Your mother... I'm afraid Her Grace..."

Emmett did not respond, instead rushing to his mother's bedside and pulling the sheet off her. She was so pale, her ruby lips drained of colour, her eyes shut. She could have been sleeping...if she were not so cold. Emmett rested a hand upon her face. Ice. Her life had vanished from her body... Her face was so familiar, still so comforting, but his mother was gone. His mother was gone...

Gone.

Tears sprang to Emmett's eyes, and a strangled sob emerged from his throat. He did not fight it.

His mother was gone.

She had left him.

How could she be gone?

How?

How was this possible?

She had promised she would always be there for him.