Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series by Selina Fenech

seeing the fading black and pink color of her hair clearly for the first time. Of course it was dyed! And then there were the bruises. Despite having a pretty dress on, she still felt far from fairest of them all. She wondered if Isabeth had any eye liner then found herself thinking about Roen’s eyes.
    “Was Roen out all night?”
    Working at braiding Eloryn’s hair, Isabeth tutted. “Well, there was hardly enough room here for all of us. He often stays in town when he works late. Did he tell you he is assistant to one of the most successful businessmen in Maerranton? He’s always been lucky, in his way. An unexpected gift he was, when we didn’t intend to...” Isabeth cleared her throat. She shifted on her feet, pausing awkwardly. “You know, Roen was just a toddler when we heard Loredanna was with child. We had hoped it would be a girl for him to play with and look after. But then, well… Then we hoped there’d be a child alive at all.”
    Apart from her very first answer, Isabeth directed everything she said to the princess. I might as well be invisible. She’s been setting them up since before Eloryn was even born.
    “You said before, you had reason to believe I lived. Please tell me how?” asked Eloryn.
    “It’s not a pleasant story, love.”
    “I would still like to know, please.”
    Isabeth tugged at her thin fingers then sat down on the corner of the bed. “After Thayl struck Caermaellan castle, we had our wizard send us through a Veil door to your mother’s estate, to warn her.”
    Eloryn slipped down onto the edge of the bed beside Isabeth, shaking her head. “Estate?”
    “Lady Loredanna stayed at her country home, just across the mountains here, during the last months of her pregnancy. I don’t know how much you know, but your mother wasn’t happy after her marriage. She lived there as much as she could, isolated from the court, her husband, even her closest friends.”
    “I don’t think Alward knew my mother much at all, not in person. But he said... are you sure she hadn’t gone back to the castle?”
    Isabeth’s skin wrinkled around her face into a frown and her hand covered her mouth. “Oh, love. We found her at the estate. We were too late. She was already dead, surrounded by the bodies of every other man and woman from her staff. They must have tried to protect her. I don’t know what happened. They were all out in the forest... But Loredanna was no longer with child and there was no baby among the dead. We knew there had been a younger member of the Wizards’ Council at the estate, Pellaine - yes, Alward - who also couldn’t be found. That is all we knew. That was enough to let us hope he got you away to safety.”
    Eloryn squinted as if she’d been slapped. “I know of the estate you mean. The children from the village called it a ghost house. It was close to where we lived, within walking distance, but Alward never said... I thought she was with my father when...”
    Memory watched silently. Turns out I’m not the only one who didn’t know everything. Something seemed to pull from the inside of her chest like a magnet, as though she should do something - hug Eloryn, say some comforting words - but nothing she could think of seemed natural.
    Isabeth patted Eloryn’s hand consolingly. It looked as awkward as Memory felt. “I wish you could have known your mother. You are so much of her! In Faerbaird castle we had a portrait of Lady Loredanna from her coronation, when she wasn’t much older than you are now. She wore the crested medallion in that portrait, the one you dropped in front of Roen. Mind you take better care of it from now on.”
    Eloryn moved her mouth, and it took a moment for her voice to find its way out. “Do you still have her portrait? I’d like to see my mother.”
    “I’m so sorry. There have been times we’ve had to run, and it was lost. Still it served its purpose.” Isabeth gave her a knowing half smile. “Had Roen not grown up besotted with