And it was more than that. The Legacy I had been given charge of could have been ruined if Tempest had said yes to what she had offered, for all she knew. She was fine with me living out here, but not with her granddaughter, and as for those awful comments...
I could have cried. Mother had been truly awful, but the worst thing was that she thought she was being kind, offering to bring up my daughter. I couldn't ever show this letter to Tempest. Never, ever. I scrunched it up, and walked back towards the house.
Once I'd hidden it where no-one could find it, I went to knock on Tempest's door, which lately she'd been keeping locked. She opened it after a minute, and I smiled at her, nervously.
"Tempest, can I talk to you about something?" I asked, gently. She shrugged, but stood back to let me in. I sat down on her bed and patted the space beside me for her to sit down.
"Do you remember what I said about where I used to live?" I asked, hoping she did.
"Um..." She thought for a minute as she sat down next to me. "A big house near Windenburg?"
I recalled the house, the beautiful house built from the money that my ancestors had poured into the family coffers, and gulped. It was time to come clean.
"It was big because my family is rich, Tempest. We were rich because we used to be a Legacy, and work hard for our money." Her eyes widened when I said 'legacy', and I tried not to waver.
"And our family is also linked in with the real zodiac. We name our children for their zodiac sign, in a fashion - I'm the Aries. You and your sister both fall under Taurus, and when you someday have children, I can promise you that they will be Gemini."
"So was your mom a Pisces?" Tempest asked. I shook my head.
"My mother married into the family, but my father was the Ophiuchus. It's the thirteenth sign, but usually never shows up. He didn't do as he should, and instead used the money we'd amassed to live in luxury. My great aunt, however, was a Pisces, if not the heir, and she named me as the successor to the legacy in the will she drew up, and I had to move here."
Tempest said nothing, for a little while, staring down at the floor. I waited for her to say something, anything.
"So you're building a legacy?" she asked, in a small voice. I nodded.
"And one day me or Thora have to take it over?"
"Yes. But that's why I work so hard, and why your father works so hard in the garden. We're trying to make enough money that you don't have to worry much about what we have to. Whichever of you ends up as the heir will have to have a room like mine built, until we have a room for each sign within the house. Aunt Prudence was very specific in her instructions." I was almost afraid to move.
Tempest shuffled over. "Did you have no choice, Mom?"
"Not really. But when I discovered I was pregnant with you, I realised it was going to be okay, because I had to make it okay, for you. And I wanted to bring honour back to the name."
I suddenly felt her little arms wrap around me, and I realised she was hugging me tightly, something she usually never does. I hugged her back, and we sat like that for a few minutes. I'd missed her spontaneous shows of affection.
Since then, she's been asking me questions.
"How will you know who the heir is?" she asked, while I was cooking dinner.
"Aunt Prudence always said we'd be made aware when the time was right, but I'm not sure what she meant, so we'll have to wait and see what happens. I do know that it will happen on Thora's eighteenth birthday, however."
After dinner, I was washing up, and she approached me.
"Does the cycle ever mix up?"
"Never. It never changes, aside from the rare Ophiuchus. And they never crop up until they're meant to. It always goes like this. Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces."
"How do you remember all that?" Tempest asked, frowning. I paused.
"My Aunt Prudence taught me a way to do so. A Tree Growing Can Lean Very Left, So Sit Carefully And Prudently."
Tempest giggled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's a mnemonic. It's a way to remember things. Each first letter of each word in the sentence is the same as the first letter of a zodiac sign, so it helps you remember the order." I smiled at her. "Maybe if you write it down, you'll be able to remember it better."
She wandered off, repeating the sentence to her. It made me feel happy and warm to have passed on Aunt Prudence's rhyme to my Tempest. I wondered briefly if Aunt Prudence would be proud to know I'd done so, and J found me later sniffling slightly while watching an old TV series.
"Angel?" he asked, unsure, sitting down next to me. "Are you okay?"
"M'fine." I leaned against him.
Tempest came up to me the next day, frowning.
"Why's Ophiuchus not in the rhyme?"
I'd seen this one coming, somewhat, so I was able to sit down with her and explain properly.
"Because it's not meant to be in the cycle, sweetheart. It overlaps with Sagittarius, and only the Pisces in the cycle ever have Ophiuchus, which is very out of sync. All of them in our family have had a birthmark shaped like a snake, as well."
"So did your dad have the snake?"
"On his ankle. He was really rather proud of it, actually, but whenever he used to show us, you could smell his feet." I wrinkled my nose, and Tempest began to giggle.
"So do you have a birthmark?" she asked.
"No, I don't. Some Ophiuchus get trapped in their own cycle of only Ophiuchus, so when my siblings and I turned out as Aries, there was a lot of relief."
I knew I'd made a mistake as soon as I said that, because Tempest frowned at me.
"I didn't know you had brothers and sisters."
"I...do, but we've lost touch. Most of them live a long way away, and besides, it's all old history."
"Couldn't you find them on the internet?" she persisted, her face lighting up with hope. A lump rose in my throat, and I fought to keep my voice level.
"I don't want to. Please, Tempest, don't ask me about them." I stood up. "Anyway, it sounds like Thora's awake. I had better go get her some lunch." My voice sounded mechanical, and I could feel Tempest glaring at my back as I walked away.
I'm such a coward. A coward with no hope of gathering the courage to tell her the truth. How can I tell her what my siblings are really like?
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