"Lissette! Hey, Lissy, wake up!"

I jumped, looking over. Margot was bent in front of me, her dark eyes wide with concern.

"Daydreaming again, papillon?" she chuckled.

I swallowed. "No, just a memory."

Margot's smile faded. "Its been two years, Lissette. You have to stop thinking about the fire. It's not healthy. And you especially shouldn't be thinking about it on your wedding day."

I opened my mouth to argue, but Margot interrupted me.

"Listen. I know it still hurts. But if you keep on thinking about it, you will never move on. Mama wouldn't want you to dwell on her death."

I shook my head. "Sometimes it feels like you don't care that she died."

Margot froze. She glared at me furiously. "Oh, so just because I think about other things, I don't care about that? What wondeful logic you have. I think about her every day, but unlike you, I am not delusional in thinking that she will come back. Get your head out of the clouds. She is not coming back. Now come downstairs with me, your guests shouldn't have to wait for you. Perhaps you didn't realize, but the bride must be present for the wedding banquet."

My mouth dropped open. Margot stormed out of the room. I stood and followed her, guilt overwhelming me.

Oh, why couldn't I keep my mouth shut?

As we walked down the hall, my eyes roamed the walls. One painting stood out.

It was a portrait of Margot and I, just painted a few hours ago. I was perched on an armchair, with Margot standing behind me. She had one arm draped over the top of my seat and looked unbelievably bored and dismal. I looked bored out of mind, and well, I was bored out of my mind.

Sitting for paintings was extremely dull.

We went onto the dining room, the squeak of the door announcing our arrival. Father and Mr.Blanchet were the first to stand. Then Henry and Clarence.

Margot went to Henry, and touched his cheek. "Terribly sorry that we are late, dear. Lissette had a bit of trouble to take care of."

Henry shrugged, sitting down. "Well, as long as she is alright."

Clarence frowned at me. "I do hope that you're alright. I don't want my wife to be sick."

I swallowed a retort. Wife. Yes, I suppose I was Clarence's wife, as stated by the priest an hour ago. Of course he'd address me as such.

I smiled at him. "Yes, I'm fine."

We sat down at the dinner table. I looked around. This dinner was a sort of family dinner. It was rather strange, and quite non-traditional. I had a strange feeling that this night would not end well.

Mr.Blanchet stood up. "I'd like to propose a toast. To holy matrimony and love. I can not express how happy I am to see my son and Lissette finally joined," he continued. "It is an enormous gain for both of our families. I truly hope that this will satisfy our bank accounts."

Excuse me? How rude could he be?

I looked around the table. Henry and Clarence looked a bit confused and uncomfortable. Margot looked puzzled. So did Papa. But Mr.Richelieu's expression sent a chill up my spine.

It was a knowing expression, like he and Mr.Blanchet had some sort of secret.

"But we need to weed out the uneccessary parts, first!" he chuckled.

Uneccessary parts? What was he talking about?

Mr.Blanchet smirked. "Uneccessary, such as,"

He turned around. And pointed at Papa.

"Such as you, my dear sir."

Margot gasped. I jumped up.

"I beg your pardon!? How in the world is my Papa an unessecary pa-"

"Lissette," Papa hissed. "Sit down and control yourself."

"But-"

"Now, Lissette."

I swallowed back my anger and sat down with a huff. Margot glanced at me in concern, but I refused to meet her eyes. Henry didn't even seemed to notice my anger. His attention was soley concentrated on his father.

Mr.Richelieu didn't even seem to notice his sons gaze. Clarence nudged me, but I ignored him.

"August," Papa said coldly. "Whatever do you mean by uneccessary parts?"

Mr.Blanchet grinned. "I mean exactly what I said, my friend! You are uneccessary. There is no need for you to be around." He paused, thinking. "To be honest, there isn't a need for your daughters to be around either."

Margot and I froze.

Henry's eyes flashed. "Excuse me? There is quite a big need for my wife to be around."

Clarence frowned at his father. "Father, what are you talking about? Lissette is very precious."

Mr.Richelieu spoke up. "You gentlemen can find much better wives. There are many more beautiful and rich women in the world."

Margot's mouth dropped open. "I beg your pardon?!"

I shot up. "What the hell are you implying?! My sister and I are not trophies!"

Clarence and Papa were staring at Mr.Richelieu in shock.Henry stood up, glaring at his father furiously. "With all due respect, but that logic is absoulute nonsense. Margot and Lissette are not objects. And I refuse to listen to another word of your babbling!"

Then I smelled something strange. Something musky and thick. It was familiar.

I froze.

Smoke.

"Henry, stop walking. I don't think that you realize that if you walk out that door, you'll walk right into a blazing fire?" Mr.Blanchet chirped.

Henry went still. "What?"

"Right outside that door, a fire is building." Mr.Richelieu said calmly. "August, Henry, Clarence and myself will leave through another exit. But I'm afraid that the young ladies and their father will have to burn."

Mr.Blanchet spoke up. "I hope you realize why this must happen. It's the simple fact that your money is the only thing that makes you all useful. But Charles, you will intefere in the marriage. And the ladies will only give Henry and Clarence a hard time, with their emotional idiocy. To put it simply, we need your money. Your money will be split between your daughters if you die, and then given to Henry and Clarence. And of course, the ladies can't live, because they've heard everything! And isn't is poetic, ladies, for you two to die in a wonderfully tragic, absoulutely accidental and tragic fire just like your poor, pathetic mother?"

"No," Papa whispered. "You, you-"

"It had gotten a bit out of control," Mr.Richelieu mused. "I didn't expect that our plan would"ve went so terrifically well."

We all stared at them. They, they had-

Then it was chaos.

Everyone was yelling, and looking around for an exit. Mr. Blanchet threw open the dining room doors, grinnig wide. The flames. Oh my god. They slashed into the dining room, swallowing everything. In a matter of seconds, the dining room was overtaken in flames.

Not again. Oh my god, please. Not again.

The flames were everywhere. I ran towards what hoped what was an exit. I pushed through the flames. For once, I didn't care about anyone else. I just wanted to survive. I refused to die like Mama. No, I would survive.

I raced through the halls, the heat scorching my face. Everything was so hot. I was suffocating. Everything was tinged with scarlett. My eyes were stinging like the devil.

No. NO. I will not die. I won't die like this!

I don't know how long I ran around, trying to find an exit. My lungs were burning, my eyesight fading. I couldn't feel anything but the suffocating heat.

Then I saw it. A little patch of blue sky. I raced forward, gasping.

A window. I grabbed onto the sill, pulling myself up. The wood was pratically burning into my hand, but I didn't care. I lunged into the cool air, and fell.

Not for long though. It only felt like a moment, and then I slammed into a rosebush. I don't know how long I lay there, but presently, I felt arms pulling me up. Voices. I was pulled away, away from the flames. Away from the horror. Into a coach, with a blanket and ice.

I was saved.