"I just don't understand why Mom's being so mean," Ariel sobbed into her napkin over lunch the next day. Desdemona had invited her to the Globe and Crown.

"You hurt her bottom line," Des said with a shrug. "Money is important to her."

"More important than me?"

"You've made some choices that hurt her financially," Des said. "She reacted predictably. She's not the most mature person in the world."

"How can you talk about our mother that way?"

"Let's just say I've seen the uglier side of Goneril," Desdemona said. Goneril hadn't exactly been supportive of Des's decision to marry another woman.

The waitress brought their food. Ariel appeared to be starving so Des let her eat in peace.

"How are the kids?" Ariel asked after a while.

"Fine," Des said, surprised.

"What?"

"You never ask about them."

"I'm not a complete witch," Ariel said. "Despite what people think. I do care about my niece and nephews."

"How are your kids?"

"Fine," Ariel said, bitterly. "They're really Miranda's kids, anyway. And they don't exactly like Gary."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Like him."

"What a silly question," Ariel said with a little hiccup. "I married him, didn't I?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"I wonder what's on the dessert cart," Ariel said, waving for a waiter.

Desdemona let the subject drop, but privately decided to pay her sister more visits in future. What she had heard about Gary Thompson did not bode well.

Next Chapter