I almost told him my secret right then and there by saying,Maybe that will help me find mine, but I stopped myself. I began reading out loud from the parchment instead. “ ‘Heirs of Biringan, rulers of the Court of Sirena, descendants of Queen Felicidad.’ ” I looked at Lucas. “Does that mean I’m a descendant of hers, too?”
“Of course,” he said. “I thought you knew that.”
I was floored. Goose bumps rose on my arms. “I didn’t,” I whispered. I kept reading.
I, King Vivencio II, hereby vow to relinquish the firstborn of my blood to the Babaeng Pinuno of the Kalahok of Mambabarang, in order to guarantee victory in the Endless Wars between the four courts and thereby bring peace to the entire realm.
27
I felt sick.“Surrender his firstborn? Wait, what?”
Lucas studied the parchment closely. “Hmmm. It sounds like the king made a deal with the mambabarang coven to end the war. That’s what they were called, the Kalahok of Mambabarang.”
“Not just to the coven but specifically to the head witch—the Babaeng Pinuno,” I said. “Myfather. My father made a deal to give me to the witches.” I felt dizzy.
“When were you born?” he asked. He pointed to a date on the contract. It was in the Biringan calendar.
I did a quick conversion in my head. “Almost nine months after that, exactly.”
“He didn’t know,” Lucas said. “He had no idea your mother was pregnant when he made this agreement. He probably had no intention of ever having any children.”
My father had sacrificed having an heir to end the war. I closed my eyes. The truth flooded over me. “That’s why me and my mom were hiding all along.” I grabbed the edge of the desk.I was an accident.And then they had to give up so much of their lives, all for me. They couldn’t even be together.
“Are you okay?” Lucas put his hands on my shoulders to steady me.
I nodded. “Just shocked.” I felt tears welling up in my eyes. It was overwhelming. Realizing this. Realizing how much danger my mother and I were in all those years. Running and hiding to keep me from falling into the witch’s hands.
“He thought he would outsmart the witch, but the mambabarang knew you had to come back to Biringan one day. The one true heir—you—would have to return when you came of age, or else the truce would be broken.”
“And now he’s dead, and I was brought back here, not even knowing I’d be closer to the danger my father was trying to protect me from.” My mother couldn’t have known the full extent of this bargain—she never would have let me come back here otherwise.
Temo was right. It’s time to tell her the truth.Was this what he wanted my mother to know? Was he trying to warn us with his last note? That the mambabarang had come to collect what was promised?
I picked up the book again.
“You want to do this later, maybe?” Lucas asked me. He looked at Nix for help managing me.
She leaned against the desk with her arms crossed. “You good, MJ?”
“No,” I said, in response to both their questions. “But I’ve waited long enough to know everything.”
There wasn’t much more in the book, except another contract with a smuggler—like one of the shady men in town—to hide meand my mother in the human world. So all this time, I thought we were running from these men, but they weren’t after us at all. They were helping tohideus. Our very names were written on the bottom: “Queen Consort Michelle Robertson-Rodriguez and Mahalina Jazreel, Princess of the Court of Sirena, Heir to the Throne of Biringan.”
I stared at the words on the page. Read them again. And again. And again. No one ever told me that was my real birth name. My encanto name. I always thought my name was Maria Josephina, but that was a lie, too.
Just another way they tried to hide me from the mambabarang.
“He wouldn’t have signed the agreement if he knew your mom was pregnant,” Lucas said.
I shook my head, still bewildered by my discovery. My entire life, I had been told that we were running because I was in danger from my father’s enemies. But in truth he was the one who had put the target on my back. He was the one who had signed me away, promised me to the dark witch. I wiped my eyes. “Maybe he didn’t, but he should never have made a promise like that—” I was interrupted by Nix.
“You guys! We have to go to the library,” she yelled. She was already making her way to the door.
“What’s happening?” I asked her.
“We need to know what this is,” she added over her shoulder. “Right now.” She waved the drawing of the strange plant that she had taken from me earlier.
“Guess we better go,” Lucas said. “Besides, I have a feeling we’ve been here too long already.”
