“No, it’s impossible.”
“She didn’t die because she was pregnant with me. As daughter of the Fire King, I am strengthened by fire. It was my life inside her that kept her heart beating when her flesh was scorched. It was my life that helped her slowly heal from her wounds.”
My breath hitches as I look at my mother under a new light. All this time...she’s been the Fire King’s daughter. She’s been fae.
She continues. “My maternal grandmother prayed over my mother’s corpse late into the night, long after all the spectators left. It was she who discovered the healing begin to take place. That’s when she sought the first fae she could find—a lunar fae—and bargained her life for a promise that my mother and I would be taken to safety. The lunar fae took my grandmother’s life and burned her body, leaving it in my mother’s place for the humans to find the next day.”
I’ve seen a lot of blood and gore during surgery, but the images in my head are somehow far more grim. The willing sacrifice of a life to save one’s child is more than I can imagine. “The lunar fae kept their end of the bargain, I assume.”
“Yes. The fae took my mother to the Lunar Court, where Queen Nessina offered her sanctuary until she healed. Not even my father knew she lived, which was why he sought to avenge her death. Once Mother recovered, the queen secured safe passage for her to the mainland. I was born shortly after.”
“Queen Nessina...” The name isn’t familiar to me. The current ruler of the Lunar Court is Queen Nyxia, a vampire fae. “Is she Queen Nyxia’s mother?”
“Yes, and she was the one who convinced the council to exile my father as his punishment at the end of the war. Very few fae know the truth, that his penance was a mercy far more than it was a death sentence. Because it reunited him with us, let him live and die at my mother’s side after a human lifespan. But before the end of his life, my father took a promise from me.”
“What promise?”
“That I would refuse the punishment he’d been given. That I would return to the Fair Isle and live the immortal lifespan that was my blood right.”
“That’s how you’ve been alive so long?”
She nods. “Being near Faerwyvae’s magic slows my aging, but it’s never been safe for me to stay in any one place for an extended period, not when my agelessness could arouse suspicion. Sometimes I returned to the mainland, living there for years or decades, which is how I met your father. There were many times I thought I would stay away from the isle for good. When I met your father, I thought I was ready to do just that, to grow old with him. But then you and Amelie were born.”
Tears glaze her eyes, and I feel mine swimming in response.
She continues. “There was a light missing from the two of you, apparent from birth, and I felt it reflected inside me as well. Being on the mainland meant I was in a constant state of mental fog, of unease and illness. I had no connection to magic or healing. My existence was a flicker of life compared to the vitality I felt on the isle, and I could see my daughters were suffering the same. Amelie was a quiet, sallow, unhappy child. You were sickly and hardly did anything but cry. I realized then why my father had taken that promise from me, and why my grandmother had sacrificed her life for my mother and me; it’s one thing to suffer yourself, but it’s another to watch a child languish. That’s when I left your father to live in Eisleigh.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell us?”
“I knew I’d have to tell you eventually, and perhaps I was wrong to keep the truth from you so long. You’d stop aging once you reached adulthood and we would need to move elsewhere. But the truth was dangerous. I wanted to keep the burden from you and Amelie as long as I could. By the time you were Chosen, it was too late. I couldn’t bring myself to further overwhelm the two of you.”
I feel a flash of anger over her excuse for not explaining things before we were taken to Faerwyvae. If we’d known the truth, at least we would have been better prepared for complications such as this. But my attention is fixated on what she said before that.
“Why was the truth so dangerous?” I ask. “I know the fae aren’t allowed to live on this side of the wall, and I understand our heritage compromised the treaty, but after how lenient the mayor has been with previous mishaps with the fae, why is this considered such a serious offense?”
“It isn’t just that we have fae blood,” Mother says, expression grave. “It’s whose fae blood we have. My father wasn’t the only one included in his exile. Any possible descendants were sentenced to the same fate. My return to the Fair Isle went directly against that. And it isn’t just the humans you have to fear. There are fae who feel threatened by your very existence. It’s why I tried to keep you and Amelie safe from the Reaping. It’s always been a precarious balance, trying to stay close enough to the wall to benefit from Faerwyvae’s magic while maintaining a low profile.”
“Why are the fae threatened by us?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I know the answer. The mayor mentioned King Ustrin last night but never explained why. I recall what the Fire King said to me when I met him, that I felt like an old enemy. “King Ustrin is responsible for this, isn’t he?”
She nods. “It was he I hoped you’d never meet, as he has benefited the most from my father’s exile. I wouldn’t be surprised if he orchestrated his demise in the first place. Someone caught my father with a human lover and convinced the humans to execute my mother. Now that I’ve seen firsthand what lengths he’ll go to, I’m certain he’s been against my father from the start.”
“How did he turn the human council so firmly against us?”
“He came to the apothecary three days ago and attacked me. I should have known his attack was a ruse. I should have known to stand down. But instinct had me returning the attack, and he saw my fire powers unleashed. As soon as he realized what I could do, he set the kitchen ablaze and disappeared.” She brings her hand to her heart, rubbing her palm over her chest as if the memory pains her.
“Is the apothecary...”
“It’s gone, Evie.” Her voice is a hoarse whisper. “I was still trying to smother the flames when the sheriff came. And the mayor. They took me into custody before the firefighters arrived. I’ve been told it is nothing but a charred husk.”
My stomach churns at the impossibility of what she’s saying. The apothecary, her life’s passion,our home...it’s gone. “Why did you come with them? Why didn’t you fight them with these fire powers you have?”
“I didn’t dare make any move against them, not when there was a chance I could convince them they were wrong. I knew King Ustrin would have given my identity away, but I underestimated how far he would go. He threatened the council, saying he would tell the fae that the humans broke the treaty by giving them a fae girl for the Reaping instead of a human like the treaty demands. That’s why the human council is so adamant about punishing me.”
“That’s the real reason they’re giving Aspen a final chance with a new set of Chosen.” I nearly choke on the name of my mate. “They’re trying to shift the responsibility back to him.”
Mother nods. “Still, I’d hoped I’d be able to sway them in the end, but I now know that was folly.”
The defeat in her tone slashes at my heart, and I’m torn between guilt and sorrow. Guilt because the mayor was right. We are fae and Mother has been hiding our heritage. We’ve broken the law. But I feel sorrow too because I know what this is costing her. What this is costing all of us. It feels like that sorrow will open a chasm in the ground beneath me and swallow me whole. There’s only one thing I can do to keep from losing my mind. Seek logic. Truth. “They say they have proof. What does that mean?”
