Because they knew.
They knew I wasn’t of this realm, and they didn’t want me to return to my home.
Perhaps they felt my wandering off was a sign of negligence, but... mother had said she’d be on the other side...
But she never came.
“An attack on the kingdom happened twenty years ago?” I asked, my voice shaky.
Ophelia Blackthorn pursed her lips. “It cut the kingdom off at its knees. It was truly a downfall. The entirety of the kingdom fled in the night, leaving the castle and the forest to become nothing but a monument of a kingdom fallen.”
The silence was deafening before she spoke again.
“No one ever thought it would be revived,” she said pointedly.
My heart beat so loudly I thought for sure she could hear it.
“You said…” I swallowed hard before continuing. ”You said there was an opportunity.”
Blackthorn poked the fire. “Tomorrow night there will be a blood moon. The blood moon is pivotal for theArdaím,the ceremony in which a faerie of royal blood is confirmed by their ancestors as a faerie of great power and lineage,” she said matter of factly.
I could barely process her words. “And what does—”
“The queen requests your presence tomorrow evening. If you truly are the lost princess, Violette Belle Lir, theArdaímceremony will confirm your place among your ancestors... and as the heir to the throne of Lir, essentially reviving the kingdom itself.”
I could barely breathe. Not only was I Fae, not only was I falling in love with agancanagh,I was... a princess.
Perhaps I was still in my bed, in the midst of a post orgasmic nap, dreaming.
But I knew as the fire crackled beside me I was not.
“And if I am not?” I asked quietly.
“I think we both know that is not likely the case,” she said with a sigh. “But if you are not, then at least you will know the truth.”
“So, if I say yes, I—”
“You will be asked to pack your things, and transported by the queen to an undisclosed location where she and her advisors, her sorcerers will begin the process for the ceremony.”
“And I must decide...”
“I can give you the night, Violet, but I must have your answer by the start of the school day, tomorrow, and no later.”
I nodded as I tried to process the information. I felt hot, anxious, and like I needed to let off some serious steam.
A princess.
A lost princess.
I could finally have the answers I needed to who I really was. I could finally see my real mother... after all these years.
I rose from my seat, wiping my hands on my skirt.
“I understand,” I said as I made my way out of Headmistress Blackthorn’s office and into the darkness of the academy once more.
CHAPTER22
Violet
