Staring at the midwife’s certificate, Fionn wondered why both his parents lied to him all those years. While he wasn’t surprised about his father being a party to the lie, his heart was in danger of breaking, thinking his mother would also go along with it. Suddenly, Fionn needed to leave Penn’s office and return to his hoard so he could speak to her in privacy.Why would my mother lie to me, even on her deathbed?Before leaving, he asked Penn, “Will you be able to find the midwife who filled it out?”
“If she’s alive, then yes. The High Council will have her contact information on file.”
“What happens if she’s dead? Will the court still honor the certificate?”
“Yes, I believe it will, but let’s not worry about that just yet. I’ll get on this right away and as soon as I have the affidavit, I’ll let you know.”
Nodding, Fionn said, “Do you have a place where I can be alone for a minute?”
Gathering up the file folders, Penn said, “Stay in here as long as you want.”
Fionn waited until Penn left, then called for the portal and, within seconds, found himself back at his hoard. Sinking down in one of his piles of gold coins, he closed his eyes, delaying the moment when his mother would have to confirm her complicity in the lie, but there it was in black and white. She was the only person he trusted completely. Sighing, Fionn summoned the spirit of his mother.
“Hi, angel.”
Fionn’s eyes flew open and his jaw dropped when he saw his mother standing before him bathed in a white light. “Mum? Is that really you?”
“Yes, the strength of your emotions called my likeness to appear. Now what has you so upset?”
“Mum, I found my midwife’s certificate today,” Fionn said warily, unsure of how his mother would react.
“Good, I was hoping you would.”
“You were?” Fionn asked, perplexed. “But why did you lie to me all these years?”
“Angel, I took a vow of silence on the matter and until your father died, I was bound by it.”
“But Mum, why would you do that?” Fionn asked.
“To save you, of course. Nothing else mattered.”
“Save me from what?”
“Angel, from your birth, you had constant bouts of illnesses during your childhood and each one made you weaker and weaker. I contacted every doctor I thought could help you, but none could. I was getting desperate. Then I read about a new treatment and, though still unproven, I just knew it would work for you. I begged your father for permission to see if this miracle treatment could cure my angel. He finally agreed, but only if I swore never to reveal how old you were. Angel, I would have given my life in order to save you.”
“Did you take me…for this treatment? I don’t remember going anywhere.”
“Once your father had my vow, he arranged for the doctors to come to us, but before they arrived, you gotworse. I held you in my arms, sure you’d die before the doctors could treat you and I cursed your father for denying me permission to take you to them. I’m not surprised you don’t remember, because you were delirious. I prayed to the gods to save you, and they granted my prayers…you hung on long enough for the doctors to cure you. When the fever broke, I rejoiced that the only ray of sunshine in my life had not been blotted out and would still shine brightly.”
“How old was I then?” asked Fionn.
“Four, angel.”
“If the doctors cured me, why did I still get sick?” Fionn asked. “I was sick until I became a teenager.”
“Yes, you were, but the episodes were milder and didn’t drain your dragon. It stopped when you were thirteen, when you went through puberty. The changes in your body killed the virus causing your illness. Forgive me angel, but I was desperate, so I made the deal with your father in order to save you.”
Tears veiled Fionn’s eyes as he remembered the days he sat at his mother’s bedside, praying for her recovery, prayers that went unanswered. “I know my father didn’t care about us, but why would he want me to be younger than I was?”
“At first, I didn’t know why, but later on I learned he was going to adopt his brother’s child, who was a year younger than you, and make him his sole heir.”
“So that’s why he wanted me to be younger than the son he was going to adopt. Did he ever do that?”
“No, I don’t know why it never happened, but it might have been a falling out he had with his brother shortlyafter I made the vow. As time passed and I remained childless, I thought it was pointless. You were your father’s only heir.”
“Then why was he trying to kill me?”
“Because of who you are. By the time you were five, your father…and I…knew you were gay. It didn’t matter to me, but as you grew older, your father fixated on it.”
