Hush was Caelena Shaw. Drustan’s cousin. Ilia’s niece. The one who stole the dark recipes from the nereids. The one who snuck Liam out into the hall at Bandthral.
“You—” Liam gave her a wide-eyed, bewildered look. “Youtried seducing me at Bandthral.”
Hush—Caelena—rolled her eyes at him. “I played my role as the pretty face perfectly. Itriedencouragingyouto take charge and search my uncle’s room and office properly, but you were too flustered and worried about your mate’s feelings to focus on the mission.” I snickered at her version of events, but my laugh was ignored by everyone in the room.
“Wait…” Liam’s face paled. “You were there the night Drustan killed—” he snapped his mouth shut, unable to say the words.
“I was,” Caelena nodded. “And as much as you’ve been holding onto this anger and resentment toward Drustan, you need to understand what happened.”
Liam frowned. “What, exactly, happened? Beyond the murder of my parents, that is.”
Caelena gave Liam a stern look. “Drustan only killed your parents because ofme.”
Liam cursed, baring his teeth at Caelena, making Audrey have to hold him back.
Sergei snarled, clearing the desk and positioning himself in front of Caelena, lifting a sword to Liam as he growled, “Think very carefully about your next move, fae.”
Liam was struggling to control himself. “Why? Why would Drustan do that foryou?”
“Because.” Caelena’s temperament was calm, not defensive but determined. “Your parents were going to kill me first.”
Liam froze, his eyes widening with horror. Why would Liam’s parents care about Caelena? She herself said that no one in Hyvenmere considered her to be more than a pretty face. Something Ilia was able to weaponize to steal from other territories. What would make the former Fae King and Queen want to end Caelena’s life?
Then it hit me.
“Because of your whismerra…” I whispered my assumption.
Everyone in the room stilled.
“Yes,” Caelena confirmed. “I wasn’t raised like all of you. I didn’t grow up in society. My parents protected me. Kept me safe from the ancient law that demanded I be executed. That cabin that guards the entrance to these tunnels is my childhood home.” I pictured my first impression of the cabin, how it looked lived in once upon a time. I could practically feel the warmth that was soaked into the structure over the years and years.
Caelena’s family home.
“My parents first discovered my whismerra when I was an infant. I couldn’t project clear thoughts, obviously. Just feelings.” Caelena paced the room before deciding to lean against the wall where Fergus once was. “They took me away. To the base of the Fjellenheim Mountains. My mother was a witch—the one Queen Astrid worked with to develop the protection spell over Audrey and the other halflings in the human realm.My father and Ilia were brothers, and my mother was from one of the small towns scattered between here and Lydhavn. It wasn’t a suspicious move my parents made, and Ilia granted them his blessing to leave the city, because my father was farther away from the throne. In Ilia’s eyes, his brother picking up his mate and newborn, and leaving the city, was the equivalent of giving Ilia his blessing to rule with Queen Astrid. So, I was raised here.” She gestured toward the cavern. “My mother taught meeverythingshe knew. Educating me on the goddess Tynara and the power she stored here.” Caelena marched over to the far wall where the many maroon drapes hung and pulled one back.
This revealed a series of carvings. Old enough to be marked long ago but preserved.
“What does that say?” I asked.
There was a reverent, heavy silence in the room until Audrey started to speak, translating:
When contention shrouds the continents, an Idol shall rise.
Their hand shall heal, their roots sunk deep in timeless soil.
Guided by the holy elements, they shall cast down the ancient beast
and bind the realm in long-lost unity.
“The prophecy,” Liam breathed in awe. “This must have been one of the earliest documentations of it.”
“My mother believed the Goddess Tynara carved these words herself, before she left us,” Caelena added. “My studies were held in this very room my entire childhood.”
Audrey stared wide-eyed, releasing her hold on Liam to step forward and gently trail a finger just outside the carvings. “…Was it you?” she asked, turning to look at Caelena. “Was it you who started the rumors that it wasn’t Ilia who was prophesiedto unite the realm…but me?” Caelena simply nodded, making Audrey press a hand to her chest in shock.
“Yes. I studied our history here,” Caelena explained. “As well as many other subjects. My father pushed me to become skilled enough to destroy any enemies should anyone discover my whismerra and demand my death.”
Audrey spoke in a reverent tone, with her eyes glued to her prophecy, “But by doing that, wouldn’t your parents put their own lives at risk? Breaking the law by hiding you?”
