I chuckled to myself and continued feeding Boyan’s failing vitality. It took an hour of carefully siphoning my magic to revitalise his damaged body. When I was done, shivers and a cold sweat left me weak, just as Ciesko had foretold. Still, Boyan’s eyes had cleared, his breath deepened, and he could sit up by himself.
‘That was… something.’ I slumped to the floor, my back hitting the bed, the satin sheets sticking to my damp hair. I was a liquid mess, muscles shaking after using so much aether. Even this hadn’t healed him; I’d only delayed the inevitable.
I’d gone behind Boyan’s back to discuss his ailment with Ciesko, but even the Arch Healer couldn’t heal the graveyard cough. “The gods give us challenges even magic cannot overcome, reminding us we are not invincible. His illness isn’t some outside force we can expel; it’s the body fighting itself.” Ciesko’s words were like the final bell tolling, announcing the end of the time with my father.
Angry tears pooled in my eyes as a bony hand landed on my head, stroking me gently. ‘This will be our last session. It’s a senseless waste of time and energy, saving a man marked by Veles’ sickle,’ he said, and I raised my head to look him in the eye.
The transfer had worked better than I’d expected. Boyan’s cheeks looked healthy, and the dark grey circles under his eyeshad almost disappeared, but for how long? I’d burned through almost all my aether to replenish his lifeforce.
‘I don’t care who’s marked you, Father, I won’t let you go.’
My voice didn’t falter when I uttered the one word I’d feared saying, but once it left my lips, I fell silent. The fear returned a hundredfold as I wondered what he’d say.
Boyan’s eyes widened, lit from within by joy, as the man who’d looked like a corpse just one hour ago pulled me into a fierce, awkward hug before holding me at arm’s length. ‘How long have you known? Did Jagon tell you?’ Boyan’s joy was my undoing.
A sob escaped my control, threatening to choke me. I’d thought I was prepared, but this was overwhelming. I cracked, every detail spilling out through tears as if the strength holding all my secrets had drained away.
‘Why didn’t you tell me? I thought I’d lost everyone…’ I choked out the words, fighting back tears. My hands grabbed his blanket, clutching onto it for dear life.
Boyan reached out again and, with surprising strength, pulled me to his chest. ‘Forgive me, child. It was for the best. No, that’s… I hoped my silence would keep you safe, but Sana… my beautiful, smart girl, I’ve wanted to tell you so many times,’ he said, stroking my back as I pressed my face to his chest, the sobs making me shake.
I hated this feeling, this weakness. Sobbing over something… acting so unlike the strong woman I prided myself on being. My heart was tearing itself apart, and I didn’t know how to stop the tears. ‘Why didn’t you tell me when I returned to Truso? I wasn’t a part of the Brotherhood then,’ I asked, shocked at how small my voice sounded.
‘And place you back in harm’s way?’ Boyan said, rocking me gently. ‘You’d created your own life. I couldn’t ruin that by revealing the truth. I’m glad you know it now. And when I step past the veil, I’ll have this moment to ease my passage into Veles’realm.’ He spoke of death as if it were nothing. A soft smile tilted his lips before he leaned forward and kissed my forehead. ‘Thank you for making this moment possible, that I could openly hug you, my daughter… I hope you can forgive this old fool.’
‘There’s nothing to forgive… Father.’ They weren’t empty words. I was no longer the bitter young teen torn from her family to face the harsh realities of the world. I’d lived in the shadows long enough to know life wasn’t black and white. ‘Just tell me… Did you kill them to bring me here?’
Gods, please spare me,I prayed quietly, waiting for the answer that would forever define our relationship. Boyan, I knew, was fair, but only a ruthless man could command the Brotherhood, so I couldn’t rule it out.
‘I never ordered it, but it was a mistake trusting Jagon to retrieve you,’ he said, lowering his gaze. ‘My position was secure, so I told him who you were and issued the order to bring Dobra and her children back. As for her husband… he was to be paid off if he agreed, killed if he didn’t.’
Boyan wasn’t sugarcoating the past, and that solution was very much his style. I sat quietly, trying to piece the story together. Jagon’s obsession with me made a little more sense now. He wanted to build a dynasty, and what better way than to take the daughter of the man who already ruled the Brotherhood?
‘He wanted to use me to secure his ascension,’ I whispered.
My father shook his head. ‘Maybe at first, but the man I sent for you wasn’t the same who returned from the steppes.’ Boyan shook his head. ‘Vida, there is something about your mother you don’t know.’
‘There is a lot I don’t know, but I know she wasn’t a human,’ I said, my heart picking up a beat. ‘What was she?’
‘Dobra was my everything, and yet… I don’t know if she ever loved me.’ A bittersweet smile spread across his thin lips. ‘She was a forest spirit that existed before the gods attempted to tamethe world: a Vila, who, for a short time, chose to indulge my love.’
Boyan took a sip of water, his eyes unfocused, the softest expression I’d ever seen on this ruthless killer’s face. A log cracked in the fire, sending sparks up the chimney, disturbing his thoughts. ‘That’s how I recognised Jagon’s obsession when I saw him looking at you. I feel the same craving in my soul. After your mother, no other woman came close to… I-I just couldn’t…’
Boyan took a deep breath, and I shifted closer, trembling slightly, eager to hear more about my mother. Boyan didn’t seem to notice; instead, his expression darkened. ‘I threatened to end Jagon if he took you as his apprentice, that he would lose more than his position in the Brotherhood. He used his knowledge to threaten me right back, saying he’d tell everyone I’d used my affair with an Elderkin to take control of the Brotherhood, that you were a tool to maintain my stranglehold.’ Boyan scoffed, his fists tightening. ‘The only thing I achieved was a promise to never make advances on you. I wouldn’t let you remain under the control of a man who killed my Dobra and manipulated you into becoming his apprentice.’
I sat there stunned by this confession, while all my life’s little coincidences finally started making sense. ‘And did you use her? Was that why she left you?’ I asked, trying to ground myself, feeling adrift with no sense of self.
‘She left to protect you. I would never use you or her for your magic,’ Boyan said almost through his teeth. Raw anger twisted his expression into a horrible grimace before he regained control. ‘When you were born, Dobra lost control of her power. The ceiling beams sprouted leaves, and long-dead flowers blossomed. I saw the Lady of the Forest in all her glory… but so did the others.’
I knew where this was heading. Boyan had kept it secret, which meant he’d turned the miracle of childbirth into a bloodbath. Still, I needed to hear it from him.
‘I killed the healer with my bare hands. He screamed abomination and tried to smash your head against the wall… The coward tried killing a fucking newborn, just because of the magic your mother possessed.’ Boyan sneered, and the grip on my hand tightened.
‘Because he knew I’d become a vivamancer,’ I whispered.
‘Dobra was terrified. She didn’t want me touching either of you, so I smuggled you out and found a safe place for you to live. I hoped that one day, when you were strong enough, I’d bring you both back… but I even failed at that.’
‘And Jagon… he knew?’
