The dark magic swirling inside the pearl mesmerized me, just as it had when I first saw it. It landed on my palm, then its light dimmed until it was nearly dark.
Without the pearl, my stepmother sank against the tree, a peaceful smile spreading across her face. Her hair went entirely white, and scales mottled her skin until she bore a serpent’s face—her nose pushed in and raised high, and her pupils thin as slits. Yet she seemed more comfortable in this body than she ever had wearing her mask of beauty and radiance.
I set the pearl on top of my satchel, not wanting to leave my stepmother’s side.
“Will you tell me about the girl you used to be? Vanna?”
“Vanna?” Raikama repeated.
“Isn’t that your name, Stepmother? Your true name.”
“It is not.” She paused, her expression suddenly far away. “It was my sister’s.”
“Your sister’s?”
“Yes, I had a sister, long ago. One I hated more than anyone—and loved more than anyone. Everyone called me a monster, except my Vanna. She was as kind as she was beautiful. Golden, everyone called her, like the light inside her heart.”
“The pearl.” I understood.
Raikama nodded. “She was born with a dragon pearl in her heart. It was more of a curse than a blessing, for it attracted demons as well as princes and kings. I tried to protect her from them, but…”
Her voice faded, but there was no need to finish the story.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“It should have been me,” Raikama said quietly. “I was a monster, Shiori, inside and out. I did terrible things, hoping I’d find a way to break the curse on my face and look like everyone else. In the end, the person I loved most paid the price. When Vanna died, her pearl buried itself in my heart to keep it from breaking, and it fulfilled my dearest wish—in the cruelest way. It gave me a new face—mysister’sface.”
Raikama touched the rough scales on her skin. “I wanted to die,” she said hoarsely. “Seeing Vanna’s face on my own every time I looked in the mirror…it was more painful than seeing my true face.” Her fingers lingered on her scar. “I didn’t think I could bear it, not until I met your father. He’d lost his wife, whom he loved more than life itself, and he was kind to me. We understood each other’s sorrows, so I came with him here, to become a part of his family.”
“Stepmother…”
She reached for my hand. Our wrists were still connected by the red thread, but its brilliance was fast fading—a sight that made it suddenly hurt to breathe.
“My greatest regret is that I failed to protect Vanna,” she said. “I would give anything to change that moment in time, but not even the strongest magic on earth can alter the past. You were my second chance, Shiori. When I learned that danger might come to you, I swore I would do whatever it took to protect you. The way I couldn’t protect Vanna.”
“You have,” I said. “You’ve saved us all.”
She didn’t reply, but she straightened against the tree, gathering what remained of her strength. Her scales snagged the glint of the rising sun, glimmering like opals.
“It is nearly dawn,” she said. “Time to end your brothers’ curse.”
“But I…” I couldn’t finish my words.I don’t know your name.
“You’ve always known it,” said my stepmother, as if reading my thoughts. “What is that song you used to sing in the kitchen?”
My jaw parted, and I stared. “But…but those were memories with my mother.”
“No.” Her voice was gentle. “Those memories were withme.”
She began to sing, in a low, rueful voice I hadn’t heard inyears:
Channari was a girl who lived by the sea,
who kept the fire with a spoon and pot.
Stir, stir, a soup for lovely skin.
Simmer, simmer, a stew for thick black hair.
