Page 114 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

I don’t know where I am, I whisper.

What do you mean? Adeline, what happened?

“It’s because I got to see people suffer. The thought of seeing their world crumble when I told them that I wasn’t related to them. It brings me joy to see other people suffering,” Avira chuckles.

“You’re lying,” I choke out.

Avira grips my face, her fingernails digging into my cheeks, bringing a little clarity to everything.

Adeline. Tell me where you are right now and I will come and get you, Kieran’s voice rings in my head. I’m worried about you. I can feel your fear.

“Your mother never gave birth to me. I cast a spell on everyone in town so they thought I was part of your family,” she explains. “I fabricated that she went through childbirth and helped me grow up. I made sure she felt every single emotion that a mother would go through.”

“But—”

“They are all fake memories for everyone. It never happened,” she chuckles. “Whenever I lift the spell no one will remember me, not even you. It will be like I was never there.”

“Why?” I whisper. “Why would you do something like that?”

Part of me still doesn’t believe that she’s the witch. Nothing is making any sense.

“I needed to see what the humans were doing. The real thing and not some report that could be made up. So I cast a spell to make everyone think that I was part of your family so I could get a first hand account and see for myself,” she explains.

“But everyone knew you worked for the king,” I say.

She shrugs. “People got over it once I showed that I was for the people.”

“You weren’t.” My eyebrows scrunch up.

When was she ever for the people? Every single time I heard her talk to anyone it only made me think that she was with the king and no one else. How did other people believe that she was with the people?

“To you I wasn’t. For some reason the spell never quite worked on you,” she says. “I was never able to figure out why it didn’t but you saw part of the truth. That’s why I had to keep an eye on you, pretending that I really wanted to get to know you.”

Tears cloud my vision. I thought she really wanted to become closer and be sisters. How could I have been so foolish and actually believe the lie? Why couldn’t I have gone with my gut and realized that everything was a lie?

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” she says as she exits the room.

“Avira, please don’t leave me here!” I beg her. “I don’t deserve to be here. Please come back!”

I suck in a deep breath as she walks out of my line of sight, everything sinking in. She’s really gone and I’m stuck in this room tied to a chair.

“Avira!” I scream.

Hanging my head, I let the tears fall from my eyes as the cold seeps into my body.

Adeline. Kieran’s soft voice fills my head. Talk to me. Tell me what is going on and what is around you.

Avira knows I took the book even if I try to deny it, I whisper, even more tears falling down my face.

Where are you? he asks, his voice hard.

I’m in some sort of concrete cell. I think I’m in the dungeon, I reply. Kieran, she is the witch. My sister, I mean, Avira is the witch and always has been.

My mind is whirling with each interaction I had with her. All the bad feelings I had around her, the same ones I had when I walked into the witch’s room.

How did I not notice it was her sooner?

She has always given me a bad feeling and I never saw it. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt since she was my sister.