Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
My head slowly turned to look at Mars.
He was tapping a bored tattoo on the arm of his chair, his eyes on True.
“That was deftly maneuvered,” I murmured.
His gaze shifted to me. “Hmm?”
I rolled my eyes and turned my attention again to Mother.
“None of this really explains why you’re here,” I noted.
“Because you’re my daughter.”
“And?”
“And I love you and I wished to say how very sorry I am.”
“For what?”
This appeared to stymy her.
“I’m tiring of this,” Mars growled.
Truth be told, I was as well.
“She is a mighty witch, indeed, my little sister,” Jorie proclaimed.
I tipped my head back to look at him to see his silver gaze pinned to my mother.
He carried on.
“In your shame, you cursed her with her name.”
My attention jumped back to Mother.
The red was again in her face.
“But she broke your curse, did she not?” Jorie asked. “She made something weak into something strong. She took something void and made it into something beautiful. But this is often the way of things, is it not? A parent, so intent to make a child suffer for their own sins, certain in their hubris that these transfer to the next generation, and when the child doesn’t break under their parents’ guilt, in my estimation, that is mighty magic, indeed.”
Mother tore her gaze from Jorie and looked to me. “I did what your father—”
“You are not Airenzian,” Mars cut in. “You had a choice.”
“And if I made a different choice, you would not have the woman you so clearly love,” she retorted.
“And every time I have been around you, this surprises you,” Mars returned coldly. “That I love your daughter. I have always thought it was because you did not think the mindless, rutting Firenz could feel such emotion. But I must wonder if your surprise stemmed from the fact you wondered how your daughter earned it.”
Mother gasped.
Mars ignored it.
“Some time ago, Johan and I had a vexing conversation,” Mars went on. “I pointed out to him how he had not been a good father. This angered him to the point of action. I see now this was a mistake on my part. It earned me an enemy unworthy of me, which was a bother I did not need in having to deal with his mischiefs. I should have simply ignored him, and he would have gone away. This is what I will advise my wife to do with you.”
Mother’s head moved as if she’d been slapped.
“Mars,” I murmured.
“But my wife,” Mars continued, now ignoring me, “has her own mind. She knows that mind. She voices it. I listen to her. And I accede to her wishes, when they will not cause her harm. And this, I will do with what she decides about you.”
The room fell silent.
Mother had her eyes downcast and was looking beaten.
And my anger and grief at the loss of what I should have had but didn’t dissipated.
This did not negate the fact that I suffered a loss of what I should have had…
But didn’t.
“I went swimming today,” I said softly.
Mother lifted her gaze.
“It was so beautiful, swimming with Jorie. Being in The Deep, transformed. Inhabiting a part of me I lived my life never knowing was of me,” I shared. “But I always wondered. About so many things that were me.”
“I didn’t know either, Silence.”
“I know,” I replied.
Hope filled her face.
“Since he has known me, he has barely left my side,” I told her.
“I have noticed your husband’s devotion, and am glad for it,” she said earnestly.
“I wasn’t talking about Mars. I was talking about Jorie,” I shared.
She flinched.
“A brother. A father,” I said.
“I did not know,” she stated miserably. “I thought he was naught but a Zee.”
“Well, Mother, I have, of late, had the occasion to meet many Zees here in Airen. They fought alongside Cassius and Elena in the Battle of the Heights. They lost people they loved in a cause that is just. They are also amusing and full of life. They are not ‘naught but Zees.’ But regardless, if they had been of him, they would have been my family.”
“You know your father can be—”
“He is not my father.”
She shook that off with an actual physical shake of her body.
“I have made some poor decisions,” she admitted.
“Do you think?” Jorie murmured.
I threw a look at him over my shoulder.
His expression, when he caught my look, returned a silent “What?”
“But I’ve always loved you,” she persevered.
I turned back to her and brought us full circle.
“Why did you come here, to Airen, to me? From what True says, you are now Mistress of the Arbor, not simply its Lady. And you are this until Mars and I make our second child and he or she is old enough to assume their title. You have means. You have freedom. This land is at war.”