32. Mother Knows
32
MOTHER KNOWS
*Raven*
I have an Aunt.
Nola takes me to her home, and together we begin to bake a traditional dessert that is eaten during celebrations. She tells me all about how the dish is prepared and why it means so much to our people.
I am listening the best I can, but I am distracted. I keep thinking about my mother–I actually have one that loves me–and how she asked to speak to Kieran. I’m nervous that he will say something he shouldn’t say, but I have to trust him. He is my mate, after all.
As we bake, Nola asks me all sorts of questions about my life. I am slicing apples, something I’ve never done before, and am slightly afraid I’ll cut off my finger if I don’t pay attention. I tell her the truth. “I was raised in the castle, mostly cared for by nursemaids. It’s not been too interesting, honestly. Your life here seems far more intriguing. I’d love to know how you have apples underground.”
Nola, who looks a lot like my mother, laughs and wipes the back of her hand across her face. “We grow them in the lands far from the border with Dun’s Crossing. We’ve got tunnels that lead there. We can pop up and hide if we need to. We use the birds to warn us, but no one from Dun’s Crossing has been in those parts for over a decade. Only rogues. Still, we want to remain unseen so that word doesn’t get back to King Gavin.” She spits on the dirt floor of her home. “We’ve left the land close to the border in the state he left it in so that he will, perhaps, think we are all dead or gone, but the land further north we’ve cultivated. We have rich soil here, so we are able to grow quite a bit. Some of our livestock survived, and it does well on the rich grasses that grow there. We get by.”
I blink back tears at hearing more about their plight. All of it has been for naught, too, because these people never would’ve come looking to take from King Gavin. He simply wanted to eliminate a threat–or maybe gain a weapon.
Is that what I am supposed to be? I’m not even that powerful.
We finish making the dessert and put it in to bake over the fire when Nola invites me to sit, drink some tea she’s just brewed, and discuss Keery. I accept the drink and take a seat on her meager couch. I take a sip and can tell she’s used some sort of apple extract to flavor the beverage. It’s sweet with a touch of sour aftertaste, and I love it.
“Tell me about before the Haze,” she says. “Did you know him then?”
I don’t want to lie, but I also can’t say anything to put Kieran in danger. “I did know him, sort of. He’s not really who I thought he was.” That much is true, though I’m not sure what facilitated the change. Did he stop being such a jerk in the last few years, or has he always been kind and thoughtful to other people and just treated me like garbage because he was taught to do so? I don’t know, and I don't think it matters now. He is my mate. I love him. And he’s redeemed himself by coming on this journey with me.
“Were you friends?” Nola asks.
I shake my head. “I wasn’t really allowed to have any friends, except for Mr. Blake.”
She giggles. “I think you can call him Father now.”
“Right. Gosh, it’s so weird to think about that. I mean, he’s always been the kindest soul to me, and now I understand why.”
“And Keery? Was he nice to you?”
I shrug. “I wasn’t around him too much, not recently, anyway. The king and queen wanted to keep me away from everyone else. I had chores to do each day until recently. They locked me in my room to prevent me from taking part in the Haze. I guess they didn’t want me to find my mate.”
“How did you get out?” She finishes her tea and sets the glass aside.
“My mice friends helped me,” I tell her.
She nods. “And how was the journey here? Did the two of you get… acquainted?” She smirks and then winks at me, and I feel my cheeks warm.
“A little,” I admit, which makes her laugh again, but in a good-natured way. I think about that night in the cave and feel my face flush even brighter.
“Well, he seems like a good man to bring you all the way here on a whim when you weren’t even sure who you were or where you were going. Handsome, too.”
“Thank you.” Again, I blush and look away. Handsome isn’t the half of it. He’s gorgeous, just like all the princes in the storybooks I managed to swipe from the library over the years.
Aunt Nola starts to speak again but then goes quiet. I wonder if she’s realized who Kieran really is and is mad until a wide smile brightens her face. “Your mother would like for us to meet her in the plaza.” She gets up and takes the dessert carefully from the fire, putting it in a container to carry along with us.
I don’t know what a plaza is, but I finish my tea and go with her. I know that Mother is with Kieran, and I hope that he’s okay. I wonder if she’s cracked him yet.
We walk outside to the same area where we were before, past that to a larger space that is decorated with even more lanterns. All of the people seem to be here now, decorating and setting up big tables full of food. Everything smells so good, my stomach begins to growl.
Then, I see Kieran and my mother standing under a large twisted vine structure at the far end of the space–the plaza. They turn and look at me, and smile, and I have no idea what is happening, but Nola leads me over. My mother is holding a large book with words written on the cover in a language I’ve never seen before.
“What’s going on?” I whisper, not sure which of them I’m asking.
“This is your handfasting ceremony,” Mother replies. “Since the two of you love one another and know that you are mates, there’s no reason to wait any longer.”
I look at Kieran who only shrugs. He doesn’t seem alarmed or like he wants to fight my mother over this decision. Still, it seems rushed. “What about Father?” I ask. I know Kieran hates his own father now, but it would be nice for mine to be present if possible. I’m not sure how he feels about his mother.
“He will understand. The handfasting ceremony will strengthen your powers, Raven. It will also strengthen your bond to your mate and give you the ability to mind-link. Keery will be able to mind-link with our pack as well.”
I nod, but something else has occurred to me. “Mother, may I speak to you alone for a moment?”
“You could use the mind-link,” Aunt Nola reminds me.
“Right.” I’m not used to having that power. In my mind, I ask, ‘Can you hear me, Mother?’
‘I can hear you.’ Her voice is strong and true though her lips don’t move.
‘We may have not quite told you Keery’s true name. Will that be a problem?’ I admit.
She snickers. ‘I know, darling.’
‘How do you know?’ Did Kieran tell her the truth?
She laughs again, and I bet the crowd that has gathered to watch the ceremony wonders what’s so funny. ‘Lightmanguy isn’t a very convincing fake last name. At least you haven’t learned to be too good at deceiving others in our time apart. What is his real name, my darling?’
I hesitate. She’s my mother, and I know she loves me. I think she will protect Kieran, but I don’t want to anger the entire pack. I bite my bottom lip and consider what to say. Finally, I settle on, ‘Well, it is Kieran, but….’
‘Solberg?’ she asks me, and her expression doesn’t waver.
‘Yes,’ I admit. ‘I don’t want to make everyone upset.’
‘I will stick with first names, my darling.’
She doesn’t bat an eye at the fact that I didn’t tell her the truth. ‘Thank you.’
“Now,” she says aloud, “Raven, join hands with Kieran, and let’s perform the ceremony.”
As a woman I don’t know comes and wraps a ceremonial silk cloth around our arms, Kieran whispers, “Did you tell her?”
I shake my head. “She already knew. She won’t tell them.”
He lets out a deep breath and nods. He’s not mad, which still surprises me, even though it shouldn’t.
In her Luna voice, my mother commands, “Gather around, my people. It is time to unite this man and this woman in matrimony through our traditional handfasting ceremony. Please, everyone, join me for the wedding of my daughter, Princess Ravin to her true mate–Kieran.”
The people gather around with smiles on their faces, no one suspecting that their precious princess is about to marry the son of their worst enemy.