Chapter Thirty-Three
The Caged
I follow him back into the palace. Our footsteps silent as we walk.
He doesn’t take me back to the council room, but instead, takes me upstairs to the library.
Enzo is already in there, Scarlett perched on his lap.
Her eyes focused on him, as if she was afraid she’d never get the chance to see him again.
I can’t imagine that type of love, that type of devotion.
I had it for Tobias, but receiving it? I ruined my only chance by not believing Theo, and now look where I am.
I look away from them and my gaze snags on Nithe. He’s leaning against the window, his eyes filled with shadows. As if he’s having a rough day. Or maybe he’s just tired. I think we all are.
Kassius gestures for me to sit and I do, taking the remaining settee for myself.
He stays standing and I pull my legs up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.
I wince as the burn on my leg rubs against the leggings.
I need to find their master or whatever mender they have available.
I need to be checked over. I feel ill, as if something is eating away at my insides.
Maybe it’s exhaustion or anxiety, but I feel like something is wrong.
“There are some things that I haven’t shared wi th any of you.
Things that only a few others know, Dav and Thel being two of them.
” He says, referencing the Rakushian and Labisian kings.
Which reminds me—what happened to Thelonious?
I open my mouth to speak, but Kassius continues.
“I have my reasons for why I didn’t share this with any of you, but it’s time you know.
” He looks at me and then to Enzo. “Especially you two.” He turns back to me.
“This story spans 20 years, but it’ll answer a question that has been bothering you for over a decade. ”
“What?” I ask.
“Who killed your mother.”
“I assumed it was my father–Viktor?” He shakes his head and I glance over at Nithe, who is watching silently, avoiding my gaze.
“Your mother and Amaya, Tobias’s mother, were childhood best friends.
They met when Sybil was about two or three, well, we were all that age.
” All? I open my mouth to interject, but he cuts me off.
“They were close, closer than siblings. I think on some unconscious level, they loved each other. Amaya’s father worked for Sybil’s mother.
Sybil’s mother, your grandmother, she is High Witch of Zivell, she reigns over the land of magic and aether.
Amaya’s family were not born witches, but they wanted magic, they wanted power, so they took it.
It is not common for siphons to be born, much less one who could siphon magic and then transfer it to someone else, but they found one.
“They found someone who could pull from the lands and redistribute that magic. So they did it, and Amaya’s parents stole from the very ground our world was built on.
Amaya wasn’t born yet, but when she was, she was gifted as well.
It took a very long time for your grandmother to figure out the blight placed on the lands, why everyone’s magic seemed to dampen almost instantaneously, but when she did, she killed Amaya’s parents.
See, the land always needs balance, everything does.
So instead of pure aether, Amaya’s parents were cursed.
While the blight on the land reversed and everything seemed fine, they passed that curse onto Amaya.
“She was nearly ten the first time her curse appeared. Sybil’s magic was silver, bright, so much so that she was called Moonlight.
You see, all aether is pulled from something, some form of energy.
Sybil got hers from the moon, you got yours from the stars, Nora, and your grandmother pulled hers from flames.
Firelight.” Firelight . “Amaya’s magic was dark, fueled by hatred, greed, and shadows.
In order to keep her safe, she needed the curse siphoned away.
She needed me. Your mother and I, we are twins, and one of the small magics I was born with, was siphoning.
” My mouth falls open and I glance over at Enzo, whose eyes are just as wide. Twins?
Enzo is my cousin .
“We fell in love. I siphoned away the curse on a routine basis, so the High Witch, my mother, never found out and Amaya stayed powerless and happy, but she was sold. Our mother needed an alliance in the north, so she sold Amaya to the Rosenthal’s, whose family was the richest in Noterra.
They were just lords at that time. Sybil met Archie right before Amaya left, and after some convincing, their engagement became a political alliance that was unforeseen but welcomed.
They were engaged for nearly a year before Jahara was murdered.
They were set to get married right after, but that never happened. ” He paused and looked over at me.
“My mother was pregnant when he died, wasn’t she?” My voice is soft, quiet as the pieces start to fall into place. My grandfather was High King Jahara, and my father was his heir, Argent Nottingham. Which means I am the heir. The heir to everything .
“Yes. Pregnant with twins.” Twins? I sit up, my legs dropping back to the ground, shock pummeling through me. “She was sold by Evreux to Viktor, and they wed within days of Archie’s murder. But she knew whose children were in her. She knew all along.”
“I have a sibling out there?” I whisper.
I have a brother or a sister somewhere in the world.
Wait . He hesitates for a moment before he looks at Enzo.
Scarlett’s hand flies up to cover her mouth as we all stare at him.
“Enzo—he’s my brother?” Kass nods and Enzo lets out a trapped breath, silence filling the room.
Argent, King Argent was my— our —father.
And Enzo is my brother . Nausea spreads through my belly and I fight the urge to be sick.
“My father—you aren’t my father?” Enzo’s voice is thick, as he fights through the lump growing in his throat. His hand finds Scarlett’s and she squeezes it.
“My gods.” She whispers as she looks at me.
“So I am the heir? Or we are the heirs? Enzo and I?” I ask.
“Yes, you are the heir to the entire continent. King Jahara was more than just Noterra’s king, every kingdom answered to him. That only dissolved when he died, but he was High King, and you will be High Queen.”
“Why can’t Enzo do it?” Scarlett asks and I glance over at her. “No offense.” She says softly and offers me a small smile.
“It is not the way of the gods or the witches. It is you, Elaenor. The female descendent who has to carry the lineage.”
“I don’t understand.” I shake my head.
“You are stronger than your brother. The way your grandmother chose to have children is more or less the same way your mother did. Enzo is the heir to Vodia, but you, Elaenor, are the heir to it all. It’s always how the witch lineages have been.
It is the female who holds the title and power. ” Vodia. The mythical water people?
“What does this have to do with Amaya? What does this have to do with who killed my mother?”
“When Amaya was sold to Evreux, she lost me. And not just in a romantic way, but she lost the magic I had used to siphon. She needed me, but I couldn’t get to her.
I was forbidden. Because of that, the curse grew.
Amaya knew all along that you were not Viktor’s, she knew who your real father was, and she knew where Enzo was.
Without the curse, she would have kept that secret to the grave.
But the curse was more than just magic, it was a curse of the mind.
She fell ill. Not in a physical sense, but she grew paranoid, reckless.
“One day, when you were seven, she went to Chatis.
She was convinced that you were going to steal Noterra from Tobias, from her children.
She got it in her head that you needed to die.
So she set out to do that. Your mother and her fought, long and hard, but she was weak.
She had just gone through another miscarriage.
Amaya killed her and then went after you.
“I could tell something was wrong, I could feel the surge of aether all the way in Labisa and then my own magic was gone. It took me days to arrive, but when I did, I was blamed for your mother’s death and your disappearance.
I didn’t do it, and I managed to escape fairly quickly.
I don’t know what happened to you after Amaya attacked you, but I found your blood on the bridge and in the carriage she used.
Amaya had burns on her hands, which is how I realized that you fought back, Elaenor.
“She was taking you; I don’t know where, but you fought back. You burned her with your starlight and escaped. You ended up in the lake, where you were able to enter stasis and sleep.”
“Stasis?”
“Your grandfather is the King of Vodia, and he is a siren. Sirens are a form of shifter that can shift into merfolk. You don’t have the ability to fully shift, not like Enzo, but you can shift your lungs.
You can breathe underwater just like your grandfather and his people.
” This is too much. Too much information.
But it makes sense. The water breathing makes sense…
“The bath. I used to spend a lot of time under the water in the bath. Tobias thought I was trying to kill myself.” I recall, squeezing my legs.
“Were you?” Nithe asks. I look at him briefly before returning back to Kassius, ignoring his question.
“How did they find me?”
“It was me.” Enzo speaks up. “I felt it. I felt when you used your aether to attack Amaya. All I could see was water and all I could feel was pain, I was shocking everyone I touched. It was your aether wasn’t it?” He stares at me, and I shrug. What am I supposed to say?
“When I got home, I learned from Enzo where you were. You were found shortly after, healthy and whole. Viktor was convinced that someone was going to attack you again, so he decided to tell the world you died.”
“The secret princess.” He nodded. “What happened to Amaya?”
“She killed herself. When the madness dissipated, as it often came in waves, she realized what she did. She killed her best friend and she thought she killed a child. She slit her own throat, taking herself and her unborn child with her.” We are quiet for a moment, my eyes frozen.
“Why did my mother separate Enzo and I?”
“She was worried that if she gave Viktor a male heir, he would turn him into a monster like him and Evreux. She did it to protect Enzo and to protect you, Elaenor. He would have treated you much worse if you didn’t have any value at all.”
“The miscarriages?” My voice is emotionless as I try to get out all of the questions I have lingering in my mind before I break down.
“It was us. I would siphon the fetus’s life energy, giving them a quick and painless death before they ever even started to exist, much like the herbs that clean out the womb.
When she died—she took everything. She took my abilities with her.
That can happen. You either absorb the other or you lose everything.
Our mother absorbed her twin’s aether, and she had two different eyes because of it. ”
“I don’t understand. All of this…”
“A lot?” I nod. “You will adjust.”
“So if I died, what would happen to Enzo?” I glance at my brother for a second, his eyes frozen on the wooden floors.
“He would either absorb your aether or lose his own abilities.”
“This doesn’t make sense. What about Mali?” Enzo asks, anger fueling his voice.
“Mal is my child, and despite the fact that I did not sire you Enzo, you will always be my son.” He stands, pushing Scarlett off his lap .
“Not only have you lied to me about Elaenor, but also my parents? You told me my mother died—”
“She did—”
“ And you told me that Elaenor was my other half, leading me to believe that she was my soulmate!” My eyes widen as I look at him.
His face is flushed, and his brows furrowed, and I realize something.
We look almost identical. The freckles, the hair, or at least what my hair used to be.
The shape of our eyes. We look the same.
“You had me pining after my own sister .” His voice cracks and he shakes his head.
“Excuse me.” He leaves the room quickly, Scarlett following after him.
“This is why your father wants me to marry you?” I ask as I look up at Nithe. His face is still filled with shock as he tries to process everything.
“Yes, it is.” He responds, clearing his throat and straightening his back as he faces me.
“I won’t do it.” I say as I rise from the settee and walk to my room without giving him another glance.