Chapter 35 The Color of a Lie #2
I stood perfectly still, letting her words settle between us. The truth didn't surprise me as much as it should have—perhaps some part of me had always known there were pieces missing from my earliest memories.
"Ciradyl was your sister only because she chose to be," Ylvena continued. "She loved you despite what you were. Raised you as family even after she discovered the truth."
"When did she find out?"
"Two years before her death." Ylvena began to pace, her robes trailing light like comet tails. "I was always watching, you understand. From the moment I left you in that cradle, I kept eyes on you. Made sure you were safe, that the magic I'd bound inside you stayed dormant."
"Bound?"
"Did you think it was a coincidence that your power never surfaced until you came to the fae realm?
" Her smile was sad, almost apologetic. "I wove suppression into your very bones.
Made it so the fae blood in your veins would sleep, silent and still, until the time was right.
I even made you immune to fae magic—a protection, so no other court could sense what you were and steal you from me. "
The rot. The realization hit like a thunderbolt. That's why I'd been immune when it should have killed me.
"But some things are impossible to hide completely," Ylvena continued. "Your true heritage had a way of... bleeding through. Small things. Subtle things that a mortal might not notice."
"But Ciradyl noticed."
"She was observant, your sister. She saw how magical creatures were drawn to you.
How birds would land on your shoulders without fear, how the forest went quiet and watchful when you passed through.
The way moonlight seemed to cling to your skin on certain nights.
" Ylvena's voice grew softer. "She noticed how you never fell ill, how cuts healed faster than they should.
How your eyes would catch the light like a cat's in certain angles. "
My throat tightened. I remembered those moments. Ciradyl asking me odd questions. Watching me with an expression I'd thought was concern but now realized might have been something else entirely.
Fear. Understanding. Grief for what it meant.
"She started testing you," Ylvena said. "Small things. Leaving iron near your bed to see if you'd react. Sprinkling salt across thresholds to see if you'd hesitate. Watching to see if you cast a reflection in silver mirrors."
"I did cast a reflection," I whispered.
"Because I made sure you would. The binding I placed on you was thorough, Miralyte. But Ciradyl was clever. She began to piece it together—that her sister wasn't quite human. That something had been done to you, or with you."
"And then?"
"Then she started asking questions in the village.
About changelings. About fae magic. About what happens to mortal children when the fae take interest in them.
" Ylvena's expression darkened. "She was going to run.
Take you far from the hunter's home, far from anywhere I could reach.
She thought if she could get you beyond the borders, across the sea, that my influence would wane and you'd be safe. "
"Safe from you."
"Safe from your destiny." Ylvena stopped pacing, fixing me with those terrible white eyes.
"She would have taken you to the southern kingdoms where fae magic is weak.
You would have lived a mortal life, aged and died like any human, never knowing what you truly were.
Never claiming the power that flows through your veins. "
"Maybe that would have been better."
"Better?" Her voice rose like wildfire. "To die ignorant? To waste the gifts I gave you? To let the blood of ancient queens run cold in mortal veins?" She laughed, sharp and bitter. "Ciradyl would have damned you to mediocrity."
"So you killed her for it."
"I killed her because she left me no choice." The admission came out raw. "I couldn't let her take you. Couldn't let her steal my sister away and bury you in some mundane existence. I made sure she died quickly. A mercy I don't often grant."
Mercy. She called murder mercy.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. The foundation of everything I was had just been ripped away, leaving nothing but hollowness where my purpose used to live.
“Everything was unfolding just as I intended. You were meant to infiltrate the Thunder Court to kill Zydar. But you, foolish child… you fell in love instead.” There was wonder in her voice now, and something that might have been respect.
Pelbie was staring at me with horror and understanding dawning in her eyes. She'd figured it out before I had. That's what she'd been trying to mouth.
"Everything I felt... all that grief..."
"Was real." Ylvena reached out as if to touch my face, then seemed to think better of it.
"The emotions were genuine, even if their source was manufactured.
Do you think you would have found your power without that driving need for justice?
Would you have pushed yourself to transformation if you'd been content with your simple mortal life? "
Something snapped inside me. White-hot fury erupted from my core, power crackling beneath my skin like lightning seeking ground.
"You think I should be grateful?" The words came out scorching, each syllable dripping with venom. "You destroyed my mind. Filled my head with lies and called it love."
"But I did love you." Ylvena's voice went soft, almost pleading. "I watched over you your entire life, Miralyte. Protected you from afar. Made sure you had everything you needed to grow strong."
"You…" My voice died as I struggled to comprehend what she was saying. "You used me."
Sunfire began bleeding through my skin, painting the air around me in shades of molten gold. The temperature in the throne room spiked as my control slipped.
"I knew you'd come back to me eventually," Ylvena continued, her voice taking on an almost hypnotic quality. "Where you belonged, sister. At my side, ruling as we were meant to. Together."
The casual possessiveness in her tone sent rage coursing through my veins like acid. Home. As if this place of golden chains and manufactured memories could ever be home.
She wanted to see extraordinary?
I'd show her what her weapon looked like when it chose its own targets.