I sat as rigid as a board on the sofa, my aunt beside me while Kole and Jamie sat in the chairs across from us. The warriors looked entirely out of place in their fighting tunics with their giant weapons strapped to their backs. If it’d been a normal day, I would have made light of it, but at the moment, I couldn’t imagine ever being joyful again.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” Gwen said.
I could feel Kole watching me. Always watching me.
I wascertainthat something genuine had sizzled between us during our time together, yet whatever that’d been, it’d now fizzled into non-existence, and even if a part of him did truly care for me, his allegiance was to the Imperial Council.
Not me.
I felt so betrayed, even though a part of me realized thatwas naïve and stupid. After all, I’d been telling myself all along that he owed me nothing.
So foolish.
Gwen took a deep breath. “Primelle?” I started at the sound of my name and realized Aunt Gwenery was trying to talk to me. Tears burned her eyes.
“Yes?” I rasped.
She took my hands, both of them, and held them tightly. “I’m not your aunt, and Timith isn’t your uncle.”
For a moment, I just stared at her. Blinked at her. “What?”
“We’re not your relatives.”
It felt as though the realm tipped from beneath me. I shook my head. “Why would you say that? Of course, you are. Timith is my father’s brother.”
“No, he’s not.” Her grip tightened. “He’s not related to your parents in any way. The crown commissioned us to raise you since Timith and I were childless, and they knew your uncle quite well from his service to them. They knew he and I could be trusted and that we’d provide a loving, safe home for you. They knew we’d keep you safe. That we would provide you with a chance at a life you otherwise would have never had. That we would teach you to find a place in our kingdom.”
Blood rushed through my ears, drowning out her words, but she continued even though I could barely hear her.
“Until today, my lips were sealed by a fairy bargain. I couldn’t speak of it, couldn’t tell you, but when these twoshowed up”—she glanced at Jamie and Kole—“Timith and I were released from our bargain with the crown.”
My head began to pound. What she was saying couldn’t possibly be true. To be told my uncle would die, then to lose the Stone, then to be told that Gwenery and Timith weren’t my relatives and never had been, that they’d been lying to me for my entire life...
I shook my head rapidly, my movements so fast I could barely see. “No. No. No.”
My aunt gripped my hands harder, her faint Nolus lineage strength holding me in a death grip. “I’m so sorry, Prim. We never wanted to lie to you. I swear on all the gods and goddesses that was the last thing we ever wanted, but we could never tell you.” Tears burned in her eyes. “But it doesn’t change the fact that weloveyou. We love you so much. You’re our darling girl, and you always will be, no matter what.”
My breaths grew so short I could barely breathe.
Kole growled across from me. “This is too much.” His words grew low and filled with tension. “This is too much for her in one day.”
“She deserves to know!” my aunt snapped.
Gwenery’s grip loosened, and she ran her hands soothingly over mine. Soft yet strong. Capable yet firm. She’d always been that to me, a comforting hug. Yet she’d also taught me resilience and had believed that I could always figure out a way to accomplish things on my own, like I’d done with the Stone. She’d taught me that I had strength within me.Kindness. Compassion. That I would always choose to do the right thing. That I would choose light over dark.
She and my uncle had intrinsically instilled that in me.
They’d taught me so much. Loved me unconditionally. I’d found the Stone because I’d believed in myself, and that belief had stemmed from her and from Timith’s endless love, patience, encouragement, and teaching. He’d raised me to be who I was today. Theybothhad.
Yet, my entire childhood had been a lie.
“Who are my parents, if we’re not related?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Gwen’s lips downturned, and slowly, she shook her head.
“You can’t tell me?”
“No.” She huffed out a breath, her words forlorn. “They’ve asked us not to. In time, they will tell you on their own. There’s so much more to your story, Primelle, but I’m not allowed to share it.”
