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Wrath watched her go, his eyes longing and loving. As I stared at him, all I could think of was one question. “Why my mother? Why, when you are Lainule’s consort, would you sleep with my mother?”
He turned to me, his smile steady but firm. “Because my love requested it. We have watched over your family for years. The boneseer told us you should return to life in this family as a half-breed, and so we chose the time and place of your birth. Myst has been waiting for your return all the years since you and Grieve—Shy died. If she found you first . . . it would not be good.”
I bit my lip. My birth had been planned. “You seduced my mother?”
“Not a difficult task. She was comely, if terribly shy and self-conscious. I could not stay with her, of course. Nor could she know who I was. We did not expect her to run and take you with her. However, perhaps that was best. Myst came to find both Geoffrey and you, but you were not here. So she turned her sight on the vampires and left it at that for a while.”
“Ulean said that she belonged to Lainule before she was bound to me.”
“Ulean was Lainule’s personal Elemental, as the fan you carry was hers. The pendant, I enchanted. We knew you would come home, Cicely, and did what we could to prepare for your return.”
I wrapped my arms around my legs and stared up at the sky. “Can I stay here? Can Rhiannon and I just come live in the realm of Summer and be safe?” It was a wistful question, I knew, and futile, but I had to ask.
“You have bound yourself to the vampires, so no—we could not let you shirk your oath. And you and Grieve must find one another again.”
“How did I meet him in the first place? My mother was Myst . . .”
“You will remember in time. This is no war that can be won lightly. This is no skirmish. We are in for the long haul. The important thing is to mitigate our losses as much as we can at this point.” He laughed and stretched out on the grass beside me. “You grew up lovely, my dear. I’m so glad that I was finally able to tell you. Cicely Waters, you are the daughter of a king. And yet you have not asked me for anything—for money or jewels or power.”>“You might as well quit trying,” Anadey said, glancing down at me. “The drink I gave you will last through the ritual. I’m sorry, Cicely, but I cannot chance having my fucking ex come here and take away my daughter. He tried, you know, once before. He tried to kidnap her when she was still young, and I stopped him. He still bears the scars of that lightning bolt. But now he’s gained powerful allies, and I have been offered a choice. I won’t lose her.”
I forced my gaze up to meet hers and saw stark fear emblazoned across her face. “Anadey—what are you doing? Are you going to kill me? Hand me over to Myst?”
She stopped, her eyes wide. “Oh no, my dear. I’d never do that to you—please, don’t think I mean to hurt you. I’m just going through with the spell we agreed on, with a twist. I’m going to take away your love for Grieve. Forever.”
As she lightly stepped in the circle again, I tried to catch her by the hem of her robe, to trip her up, but it didn’t work, and I let out a little cry.
“You can’t break the connection—you’ll kill us both.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, kneeling down. She stretched my arms and legs out, tying me to four pegs that she’d hammered into tiny holes in the floor. After that, she began to draw on me with a brush dipped in red ink. Dragon’s Blood ink. I shivered as the bristles tickled their way over my skin.
“It’s true, Anadey. Please, believe me. Talk to Chatter—”
“He’d just make up a story. He misses his friend. No, we have to go through with this and then you and your cousin will be safe, and so will my Peyton. It will work out best for everybody.”
“What are you doing to me?” I whispered, my voice falling mute even as she drew. “Peyton—does Peyton know what you’re planning?”
“No, she doesn’t, and I’m doing what I was told. This is the only way I can ever ensure that Rex won’t get his hands on Peyton. You have to trust me, Cicely—please trust me. I won’t hurt you, I promise. I would never hurt you.”
But even as she continued to emblazon the symbols across my body, I knew that what she was doing would hurt me far worse than any beating I would ever endure.
Ulean, Ulean, help me. Can’t you please help me?
But no answer came. Ulean couldn’t hear me—or I couldn’t hear her.
“Just a little more, and then I can begin the ritual.” Anadey stood, and, eyeing me, gave a little nod. “Done.”
As she stepped out of the circle, I felt a rush of energy surround me, and for the first time in a long while, I felt totally isolated. There was no one here to help me. I focused on my wolf, calling to Grieve, but he was nowhere to be sensed. Truly alone. I am truly alone.
Anadey waved her hands as she began to circle the ring of salt. A faint bluish mist seeped out from her fingers and drifted lazily into the circle with me, filling my lungs with the scent of ocean waves and salt brine.
Water to water, wave to wave,
Love built through time, I seek to stave.
A flush of energy rushed over me and I was breathing water, choking on the liquid as it rushed through my body, cleansing me fully, seeking all corners of my heart and soul, looking for inroads to fill me full with its briny depths. I began to cry as it dislodged feelings and thoughts and began to buoy them up on its ever-encroaching currents.
“Anadey—stop—you’re stealing my memories!” I tried to scream, but my words were so many bubbles floating up to the surface of the flood that flowed through me.
Anadey returned to the beginning of the circle and began a second sweep.
