Page 124 of Revenant

“He didn’t use a single emoji, and he was serious. That’s an emergency if I’ve ever seen one.” They all collectively shrug as if it makes sense.

Alicent stands, offering a nervous smile, and I assume she’s trying to gauge what direction their reactions are going to go. She clears her throat. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell all of you. But I didn’t necessarily know how, or even understand it myself.” Koen’s finger taps against his leg absentmindedly while Pryce runs a hand through his hair with each passing second.

Alicent quickly walks to the bedroom, returning with the mirror that’s had me in a tailspin since it popped into her head.

“This is the last thing I have of my mother.” She holds the mirror close to her chest, gripping the handle like a lifeline. The others all look toward each other knowingly, and suddenly I’m feeling as though I’m the only one that’s been left in the dark.

“Long story short, I had no idea what this actually was. There were drawings of it in the grimoire, detailed diagrams that Veil had drawn, and I didn’t know what it meant.” Her words slowly fade, a puzzled look appearing on her face once her icy blues land on the others.

“You don’t look surprised,” she states, questions and curiosity running around in her head.

Pryce takes a step forward, not stopping until he’s right next to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “We’ve known you had the mirror, tesoro.”

“How could you possibly? I’ve never shown any of yo—” She cuts herself off, answering her own question. “When I was packing.”

It’s Elias who finally chimes in, “Sorry, kitten. I recognized it the moment you put it in your bag. I just needed to make sure.”

“So you told the rest of them? Why not come to me?”

“I’m sorry,” I interrupt, standing and shoving my hands in my pockets before I do something stupid. “You all knew? Where was I during this little show and tell?”

“If my memory serves me correctly, you were with Alicent after our archives almost burnt down,” Elias remarks. “And frankly, we’ve been a little preoccupied lately if you haven’t noticed.”

My eyes find hers immediately, a stain of red already creeping up her cheeks from the memory.

“Anyway, this isn’t important,” Alicent says. “I talked to my mom.” Silence. Complete and utter silence with her admission.

Pryce is the one to break up the stillness. “Your mom? Isn’t she…”

“Dead? Yes. But I talked to her through this.” She holds the mirror tenderly, just like her thoughts tell me she holds the memory. “There was a spell in the grimoire. It was a rough go, don’t get me wrong, but before I knew it, she was staring at me from the other side of the glass.”

Thankfully, it seems as though nobody else knew that information, and the only thing I wasn’t privy to was the mirror itself.

“She told me my dad was a werewolf. That she was forced to make them these…rings? Suppression rings is what she called them, for the wolves, so they didn’t have to wait for the full moon to change back into humans. His pack kidnapped her and this mirror holds some sort of ancient magic that only my bloodline has access to.” She word vomits all the information, as if she’s been keeping it bottled inside and she can finally breathe without the weight of the secret pulling her down.

The magic the mirror holds, we already knew. However, its whereabouts over the last however many centuries? No fucking clue.

“You’re part wolf?” Elias finally asks, breaking the silence.

Alicent shrugs. “I guess so? But I haven’t had any wolf type feelings or instincts? Maybe it skips a generation?”

“That’s not how that works,” Koen says in a whisper, trying to figure out how we missed this. Attempting to find a solution to a problem that we didn’t know existed.

Pryce’s phone buzzes in his pocket, and he pulls it out, furrowing his brow but not saying a word.

“What does Eryx need this time?” I blurt out, crossing my arms. It’s only expected. Pryce has always played errand boy for him, and now that Sage is in the picture, I wouldn’t put it past him to find some use for her as well.

“As if you don’t already know,” he deadpans. But he’s already trying to figure out how to leave and tend to his keeper without upsetting our little spawn.

She looks up at him. “Go. It’s okay.” And she means it. Alicent’s not a liar, she’s honest to a fault, but she also has a nasty habit of keeping some of her feelings locked away and throwing out the key.

Pryce smiles at her with appreciation, kissing her forehead before seeing himself out. Koen and Elias look at me, expecting me to voice the issue, but my lips stay sealed. They know they should go help him, even if they don’t know why yet. It’s a habit—one we all need more practice in breaking.

“You both go too,” Alicent tells them, knowing it’ll be better for everyone if Eryx is appeased. “Sorry if the paranoid one over here stressed you out. I’m sorry for not saying anything sooner.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Koen says softly.

Elias chuckles. “Yeah, it’s Bas that needs to work on his communication skills. Nearly gave us all a heart attack.”