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“No. That had nothing to do with her. Fights and disagreements were breaking out among the people. They started using their gifts to hurt and destroy each other instead of furthering progress in the land. Many—most of the population actually—agreed to discard their abilities and tossed them in the Back Sea in order to start fresh without them and hopefully create a more peaceful world.”
“Well, that worked out well, I see,” he muttered sarcastically.
“No,” Melaina agreed softly. “It didn’t, did it? As long as time continues and worlds grow, wars will break out and fester, pushing for change and progress. Peace never lasts. But alas, back to the Graykey family story. It says that Corandra drank from the sea after that to consume all the discarded magic back into herself, and she became more powerful again.”
“Well, that’s scary,” Indigo muttered, shuddering.
I simply shrugged. “I don’t see why. She’s never done anything violent. Never killed anyone, never interfered too drastically in the lives of others. I think she prefers it when people are free to live their own way and make their own decisions.”
He glanced at me. “Do you think she’s still around?”
I thought about it a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
“That would be nice,” he answered. “Then we could track her down and ask her why she started this stupid curse in the first place. Or how to break it.”
I tipped my head to the side. “What makes you think she started the curse?”
The question surprised him. He blinked before shrugging and admitting, “I don’t know. I guess I just assumed since the curse has been going on since the beginning of time that it must’ve had something to do with her.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You think she cursed her own house?”
My question seemed to boggle him. “Huh, yeah,” he finally admitted. “That wouldn’t make much sense, would it? Are there any family stories about how the curse began, then?”
“Yes.” Shame and revulsion surged through me. Every time I thought about the disgusting origins revolving around my family curse, I felt sick to my stomach. It was hard to digest that this was my family heritage. Needing to get some water from the spring to make this damn stew, I pushed to my feet and glanced toward Indigo. “But I won’t be sharing it with you.”
And I hurried off to avoid the story.
Chapter 17
Indigo
Gazing after Quilla as she hurried away, I wondered if I should follow her. Mentioning the curse’s origins had been a bad trigger, I could tell. She felt guilt and responsibility.
I didn’t understand that because it was obvious the curse had been started long before she was born. None of this was her fault.
I stood, deciding I should try to soothe her.
But Melaina grabbed my arm and yanked me back down onto the stump. “It’s not a pretty tale,” she started as if she hadn’t noticed I’d been about to chase down her niece. “In fact, if I were a blood-born Graykey, I wouldn’t tell anyone about the origins of their curse either.”
I waved an unconcerned hand. “Trust me. I already know what kind of inbred, murderous genes she comes from. I’m sure nothing could shock me anymore.”
Reaching for a leather flask sitting near the fire, I picked it up and brought it to my mouth for a healthy drink, needing to wash away the nasty aftertaste that came with thinking of the Graykey lore I’d heard before today.
Melaina lifted her eyebrows and watched me, waiting until I was swallowing deeply before saying, “Oh, so you already know about the siblings Morgaine and Marvello marrying and killing their father, Lawton, who was also married to his first cousin Laylee. Or maybe you’re talking about Holden Graykey, who raped his granddaughter for three years straight?”
Raped his what?
I spit out the drink, instantly choking on what I’d just swallowed down the wrong tube. “Dear God.” Appalled, I gaped at her incredulously as she burst out laughing and pointed at me.
“You should see the look on your face. If this isn’t your shocked expression, then I can’t wait to see what is.”
“I thought the mating of Morgaine and Marvello was the only case of incest in the family line,” I admitted weakly, feeling queasy in the stomach.
Melaina kept chuckling. Patting her knee with mirth, she shook her head and sighed. “Sweetling, every new world that starts out with such a small population, like two or even nineteen people, has to experience some incest in the beginning to get their numbers up. The Graykeys merely kept the tradition going long after it was considered acceptable. And Holden was the first child born in the Outer Realms. Did you know that?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ve never even heard of him before.” But then, I hadn’t heard of Corandra Graykey before today either.
I sat back down to hear yet another Graykey family tale.
