AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I cannot see this either. You must choose. But know this. If you sacrifice this opportunity, it will never be gifted again. Your womb will never ripen. You will never feel a child stir within you. You will never hold your daughter.”
My heart stumbled, grief stealing the air from my lungs.
“Mother,” Pelysian said.
“Quiet,” she snapped. “In order for a sacrifice to happen, it has tomeansomething.”
A daughter.
Of my own. A baby that would come from me. Would be mine alone. I would keep her safe.
But if I chose that future, my son would die.
Tiny feet thumping down the hall. The mischievous chortle that urged all who heard it to smile. Green eyes, locked on mine.
“Mama!”
“I’ll do it,” I croaked. “I’ll make the sacrifice.”
I opened my eyes. The pity on the hag’s face made me want to crawl beneath the table to weep. Gone was my urge to kill any who saw me this vulnerable. Now, I could barely feel anything at all.
The hag raised her knife, gesturing for me to place my hand on the table.
“Picture the one you seek. Picture only this person, or the magic won’t strike true.”
I had given everything for this. So I brought that face into my mind and pushed everything else aside.
“The name?”
According to Pelysian, the best chance of success was for me to choose one person to attempt to locate. The person I knew best.
And that person wasn’t the hybrid heir.
I took a deep breath. “Madinia.”
* * *
The creature hissed at me. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I murmured.
Was that…amusement flashing through its eyes? How much did it understand?
I tried again. “I know this is your territory. I don’t want to intrude. Please don’t eat me.”
The creature took a step closer, and I pulled at my power once more. It snapped its teeth at me.
I knew nothing about the unusual creatures found in fae and hybrid lands. Any such creatures that might have been found in the human kingdoms had likely been slaughtered centuries ago. How exactly did I convince it not to eat me?
I was fast. How fast was this creature? I didn’t know where I was, but if I could lose it, I could hide up a tree or something.
“It takes humility, bravery, and true strength to be able to bow before such creatures. If you ever see one,do not run.”
I shook my head as the creature stared at me, still seemingly waiting for me to do something.
It was a bedtime story. My adoptive father had told Tibris and me many such stories over the years. Was I truly going to do this?
I hope you weren’t creating those stories out of nowhere, Papa.
I reached for my dagger. The creature let out another yowl and bared long, sharp teeth. When I dropped the dagger onto the ground in front of us, it angled its head but went silent.
