AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The smile again. But it was a sad one. “Who do you think needed that foul potion badly enough to create the recipe in the first place, Morgan?”
I stared. “My mother. You said she...”
“Yes, she needed it. Wanted it most desperately. For reasons I have never been able to fathom. She loved your father. And she loved you. She wanted...” He took a deep breath, as if it pained him. “She wanted to be able to fit in, I suppose. And she knew it was not likely to last long.”
“What do you mean?”
“She knew the refuge she had found here was only temporary. Sooner or later, something was bound to snap. Either Uther’s temper as he realized the truth or...”
“The truth? What was the truth?”
“She had placed him under a glamor, you see. How else would a man such as Uther have been able to bring back a fae bride when he found her while out hunting one day? He was lovestricken. Quite infatuated.”
“And? Was it real?” Did I care? If a man like Uther had been tricked into falling in love? “He must have known I wasn’t his child. All along.”
My uncle nodded slowly. “When they brought you back to the palace, you were very young,” he said softly. “Hardly more than a toddling baby.”
A baby who had spent over one hundred years in some liminal place between worlds. What had my mother been doing for all of that time? Had she simply slumbered alongside me? Or had she been watchful, active?
“Uther announced you were his. There was no fanfare and absolutely no challenges. Few would question the king on such a matter. You were named his heir then. Your mother was... gratified.”
“To think I might someday sit on a throne? Or to think the spell she had cast over him was working so well?”
I knew she had done all of it to protect me. She hadn’t wanted to marry Gorlois. And she probably hadn’t wanted to marry Uther either. She had simply chosen another powerful man. One she had gambled would be able to protect her. But she hadn’t bargained for the fact that he would wind up being the man who broke her heart and took her life.
So why did I feel so angry with her now?
“She might have done more, Morgan,” he said quietly. “But that was the limit of her powers. You see, she had given all she had left to you.”
“I don’t understand...”
He gestured. “The markings. On your arms. Surely you must have wondered what they were.”
I touched myself. “She did this?”
He nodded. “A very old, very powerful form of magic. She covered you with protective wards and imbued her magic into the runes. She poured everything she had into you. Then she began taking the potion.”
“The potion you already had on hand.” I stared at him. “Why? Why did you already have it?”
He sighed. “Haven’t you already figured it out, my dear?”
Slowly, he pulled back the folds of his cape, pushed aside strands of white hair.
The pointed tips of his ears.
“Oh, I haven’t bothered taking it for some time,” he said lightly. “I never had what you might call prominent features. Besides, Arthur rarely deigns to visit. Nor does he look at me particularly closely. I might shave my head or dance through the castle naked.” He paused, thoughtfully. “Well, that second one might get his attention. But I prefer nude cavorting under the moonlight, between you and I.”
I couldn’t even muster a chuckle. I simply gaped at him. “You’re... fae.”
“Part-fae. Just part. On my mother’s side, of course.” He shook his head. “This penchant for fae women. It’s not a particularly good look coming from men who always claim to hate the fae, is it? Not a set-up for a particularly healthy relationship.”
“No,” I said. Then I thought of Florian. “But... You wouldn’t even put wards on my door when I asked you.”
A shadow passed over his face. “A miscalculation. Perhaps a cruel one. I thought you could deal with that particular problem on your own.”
“I did,” I said coolly. “But first he gave me this.” I pulled down the neckline of my tunic to reveal the scars on my chest.
My uncle studied the marks in silence. “I have made many errors in my lifetime, Morgan. Let us call this another one. Truly, I am sorry. I was not ready to tell you then, you see. You were leaving. I thought there was no need, not yet. And I admit, there may have been fear behind my reluctance. Your brother...” He sighed, shaking his white head.
