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“Former?”
My Pixie auntie looked up at me again. “She’s Queen now, Amara. Malys Wolfsbane isQueenof Windhelm.”
CHAPTERTHREE
The room started spinning, and I had to sit down. It hadn’t been the news that my parents had been exiled, or that Radulf had been run out of his own pack not to be seen or heard from again. It had been the thought that this… thiscrone,Malys, was now Queen of Windhelm. She had taken my home, my mother’s seat, and my last name.
She had taken everything from me.
It was Valerian who swooped in quickly enough to catch me as I toppled, ensuring I sat down comfortably on one of the nearby chairs. Gullie asked Melina to fetch me a glass of water. She then asked Valerian to go and make sure the large side door was open for Colbolt to come into his barn.
When Melina handed me the glass of water, I made the mistake of downing it, instantly regretting my decision. Arcadian water was always ice cold, and I had never had a problem with it, but having been on Earth for as long as I had been, I had lost my resistance to it. The brain-freeze was instant, and it took me a moment to get over it.
“I remember that face,” Gullie said, “It took me a while to get used to the cold water here, too.”
“This shouldn’t hurt,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it. Just rest, we can’t have you passing out on us.”
I nodded. “I won’t, I won’t. That just… that was a lot to process. I don’t think I’ve slept in like, a day—I certainly haven’t eaten in a while. There’s a lot going on.”
“And I don’t think we’re done yet,” Melina said, “But I’ll go and get you and your friend some food while Gullie fills you in on what you’ve missed. Is that okay?” she asked, gently squeezing Gullie’s shoulder.
Gullie placed her hand on Melina’s and nodded. “I’ll take care of this,” she said, a soft smile gracing her elfin face.
Melina left us both to speak, to which I gave Gullie my full attention. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” I asked.
My Pixie aunt nodded. “It’s bad,” she said, then she shook her head. “I still remember where I was and what I was doing the moment I realized the world I was in wasn’t… right.”
“What… what were you doing?” I ventured.
“I was with your mother at the castle. Malys… she was getting fitted for a dress your mother was going to make.”
I felt my entire body tighten. “My mother was going to make her a dress?”
“Your mother didn’t know who Malys really was at the time. She thought Malys was her daughter… we all thought she was the rightful princess. For us, life didn’t really change. Not at first, anyway. I couldn’t tell you why I came around before your mother did, but that moment was… shattering. I felt myself panic in a way I had never panicked before. I left the room in a hurry, shut the door behind myself, and basically hyperventilated for a few minutes.”
“Gullie…” I trailed off.
“It was like having an out-of-body experience. Like I was looking at myself, only I had flipped upside down; the whole world had. I didn’t know how I knew, but I was totally convinced that the girl in that room with your mother was an impostor.”
“What did you do?”
“I wanted to tell your mother, but there was no separating her from Malys. Every moment I spent in that room after that was just… I had only felt terror like that a few times in my life before. After what happened to your mother and father with the Veridian, I thought that part of my life was over. But as I stood there, remembering you… remembering the day you were born, thinking about all the times we spent together, the games we played, how you painted your antlersgreenthat one time.”
“I remember that…”
“We all do. Your father was furious.”
“Because we were hosting another family that night. That’s why I did it.”
Gullie shook her head, a mischievous smile painted across her face. “You were a rebel the moment you were born. I tried to warn your parents, but they wouldn’t listen; just like I knew your mother wouldn’t listen to me if I tried to convince her of what I’d just learned. I had no idea that I wouldn’t even be given a chance to do that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The moment I set foot back in the room where your mother and Malys were, all hell broke loose. Your mother didn’t recognize me. She and Malys called for the guards. If I hadn’t been my regular Pixie size at the time, I don’t think I would’ve made it out of the castle alive. I flew as fast as I could, back to my apartment, hoping Melina wasn’t about to call the guards on me too. I was lucky… she had snapped out of it at the same time I had.”
“Do you have any idea why that happened?”
