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“And he was a soldier?” I asked.
“Yes,” my mother responded, making it clear she was not going to facilitate this conversation in any way. “Mandy, why are you asking these questions?”
“It’sreallyimportant, Mom.”
Her eyes cut to the backyard, and I looked too. Nik leaned down and smelled a white hydrangea. It would have been hilarious to see the Prince of Darkness doing something so mundane, if not for the circumstances that brought us there.
“He was a soldier forValencia, Mom?”
She looked at me analytically.
“Mom, for Valencia, right?” There was a note of pleading in my voice. “He wasn’t a soldier for the north. Mom, tell me he wasn’t from Alancia.”
“Your father was a good soldier and a good man, Mand. And he was a soldier…for Alancia.”
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to swallow my heart, which had jumped into my throat.It was true. Everything Nik said was true.
My mother thought I was taking the news rather hard. She couldn’t understand the implication of what she had just confirmed.
“I wrote to him, you know. I told him I was pregnant and…” my mother paused, and I saw a rare showing of vulnerability on her pretty face. “And he wrote back. He promised he would come to us after the war and…” A single tear rolled down my mother’s cheek. “He was happy to start a family.” My mother gathered herself, resuming a stoic demeanor. “But then the wall went up, and I never heard from him again.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before, Mom?” I whispered.
“It was safer for you not to know, baby girl. Safer for both of us. When you were born, the sentiment toward Alancians was not friendly. Same as it is today, in fact. But why does this matter, Mand? Why are you asking this now with the Prince here?”
Nik traveled right next to my side. My mom jumped, startled by his sudden appearance. He reached his hand out to me.
“Did you find the answer you were looking for, princess?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
I nodded.
“We’ll talk later, Mom,” I said, rising from the couch.
I took Nik’s hand. He pulled me off the couch and into his body, and we disappeared from my mother’s sight. To my surprise, Nik took me back to my room at House Rein instead of back to the M.
When I saw my bed, I realized just how badly I wanted to crawl beneath the covers and sleep. I wanted to get lost in its comfort and wake up to only realize that this entire day had been one long, crazy dream. I was still wearing my gown from the Choosing ceremony and my heels. Without saying anything I walked over to the bench at the end of my bed and sat down. I kicked off my shoes and stared into the wall across from me.
After a while, Nik came and sat next to me. The bench was small, and his thigh touched mine. I was a little surprised to still find him there. We had been so silent for so long, I would have expected him to have traveled away.
I ran over the words of the prophecy over and over again in my head.
“Nik,” I finally said, breaking our silence.
“It’s you, Alarie,” he said, anticipating what I was going to say.
“But it can’t be. Even if I am mixed fae and am ‘of the north and south,’ there is still that last part. Whatever power I have, I do not have powers of both light and darkness,” I said.
All fae had some small amount of magic. That was why we were immortal… or were immortal. So, I knew I had some kind of magic. And I had to admit that I’ve exhibited some limited shielding abilities. Those powers would likely have a light-based affinity. But unparalleled powers of light and darkness known thus far only to the King of Alancia? I just couldn’t have that kind of power.
“You do, princess,” he replied, simply staring at the wall with me.
“You can’t know that,” I objected.
“But I do,” he said.
“How?” I whispered.
“You know your shielding ability is based in light. You should be able to feel it. But I can feel the powers of darkness lurking inside of you,” he replied.
