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I nodded.
“It is, but the people see what the king and queen tell them to see. It’s how it has been for centuries. To the people, she isn’t Cursed—she has beengiftedmagic by the New Gods, and that makes all the difference,” he replied.
I snorted and rolled my eyes.
The priestess continued, her words lost to me, but her actions were not. She waved her hands above her head and the flaming sun turned into a heart. Lowering her arms, she placed the heart in the bowl. Then she picked up the pitcher and poureda clear liquid over the heart. She waited for a moment, then she raised her wet hands above her head for all to see.
In them, she held a crescent-shaped moon carved from crystal quartz.
And although I couldn’t understand what she was saying, something about the sun and the heart and the moon connected with me.
Was that . . . how I was made?
“Did I do something wrong?” Aurelius asked as we stepped into the quiet library a few days later.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” I lied, keeping a few paces ahead of him so he couldn’t see my sorry attempt at a poker face. No, he hadn’t done anything wrong, per se, but Von had warned me to stay away from him, and so that’s exactly what I had been doing—or at least, trying to do.
“It’s just that . . . you hardly say a word to me lately. I can’t help but wonder if I have done something wrong or offended you in some way?” His long legs easily caught up with mine.
I took a deep breath. I couldn’t exactly tell him the whole truth, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t tell himsometruth. Turning to him, I said, “It’s nothing you have done. It’s just this situation between us—" I gestured to us both, “—is a lot.” I paused and took a deep breath. “I’m just trying to figure things out.”
“Can I help you? In some way?”
I shook my head, opened my mouth to sayno, but then stopped myself. There was something I had been wondering about.
“I know your memories are lacking, but do you remember how I was made?” I asked, my eyes flicking back and forth before they lifted to his.
He nodded. “I do. That was one of the first memories that came back to me. Which I can understand, as it was one of the happiest days of my long life.” He gestured to a seating area beside a crackling fireplace. A continuous roll of heat emitted from the fire. “Shall we sit?”
“Alright,” I told him as we walked over to two cream-colored settees, sitting adjacent to one another, a large bear hide spread across the floor in front of them. A small, oval table was centered between them, the edges worn from years of use. The table was spotless—not a book or piece of paper to be seen on it—a reminder that this public space was not a home. Something that could be said for the remainder of the castle.
When we were seated, Aurelius started, “Prior to your creation, I ruled alone for a great number of centuries. Although I was surrounded by many people, I never felt that anyone truly understood me, or really loved me, for that matter. Throughout the centuries, I courted a number of goddesses, but I found that I was always incompatible with them. I went to the Creator, and I asked them to give me a proper partner, someone I could share the rest of eternity with. And so they made you. However, it came at a cost, as these things always do.”
My brows dipped, my tone lowering. “What did it cost you?”
Golden eyes met mine. “It cost me this.” He placed a hand on the left side of his chest.
My heart hammered heavily, striking my ribs.
And suddenly, I could feel it—the visceral pain of being torn from somewhere that was safe and placed in something that was unknown and . . . new.
“I was to cut out my heart and give it to them. And so, that’s what I did. Once they had it, they dipped it into the Selenian Sea and then buried it in the moon. From that, you were born as a fully made woman, a goddess in your own right.”
Suddenly, I felt dizzy.
Blackness licked at the edge of my vision, but this time, I wouldn’t fight it.
I wouldn’t fight the memory bubbling up—I would embrace it.
This time, I would allow it to drag me under.
Sage
Everything was cold. So very, very, very cold. Without feeling.
Until it wasn’t.
Suddenly, everything was warm. So very, very, very warm. And all I could do was feel.
