Page 79 of Faerie Hunted

Shock and horror I expected. Empathy and sadness, yeah, those I figured on too. But I almost lost it when Laina started crying.

“And you trusted her? This witch?” Laina asked finally as she hiccupped over a sob. “You think she spoke the truth?”

“Yes. I absolutely believed Barbara.” Trust? Now that was a different story. I had to make it very clear to Laina, however, that the story held merit. “The emotion was real and raw, and she loved you fiercely. She just wanted to save you. It was the only reason she did what she did and broke into Faerie. To see her daughter.”

A chill took root in my spine and I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself and looking away.

She’d makemecry if I wasn’t careful. The last thing I wanted was to lose it now. We had too far to go for me to break. I lost my breath when she grabbed me in a rushing hug. Forcing me to her and clinging to me. She pinned her arms around me and a wrenching sob shuddered through her.

“My mother is dead.”

Oh, shit, what could I even say to that?

I understood.

I’d gone my entire life thinking my mother had died as well, only to learn later that she lived. Which was almost as bad as hearing she’d passed in the first place. Worse, since I’d had a lot of time to become accustomed to life as an orphan. Laina had had her world rocked, and I’d delivered the bad news.

Slavery. Love. Betrayal.

The makings of a good TV show but a pretty shitty life experience.

“I’m so sorry,” I managed to get out.

Laina only hugged me and cried. Cried for what she’d lost, I imagined, for the memories and the mother she didn’t remember.

“The life I thought I had, the happy and wonderful loving life—” Laina cut off on a groan. “It’s a lie.”

No, no. I could not be the one to give the Queen of Faerie a complex. Which automatically had me feeling even worse because this wasn’t the time to be selfish and think about myself.

“You have a good life,” I tried to say with clumsy backpedaling. “You have a son who loves you and would do anything for you. You have people who care for you and find you to be a kind ruler.”

I stiffened when she let me go and stood back, smiling through the tears.

“I never understood why or how I ended up as queen. I’m a half blood. A witch. My makeup has always set me apart and kept me from being a true part of this world.” Laina swiped at her eyes. “Now I know why. It explains so much about my life and my circumstances. I know it wasn’t supposed to be your duty to tell me these things, but thank you. For being brave enough to do this. For standing up for the mother I never knew.”

I understood it, the relief. The horrible sense of being a part of something yet completely separate. My halfling status put me in the same position it did with Laina.

“I’m relieved,” Laina continued. “I want you to understand that I’m upset, yes, but not at you. Thank you, Tavi.”

“Please don’t thank me. This isn’t how I thought it would go but you needed to know what Barbara told me.” And now I considered it a job well done. My debt to Barbara had been paid on all fronts.

“You’re a good woman. And you’re lucky as well.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you have the love of my son, too. And it’s priceless. If anything good came out of my situation, it’s Michael. I regret nothing if it gave mehim.”

My stomach dropped as heat colored my cheeks, because the last thing on my mind right now was Mike and my feelings for him. Boy, were there feelings.

“I really don’t want to talk about Mike right now,” I sputtered. Feeling like a total child in front of her.

Laina only continued to smile. A bonding moment, I realized, for the two of us. It put us on much more even ground where I could look at her not as a monarch with absolute power but as a mom. As a daughter. As someone like me who hadn’t quite figured out her place in life but continued to do her best.

“Whatever I can do to help you find your own mother, I’ll do it. You have my word,” she said softly.

“It’s a really nice offer.”

She gave me a gentle squeeze. “I mean it.”

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