Page 157 of Crown of Briars
But I also did not condone the witch for cursing my people forever.
“I thought you couldn’t access the language of the spell,” she said, her tone full of accusation.
“I found a record of it,” I said. Technically, not a lie, if Sybelle’s wrinkled piece of parchment could be viewed as arecord.
Tislora fixed a hard stare on me for a long, tense moment. I did not break eye contact. I would not betray Sybelle’s trust.
Especially if it would make her a target of Tislora’s wrath.
When I continued to hold her gaze, Tislora shifted her weight and crossed her arms over her chest. For a second, she looked strangely vulnerable. I had never seen her like this before. Tislora had always been strong and fiery.
“I grew up as an abandoned orphan,” she said, avoiding my gaze. “There were other witch children with me, but I don’t know what became of them.”
I stilled, something within me tingling with this new information. “You grew up in an orphanage.”
It was her turn to flinch. “Not exactly.”
“Tislora, speak plainly. Please. This is important.”
She rubbed her forehead with a long sigh. “Varius, you have to understand that among witches, vows of secrecy are taken very seriously.”
“Don’t lecture me about the gravity of sacred vows,” I growled.
Her silvery eyes flared with anger. We stared each other down, neither of us relenting. Finally, she spoke. “I came from the same clan of witches that Ragnus killed.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, my blood boiling in my veins. Shit, Sybelle had been right. She’d beenright.
I took a step back, and Tislora raised her hands.
“Wait, please,” she said quickly. “It’s not like that. We were abandoned by them. Disowned. Raised by unseelie fae.”
I gritted my teeth, my pulse roaring in my ears. Shadows flooded the cramped space, plunging us in darkness. “This whole time,” I hissed. “Thiswhole time, Lor?”
“I took a vow!” she argued.
“What about your vow tome?” I roared. “Your allegiance to your king? Instead, you chose to remain loyal to the witches who abandoned you?”
“Not them,” Tislora spat. “My brothers and sisters. We vowed to one another that we would never share the true nature of our heritage.”
“How many?” I bit out.
She swallowed. “There were four of us. Two were killed by witch hunters. After that, my brother and I parted ways, knowing that by remaining together, we put a target on our backs.”
“Why did the witches abandon you?” I asked, my tone hard.
“We did not produce magic within our first year of life. Most witch offspring are able to manifest even small traces of magic by then. Males, in general, are unable to produce magic and are often abandoned, as was the case with my brothers. My magic, as it turned out, manifested much later in life, thanks to my unseelie blood.” She offered me a cold smile. “Their loss.”
“Is this a joke to you?” I bellowed. “Because of you and your lies, the curse lives on! If you and your so-called siblings had been destroyed, the curse would be broken!”
Tislora’s face paled. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Are you her daughter?” I asked. “The sorceress who cast the curse.”
Her nostrils flared. “You mean Jessinda? No. My mother was a witch named Evangeline. She died before the spell was cast. My father was an unseelie fae soldier she met in passing.”
My fingers curled into fists. “Tislora. I need you to swear to me in fae blood that you are not directly tethered to this curse.”
Her wings twitched behind her, and she bared her fangs at me. “You dare ask me that? After everything I’ve done to prove my loyalty?”
