Page 66 of Crown of Briars
“I know.”
Stones, she was unpleasant. Did Varius let her speak to him this way, too?
My heart dropped as I realized that was not the same thing at all. Tislora was right—I had no authority here.
I smoothed my hands along my skirt, thinking it might be best if I simply left. Before I could turn away, however, a thought occurred to me. I looked at Tislora with newfound curiosity. “Have you ever been to the Earthen Court?”
She flicked a quick glance my way before returning her attention to the cauldron. “A few times. Why?”
“Have you ever heard of Earthen witches?”
Tislora froze in the act of stirring, the ladle going stiff in her grip. Her nostrils flared slightly, and I could have sworn her silver irises gleamed. “That… is an interesting question,” she said slowly. Her voice was low and lethal. I sensed I was treading on dangerous grounds.
“I came across a book in the library about the history of my court,” I said quickly, “and I’m fairly certain there were no witches in the lineage of my people.”
Tislora removed the ladle from the cauldron and set it on the table in front of her, then fixed her steely gaze on me. “And you humans think you know everything that ever happened in the history of your court? Your lifespans are so short. How can you possibly know what happened before your time?”
“Stories were passed down,” I said. “Histories and journals and texts.”
“Ah. And you believe it’s impossible that certain truths were omitted from these texts?”
“Of course not. But surelysomeonewould have mentioned witches if they had been around at some point.”
“Yes, because you humansloveto mingle with other species and then tell everyone about it.” Tislora rolled her eyes.
I frowned at that, remembering how I’d thought of Father and the way he would have balked at the idea of being descended from witches. Could it be true? If someone like Father had discovered a bloodline of witches in the royal family, he would have covered it up before someone found it out. Hewould have erased it from every record to ensure the public believed his bloodline was pure.
Nausea roiled in my gut as I realized that, once more, Tislora was right.
“So… so it’s true then?” I asked breathlessly. “My people are descended from witches?”
Tislora gave a single slow nod.
“Shit,” I whispered, rubbing my forehead. “Shit.”
Tislora chuckled again. “Indeed.”
I couldn’t believe it. I was descended fromwitches? But how? And where were they now? Had they died out? I found that hard to believe. Witches were powerful; far more powerful than humans. So, what happened to them, and how did humans gain control of the court?
“Don’t think too hard, human,” Tislora teased. “You’ll hurt yourself.”
“Did you know any witches?” I asked. “From my court?”
Tislora was silent as she hovered over the open book resting on the stand. Her eyes weren’t moving, so I knew she wasn’t reading. Her mouth grew very thin, and her eyes were guarded.
“That was a long time ago,” she murmured, her voice distant. I noticed she did not answer my question.
I stood there, watching her, waiting for her to say something else. Her finger was pressed against the page, but she was utterly frozen, unmoving, her gaze fixed on a faraway point I could not see. What was she thinking about?
Suddenly, her eyes snapped to me, and she straightened, as if jolted from her stupor. “If you’re to attend the revel, you need a new dress. Enzira is your maid, right? I’ll send for her. She can escort you to your rooms and get you ready.”
“No, there’s no need—” I started, but Tislora had already crossed the room and pulled a small rope hanging from the ceiling.
A few moments later, an unfamiliar servant appeared, and Tislora said to him, “Send for Enzira, please.”
The servant bowed and left.
I sighed. “I can return to my rooms on my own.”
