Page 84 of Challenged Mate
“Thanks.” Again, Poppy shuffled her feet. “So, do you have any questions?”
Oh, did I…
I debated the merits of using Poppy for information. After all, she was a kid. I shouldn’t trouble her with my problems.
But then I saw the excitement in her eyes—the eagerness.
I found myself asking, “What, exactly, does the Mother Goddess do?”
Twenty-Four
“Wait, wait, wait.”I held up a hand and lifted my gaze from the thick book lying in my lap. “This says the Graystone Coven outlawed female coven leaders fifty years ago.”
Leaning against the bookshelves opposite me, Poppy looked up from her own book and scowled. “I know. So sexist, right?”
It was. But that wasn’t what confused me.
“How could they outlaw female leaders if the Mother Goddess is a female? How was my mom the Mother Goddess if the rules said the role shouldn’t exist?”
“Because the Mother Goddess is not a position created by one coven. She oversees them all, and the other covens aren’t as backwards as the Graystone Coven.”
Two hours had passed since I stumbled upon Poppy in the bookstore. Her mother came to check on her daughter once. She didn’t blink an eye at finding us sitting on the floor with books scattered all around us. There was no one else in the bookstore, and I doubted anyone would drop in. Not after the attack last night.
So, Poppy and I stayed in the middle of the aisle. She suggested books and chapters I should read, and she supplemented their information with her own knowledge.
In those short hours, I learned a lot about the role my mother played among the covens.
The Mother Goddess was a powerful position. Every generation, a sorceress would be gifted with immense magical power. When that sorceress came of age, she would don the title of Mother Goddess and serve the covens.
Basically, she was their queen.
The Mother Goddess had final say in any disputes within covens or between different covens. She was responsible for maintaining peace and order, and also training the next generation of sorcerers and sorceresses with their magic.
That last bit of information had surprised me. I’d imagined covens would educate their own, but Poppy told me that the birthrate for sorcerers and sorceresses was low. The children who were born were treated as the precious treasures they were and protected at all costs.
So, when they turned five, they were sent to live in the Mother Goddess’s temple. In the heavily fortified, holy location, the Mother Goddess trained each child. Then, at the age of thirteen, the children would return home and take their places within their covens.
The Mother Goddess’s role in the magical society was obviously cherished. So why would the Graystone Coven think differently?
I asked Poppy, “If the other covens valued the Mother Goddess, why would my mother abandon it? Why leave?”
I’d learned my mother was born into the Graystone coven. That’s why Poppy gave me the book on the coven’s lineage.
But, as the Mother Goddess, my mother wouldn’t have lived with her family’s coven. Their sexist rules wouldn’t impact her like other females in the coven. So why give up that power and influence? What happened to make her run?
Poppy’s face twisted as she pondered my question. “To be honest, I don’t know. I wasn’t born when she disappeared, But our former alpha’s mate told stories about the Great Mother Goddess, Bridget Stone.”
My mother’s name rang in my ears. I hadn’t heard it in a long time. My father never talked about her, and I’d stopped asking about her when I was in elementary school.
I cleared my throat. “Alpha’s mate. You mean Asher’s mom?”
Poppy nodded. “Alpha mate Kendra grew up with the Mother Goddess.”
“Do you remember any of the stories she told?”
“Of course.” Poppy scoffed. “I have a great memory.”
I couldn’t help but grin.
