Page 116 of The Path of Blood and Betrayals
“It’s also rude to make someone sit on the floor.” A furry body runs behind the old crone and I shudder. “Or to sit nearrodents.”
She laughs, wrinkles pulling tight over tanned skin. At one time, she looked to have loved the sun or rather, the sun loved her. Now, she is ashen, forgotten, living in a shack with no windows.
How long has she been in the Phoka village? Years, decades?
Her brittle blonde-white hair swings into those unnerving eyes, her face lightening with realization.
“Ah, so you’ve got some spark. Your mother did too.”
Something hard hits my gut at the casual mentioning of my mother. A woman who even now, I can’t recall.
The attack at ten robbed me of everything—the sound of her voice, the feel of her touch. I only have some wisps of imagination, cooked up in the darkest nights of my solitude when I needed love and care.
“You knew my mother?” My heart twists as my voice cracks.
“I did.” She nods, leaning back into the chair. “Came to me about twenty-five years ago. Asking questions about her fate.”
“Seems she and I were the same in that way,” I mutter, taking the spot of the rug still fully intact. Focusing on the woman in front of me, I ignore the sensation of tiny feet running over my legs. “What did you tell her?”
I want to ask about her—what she looked like, if we shared the same blue eyes, if she also had the three freckles on her back shoulder, if she were also allergic to dandelions. But I don’t. That’s not why I’m here.
“What the gods commanded.” A knobby finger rises to point at me. “She had a role to play in this world. Much like you.”
“And what was her role?”
She smiles secretively. “To beyourmother.”
“Me?” My fingers shake, my magic rolling around in my veins. It doesn’t trust this woman. “Her destiny was to be my mother?”
Why would the Gods care if I were to be born?
“Oh lovie,” she coos, cackling like the Mad Witch she’s called. “You’ve been foretold to arrive for generations. ‘For she who is born of life and death, will wield them both.’ Quite poetic, eh?”
Foretold?My body shivers, my magic thrashing for release.
Rubbing my hands over my crossed knees, I ignore the pounding in my ears. “That could mean anything.Anyone. How does that relate to me?”
The Mad Witch leans back further, face tilting toward the roof, as if searching for answers. “Do you know how I got my gift, blood summoner?”
At the topic change, I sigh, annoyed. “No, I don’t.”
I don’t care how she got these abilities. Taylay developed his years after birth and I can only assume I did too.
But I fear, if I don’t play her game, she won’t answer my questions.
“Sola, asked me to gaze upon her.” Her words are wistful, dreamy. “She spoke to me. Needed to see my face. Said I was the most beautiful Woodland Fae she had ever seen. So, I looked into the sun.”
White eyes catch mine and there in her white hair, a pointed ear. “She took my sight and in return allowed me tosee.”
I remain silent. Woodland Fae weren’t common pass the Eternal Night Forest; mostly because they stayed on the other side, content to ignore Human and Witches.
It isn’t surprising to find one hidden here.
But for Sola to bless her? Odd.
Solais the Goddess of the sun and weather. Fickle, with a mean streak that made all who worship her uneasy, she could either bless you or drown you in a flood. Glancing to the ceiling as if she can see me, I bite my lip.
“She showed me you would be born decades ago.”
