Page 135 of The Curse of Golden Blood
"Because I made sure you would. The binding I placed on you was thorough, Miralyte. But Ciradyl was clever. She began to piece it together—that her sister wasn't quite human. That something had been done to you, orwithyou."
"And then?"
"Then she started asking questions in the village. About changelings. About fae magic. About what happens to mortal children when the fae take interest in them." Ylvena's expression darkened. "She was going to run. Take you far from the hunter's home, far from anywhere I could reach. She thought if she could get you beyond the borders, across the sea, that my influence would wane and you'd be safe."
"Safe from you."
"Safe from your destiny." Ylvena stopped pacing, fixing me with those terrible white eyes. "She would have taken you to the southern kingdoms where fae magic is weak. You would have lived a mortal life, aged and died like any human, never knowing what you truly were. Never claiming the power that flows through your veins."
"Maybe that would have been better."
"Better?" Her voice rose like wildfire. "To die ignorant? To waste the gifts I gave you? To let the blood of ancient queens run cold in mortal veins?" She laughed, sharp and bitter. "Ciradyl would have damned you to mediocrity."
"So you killed her for it."
"I killed her because she left me no choice." The admission came out raw. "I couldn't let her take you. Couldn't let her steal my sister away and bury you in some mundane existence. I made sure she died quickly. A mercy I don't often grant."
Mercy. She called murder mercy.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. The foundation of everything I was had just been ripped away, leaving nothing but hollowness where my purpose used to live.
“Everything was unfolding just as I intended. You were meant to infiltrate the Thunder Court to kill Zydar. But you, foolish child… you fell in love instead.” There was wonder in her voice now, and something that might have been respect.
Pelbie was staring at me with horror and understanding dawning in her eyes. She'd figured it out before I had. That's what she'd been trying to mouth.
"Everything I felt... all that grief..."
"Was real." Ylvena reached out as if to touch my face, then seemed to think better of it. "The emotions were genuine, even if their source was manufactured. Do you think you would have found your power without that driving need for justice? Would you have pushed yourself to transformation if you'd been content with your simple mortal life?"
Something snapped inside me. White-hot fury erupted from my core, power crackling beneath my skin like lightning seeking ground.
"You think I should be grateful?" The words came out scorching, each syllable dripping with venom. "You destroyed my mind. Filled my head with lies and called it love."
"But I did love you." Ylvena's voice went soft, almost pleading. "I watched over you your entire life, Miralyte. Protected you from afar. Made sure you had everything you needed to grow strong."
"You…" My voice died as I struggled to comprehend what she was saying. "You used me."
Sunfire began bleeding through my skin, painting the air around me in shades of molten gold. The temperature in the throne room spiked as my control slipped.
"I knew you'd come back to me eventually," Ylvena continued, her voice taking on an almost hypnotic quality. "Where you belonged, sister. At my side, ruling as we were meant to. Together."
The casual possessiveness in her tone sent rage coursing through my veins like acid.Home. As if this place of golden chains and manufactured memories could ever be home.
She wanted to see extraordinary?
I'd show her what her weapon looked like when it chose its own targets.
thirty-six
For the True Queen
Zydar
ForYlvena.Forthetrue queen.
The words carved into the floor mocked me with their simple brutality. While I'd been playing politics and building alliances, she'd been moving her pieces into position. Shapeshifters in my chambers. Assassins in my barracks. A war I thought was weeks away had already begun.
And Miralyte was gone.
