Page 13 of The Raven Queen

I lowered my hands and swallowed roughly, hesitating. Reconsidering. Doubting myself and the wisdom of finally sharing this secret with her. But the brief spark of hope from his empathic triumph this morning had been snuffed out by what I had witnessed during our ride.

I closed my eyelids, needing the visual shield from her penetrating stare. “Alastor is not Liam’s father,” I confessed.

Silence hung in the space between us, and my heartbeat became deafening to my ears.

Until Mother let out a bark of laughter that set off another round of coughing.

My eyes snapped open, and I waited for her to settle once more.

“Oh, Del,” she said, her chest still quaking with aftershocks of the coughing fit. “That is the best news I’ve heard in years.”

My mouth fell open, and I slowly shook my head.

“That would explain his Ability to communicate with animals,” she said, shocking me with the revelation that she had already known he was more than just an Empath. “Who is the father, then? A Telepath, obviously, but who?” Mother mused aloud. “Garath?”

Before I could respond, she answered for me. “No, that doesn’t fit with Liam’s coloring. Those green eyes and that auburn hair . . . ” She narrowed her gaze, pursing her lips.

I saw it the moment she connected the dots to the events of ten years ago. To the day I learned what she and Maylar had been up to, imprisoning and harvesting blood from Healers to create an elixir to keep the inbred elite of our kingdom alive. The same elixir had allowed Mother to extend her lifespan decades beyond what was natural. And the same elixir had caused a rebound effect within her body, resulting in her rapid decline over the past decade since she finally stopped dosing herself.

Ten years ago, we could have passed for sisters. Now, she appeared old enough to be my great-grandmother.

“It wasthat boy,” she said, her eyes unfocusing as she recalled the confrontation in her study. “The meddlesome Telepath who helped you steal Jake away from me.”

“We didn’tstealJake,” I snapped. “You were holding him prisoner, Mother. You were torturing him. Your own ancestor. One of thePatrons.” I scoffed, disgusted by her past actions. “Wefreedhim.”

She had captured Jake ten years ago, the only Patron who still lived, thanks to his Healer blood making him essentially immortal. She had intended to use him as she had the hundreds of other Healers she and Maylar had imprisoned, forcibly taking their blood to process into their precious healing elixir. She hadn’t planned on my interference.

“You know,” she said, ignoring my correction. “When you chose Alastor as your consort, I remember thinking you had a type.” She smiled to herself. “Big men with red hair.”

I frowned, seeing Fin in my mind’s eye. He had been on the taller side, his body honed by a life of hard work and survival with his people in the wildlands to the north, but he had been nowhere near as large as Alastor.

“His magnitude was more in his presence than in his physical size,” Mother said, picking up on my train of thought.

My mental shields had slipped, and she had plucked the thoughts right out of my mind. I slammed my walls back down, locking her out of my head.

“That’s why you fought me when I advised you to pick another suitor as your consort,” Mother mused. “I thought infatuation had blinded you to Alastor’s cruel nature, but you needed him to disguise your indiscretion. He was the closest in appearance to Liam’s father.”

The fight left me, and my shoulders sagged. Earlier today, during my ride around the castle grounds with Liam, he had proudly introduced me to each of the animals whose paths we crossed, even telling me many of their life stories.

“Liam’s telepathy is overshadowing his empathy,” I told Mother. “When he is tested on his birthday, I have little doubt that he will be classified as a Telepath, and then Alastor will know the truth.”

“Then I guess you have your deadline,” Mother said resolutely.

My stomach lurched. “My deadline for what?” I asked evenly.

Mother’s thin lips twisted into a sly smile, deepening her many wrinkles. “Don’t play the fool, daughter. You’re smarter than that.” She paused, letting the implication sink in. She was talking about killing Alastor. “Willyoudo it? Or will Garath take care of it for you?”

I straightened in my chair, my heart beating faster.

“He will kill you, Del,” Mother said. “He will kill you and Liam, both.” A statement. A fact. “The instant Alastor realizes Liam is not his blood, both of your fates will be sealed, if only to contain the truth of his inadequacy from his own father.”

My chin trembled, my eyes filling with tears. My heart leaden and sank into my stomach.

“Liam’s existence threatens Alastor’s claim to the Sierra throne,” Mother continued. “You have borne a healthy child—one healthy child—but notAlastor’schild. After all the failed pregnancies conceived by Alastor, his father will see him for the unqualified heir he truly is. He is incapable of fulfilling a regent’s most basic, essential duty—producing an heir of his own. If the truth gets out that the fertility issues plaguing your union are almost certainly born of his defective seed, he will loseeverything, Del. He will silence every single person who knows.”

I swallowed the rising panic. “But if he kills me, he loses his hold on the Corvo Kingdom.”

Mother released a breathy laugh, then cleared her throat loudly. “It’s not quite as simple as that.” She offered me a sad smile. “Your death leaves the Corvo throne vacant. The nobles will fight over it like starving dogs, and I have little doubt that Alastor will take advantage of that power struggle. One way or another, he and his father will have our kingdom and our ports.”

---