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Sasha took a deep breath leaning back in her chair. “I knew your mother very well. Her name was Nora, and she was quite a force to be reckoned with.”

I was grateful that I was sitting because my legs suddenly felt weak and shaky. “But…but how? How did you—”

“She was a rebel herself,” she cut in easily. “The people loved her, though she and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye. But I respected her very much.”

That wasn’t possible. It had to be a lie. There was no way my mother was a rebel. Subclass? Yes, that was true, but there was no way my father would have slept with a Dissenter. “You’re lying.”

“I assure you I am not.” Her voice was gentle, and she remained calm while I felt like I was about to explode. “Why else would Belinda and Raúl keep her a secret from you?”

My heart kicked into high gear, hammering against my chest.Why?“Because he cheated,” I answered. “Isn’t thatwhyenough?”

“Come now, child. Do you really believe that your father’s infidelity is reason enough to keep Nora’s identity a secret?”

I crossed my arms, refusing to answer that question.

Sasha sighed before looking at Chelsea and Matias. “Would you both please leave us for a few moments?” Chelsea and Matias glanced briefly at one another before standing and leaving the room. Sasha returned her attention to me. “I’m going to ask that you listen to what I am about to say. I’ll tell you everything, and all I ask in exchange is that you at leastconsiderwhat I am saying to be true.”

I looked at her, narrowing my eyes. In truth, I was curious, and playing along still seemed like my best option at this point. “All right.”

Sasha stood, stretching her legs as she spoke. “Your mother was born after the second civil war. Most call it the Division War where the country was divided up into separate factions. After that time, we came into an era of peace. Nora was a spirited child, growing up in the West, and in her young adult years, she met your father. It wasn’t long before the two became friends.”

“They knew each other as teens?” I could have kicked myself for speaking, but no one ever spoke of my mother. Perhaps I was finally going to get some answers.

Sasha nodded. “They met as children, yes. But their romance didn’t begin until later.”

I choked, which resulted in a snort, which resulted in my coughing.

“Good heavens, child, are you all right?”

I waved a hand at her to keep going while I tried to muffle the sound of my coughs. The idea that my parents had been in love was as foreign to me as a pool.

Sasha eyed me cautiously for a moment before continuing. “When Raúl openly spoke against the Council of the United Factions, Nora did not agree with his philosophies, and she stood against him. She, along with a few others, myself included, became the initial resistance. Raúl was married to Miss Adams and gathered followers of his ideals. His wife’s father, Jasper, was incredibly skilled in diplomacy and politics. Without Jasper’s support, there is no way your father would have been as successful as he was.”

I had heard none of this. Raúl never spoke of the initial rise of the Dissenters. I’d heard about Belinda’s dad, but only mentions of him in my Telvian history class. He was the First in Command of the West—basically the Vice President—before the last war broke out. He died shortly after Jacob was born. My dad and Belinda never spoke about him.

Sasha exhaled in a long sigh. “We didn’t want a third civil war. Although the fighting had temporarily ceased, we knew it wouldn’t be long before your father would attempt to capture another region. We hoped that if we could convince Raúl to stand down, we could avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Nora had the idea that she might convince him if given the opportunity to speak with him alone. So, we arranged for a private meeting. None of us were there, so I can’t tell you what happened, but we can guess. Two months later, Nora discovered she was pregnant, and she insisted it was Raúl’s child. She hoped that his love for her and their unborn babe would be enough. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.”

Dumbfounded. That’s what I was. Shocked and astonished by an alternate history to the world I grew up in. My fingers searched out my necklace, rubbing the heart smooth.

“Raúl felt betrayed by Nora, claiming she had purposefully bedded him in order to conceive a child she could use as a manipulation tool against him. It didn’t go well from there. War broke out again between the loyalists and Raúl’s army. He conquered the South, and then set his eyes on the North, but it ended in a stalemate. The North was too powerful, and it is because of them that Raúl finally stopped his grab for power and control of the UFA.

“Your father seceded from the United Factions and formed his own country—what you now know as Telvia—and created that massive atrocity of a wall to separate his people from the rest of the world. He’s used the Great Drought as an excuse, making people believe that the rest of the world is a wasteland, and that marauders from other regions would try to steal what little resources remain, leaving Telvians to starve. It has been his primary tool to control the masses ever since.”

I was numb. This wasn’t the story I had learned at the academy. Some of it was the same, but so much of it was different. And my mother…

Was I really just a pawn? Something she used to manipulate Raúl. No wonder he never spoke of her. He was in love with her, and she used that against him. I shook my head, folding my arms around my torso. This couldn’t be true. I didn’twantit to be true.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m sorry, child, but sometimes the truth is painful. Your mother was a rebel, and her one night of passion with Raúl was her last, desperate attempt to end a war. You are a daughter of this revolution, Mara.”

Heaviness settled over me, but one question writhed in my mind. “What happened to her?”

Sasha looked away for a moment, her face contorted in contemplation, before sighing deeply and returning her gaze to me. “I cannot say. During the last war, Raúl took possession of you. Nora wanted you back, but he refused to let her have you. I suspect he knew that as long as he retained possession of you, Nora would keep us from attacking Telvia again. But that’s only speculation. I don’t know if we’ll ever understand why he took you from her.”

Goosebumps prickled down my arms and legs. Belinda hated me, not only because Raúl was unfaithful, but because my mother ignited a rebellion. Did Belinda believe she was a threat to their power? My mind offered me the memory of Belinda’s words—she is a threat to our rule.That’s what she said, wasn’t it?Being Nora and Raúl’s daughter, did I have some sort of claim to the presidency of Telvia? I didn’t get it. Suddenly I felt light-headed.

Sasha eyed me cautiously, weighing out how much more information I could handle. After a moment, she continued. “Once Raúl had you, Nora was determined to get you back, but the wars had almost completely destroyed us, and I couldn’t allow an attempt at your rescue. Nora grew angry with me. We shared some unfortunate words, and then she disappeared.”