Page 63 of A Monarch's Fall

I shrank away from her. I knew the nobles of the Houses didn’t care about ordinary people, so long as they had what they wanted. But what Rea was telling me was that the ordinary people of the kingdom had betrayed us. When times were difficult, they didn’t turn to us for help that we could freely give, but had turned to take from us more than we could give.

“I never knew about such things. It’s not what I was told. I didn’t even know that we had disappeared from public life until recently,” I admitted. “I never knew or met another Flores witch until recently.”

Rea’s face softened.

“Damia died before you could remember?” she asked and reached out to grip my knee.

“During my birth,” I told her.

“I’m so sorry. No wonder you know nothing of this. If it weren’t for each of us telling our stories to one another, there would be no Flores history. How terribly difficult it must have been to enter your magic without the guidance of a mother. What were you told about us? Let’s correct the lies and stereotypes propagated by the Houses,” she said softly.

“I thought we were well liked, that we were nomadic by nature, few in number, peaceful, and that one day for no reason that anyone could ever learn, we simply disappeared, well maybe not disappeared but we stopped travelling the land, stopped offering help, that we were silent and refused to say why, that the only Flores witches still practicing had left the coven to join the Enchanters Guild,” I explained.

Rea laughed.

“Seriously, they say that we for some unknown reason simply disappeared?” She laughed incredulously.

“I’m guessing they didn’t just let us stop providing services either, out of respect for us?” I asked.

Rea patted my knee.

“Are you naïve by nature or do you truly just not know any better?” she asked.

The insult stung.

“That’s a bit harsh,” Talia said in my defence.

“I’m starting to think both,” I told her, hating how rightfully patronised I felt.

“They tried to hunt us down; those they found, they tried to torture the whereabouts of others out of them.”

“Why did they stop?” I asked. “I mean, I was never hunted for being a Flores witch. What happened?”

Something had to have happened. Nobles aren’t exactly told no and are accepting of it. I should have realised how ridiculous it was to think that a whole coven would suddenly seem to vanish for some mysterious reason. How could an entire kingdom spread such a lie? How could they make a whole land forget what had happened? Father had never even spoken of such a thing to me.

“They didn’t for a while. When I was born, we were still hiding. But I was lucky that by the time I entered my magic, there was no more danger. But to answer your question, what changed? Technology and the weather. We haven’t had winters as long and cold or springs as short and wet since. New methods of pest control, farmers and rural communities gained access to better equipment for working the land. In short, they only stopped hunting us when they didn’t need us as much,” Rea explained.

“None of the other witching covens helped us?” I asked. I thought there was friendship between all witches. Magic being our common thread, that’s why the Enchanters Guild was capable of being so successful.

Rea sat back.

“Yes and no. Officially, no. Individually, that’s a different situation. But the other covens offered us no official support against the Houses. They were starving, too. They were just as desperate, if not as violent.”

“Our history is not pleasant,” Melina said.

“I had no idea about any of it,” I said.

“Without your mother and the lies of the Kingdom, you have had no way of knowing. The crimes against Flores are why we have The New Foundation; that’s why we’re here, to put an end to a system that not only subjugates and abuses those of lesser power but actively denies and forgets its atrocities,” Rea explained.

“Maybe you’ll see that we’re not all that bad,” Talia said and nudged me with her shoulder.

“Maybe,” I said, trying to comprehend the level of violence and depravity that would be necessary to make a peaceful coven like Flores spend decades building an army.

It wasn’t long before Kat returned, and we made our way to dinner. The mess hall was across the main quad of the base, a large rectangular building with dozens of tables in rows, and a line where you picked up a tray with only a few food options to choose from.

The noise of so many conversations happening at once was much worse than the café at Sanguis Academy had ever been. It seemed like half the room was filled with obnoxiously loud soldiers who all reminded me of Dylan and Harris.

I looked around the room, expecting, maybe even hoping that Ana would be there. I hated remembering that I was here in part because of her. Was she even really my friend? She knew who Selene was to me, but she still helped take me from her.