Page 17 of Dissent (The Dissenter Saga #1)

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’t want it 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. ”

Wait a minute. “What does that mean? What do you mean, she disappeared ?”

“It means she left in the night, child. In the morning, she was nowhere to be found. No one has seen or heard from your mother for the past eighteen years. We assume she is deceased.”

I closed my eyes. Rubbed my exhausted face with my hands. This was too much. I just couldn’t deal with this right now.

“Child, I am sorry that you are hearing this for the first time in this way.”

“Just…stop talking… please .” She stayed quiet as I sensed myself overflowing with emotions.

Hurt, sorrow, grief, confusion, fear—it was all there.

All of it tumbling, intertwining, mixing into a major heap in the pit of my stomach.

The silence was equally blissful and deafening as my thoughts raced.

My mother was dead.