Page 61 of The Unbound Witch
“Why am I unmarked?”
Her eyes doubled in size as she stared at me, gaping. “I don't know what you mean.”
And that was it. The proof I needed. She knew, and she easily lied.
“Eden Mossbrook was hiding in the human lands. I found her there, and she told me she warned you that I was the thirteenth witch. You knew the Harrowing would eventually happen.” I lifted and dropped my shoulders, mocking a sigh. “What did you do?”
The breath of a moment hung between us like a broken promise. As if she'd never wanted to answer this question, though I had every right to know. When my mother couldn’t look me in the eyes, whatever she had to say was difficult for her. Followed by a swallow and a shared glance with my father, I couldn’t help the way my heart raced. All my life I’d wondered, and she’d shared in my wonder, or so I thought. Yet here we were. The single question that had tormented me for so long, seconds away.
“What did you do to save me from the Harrowing when Eden warned you that I would be targeted? I need the whole truth.”
“It wasn’t whatIdid, dear. It was the queen.”
If I reacted in any sort of way, she would stop. She would convince herself that I couldn’t handle the truth. So, I sat there neutrally. A calm exterior as panic and curiosity ran rampant through my veins. The queen. Bastian’s mother. A Fire Coven witch I’d despised, her whole existence wrapped in the lies that were spun for us. Yet she’d saved me.
“What did she do?” I asked, my calmness a farce as I pulled my hand away to clutch the simple, blue cotton dress I’d worn from the few I kept in the shop.
She brushed a black strand of hair from her face, forcing a smile. “When your father and I learned you were on your way, I delivered a letter to the castle. At that time, I had to believe that Eden was alive. I thought maybe the king had protected her from her mother’s plan, and, if so, perhaps he could save you as well.”
“So, you’ve known Endora was an enemy this whole time?” Kirsi asked, inching toward my mother.
“No, dear. Endora is not our enemy. Misguided, perhaps, but if you consider her cause, the reason she wanted her plan to work, you can see that she’s always wanted to protect the witches.”
“Whatever it takes to end the suffering of the witches, we will do it,” my father said, his booming voice amplifying the careful tension. “Until it was at the expense of our child. That was the only line we would not cross in support of her.”
My mother cleared her throat. “Yes, but when I researched for a way to save you, there was nothing to be done. No one spoke of it beyond terror, and I couldn’t find any books that referenced it. We only knew that if the Harrowing was cast, you would be targeted as the thirteenth witch in the Moonstone line. I could only think of one person that could hopefully stop it.”
I held up a hand, pausing her to clarify. “You thought if you could show him the innocent life that would be lost, he would be compelled to stop it since Eden's plea hadn't been enough?”
“There was no one else,” she whispered. “But I never heard from him. No matter how many letters I sent, as my belly swelled, there was no response. Until one day, when we were sure all hope was lost, the queen sent a messenger. She told me you would be born on the next blood moon. I was to take you directly to the castle that night. My mother hovered nearby, telling everyone that would listen that you’d be the most powerful Moonstone witch.”
“You never told her?” I whispered.
Shaking her head, she looked away. “How could I? She and Tasa were so close. Tasa would have had to agree with the Harrowing. We think—”
“The coven leaders were all in on it,” my father interrupted, his voice low as he hunched his shoulders, as if he thought they were here, listening through the cottage walls. “Endora couldn’t cast that powerful spell alone. It wasn’t one she’d received, it was cast in a circle. They had to be involved.”
“My mother taught us to trust the coven leaders in all things, and so we did. Apart from this. It’s a secret your father and I have kept for all these years.”
“What did she actually do?” Kirsi asked. “The night Raven was born?”
“As soon as she arrived, we rushed her to the Fire Coven. The queen was already waiting. She took Raven, wrapped in bundles of blankets, only hours old. I remember sitting in the hall of the black castle, counting every second, thinking I’d made a grave mistake, handing my newborn baby over to our enemy. I wasn’t able to go with her, and I don’t know what she did. Eventually, she returned, her young son at her side, and handed you back to me. She said that one day, you and Bastian would be linked.” She paused, looking away.
I wondered if they could see every hair on my body standing. If they could hear the heart thundering in my chest. If they knew my mind was racing with thoughts of Bastian’s mother knowing of our connection. I gulped, hoping I was far more calm on the exterior than I felt on the inside.
My father stood, moving to the window and sliding the simple curtain to the side. “We've done everything we can to keep that from happening, Raven. When you said you wouldn't enter the Trials, we begged the goddess for that to be true. I wanted you to bind your words to me that day because all of this could have been avoided. The moment you entered the Trials, we knew there was no going back, and the queen's words would come to pass.” He dropped the curtain and turned to face me, his ice blue eyes full of pride. “Little did she know that link would be the murder of her son.”
“All of that, and you have no idea what she did to me? How can that be?”
My parents exchanged another look, and I knew they weren’t telling the entire story. I stood, taking careful steps as I paced the floor, agitated that, once again, they were keeping shit to themselves.
“Now is not the time to safeguard your secrets. This is my life, my whole existence we’re talking about. I’m not a child anymore.” My voice shook with suppressed rage. “Whatever it is, I can handle it, but I can’t handle your secrets and your lies under the guise of protecting me. If you don’t want me to walk out the door and never come back, you better start talking.” I paused, staring my mother down with narrowed eyes. “All my life, you’ve tried to protect me to an extreme degree, and maybe you thought that was warranted after this initial threat, but it’s too much, and it’s gone on too long. If you really want to help me, you need to tell me everything.”
Kirsi nudged my shoulder, her form of solidarity as I waited.
An unspoken conversation passed between my parents in seconds before my mother took a step back and lowered her gaze. “The queen bound my words, so even your father didn’t know the complete truth.”
“Didn’t, but she died. That spell would have worn off over time,” Kirsi said, always in my corner, always ready to fight for me.