Page 10 of A Kingdom of Monsters

“I wish more than anything that I could not,” she spat. “Filthy, evil creatures.”

I ran a weary hand through my hair. If I let her linger too long on this topic, she’d devolve into a bitter rant about the evils of all magic. For a moment, she’d seemed willing to share more than I’d ever learned before. I had to get her back on topic.

“So you were taken from the human realm and brought to Nightshade?” I prompted.

My mother blinked at me, as if she’d forgotten her train of thought. “Yes. I spent ten years in Nightshade serving the court and learning to worship the Source. The court of Nightshade wasjust as evil and depraved as the capital. Every inch of the city was filled with zealous priests and fanatics, all united in worship of the Source.

“Living there was an absolute nightmare and I swore that one day I would find a way back to my family.”

A sick feeling churned in my stomach. “What happened?”

“When I turned 16 I was assigned to be the wife of one of the priests who served at the Source. There was no point in trying to escape after that.”

I gazed at her, eyes wide with shock. This was the first time she had ever brought up this topic in our entire relationship. To my knowledge, my mother had never been married; in fact, she always avoided any questions about who my father could be. My mind raced with anticipation, a sudden realization dawning on me.

“How long were you married?” I asked, forcing my tone to remain even.

“Six months,” she spat bitterly, her face twisting with the ghost of old pain. “For those six months I was no longer required to work in the kitchens or clean the temples, but I also wasn’t allowed outside. Each day I felt more and more like a prisoner, and every evening I dreaded the moment when my husband would return home. If I tried to leave he would have killed me, and often I thought I might simply let him.”

I glanced at the floor, simultaneously horrified and morbidly curious. “Why did it only last six months?”

“Because one day I decided I couldn’t stand it any longer,” she replied bitterly. “I knew one of us had to die, and I didn’t muchcare if it was me or the monster who called himself my husband. So, one night, I waited for him to go to sleep, and stabbed him through the eye with my hairpin.”

“And that worked?” I blurted out incredulously.

Mother nodded. “In Nightshade, many things were made from Source-forged steel. My only regret is that he was killed instantly, and never even knew what had happened.”

I gaped at her, a whirl of tangled thoughts coursing through my mind. It was little wonder why Mother hated the Fae, when she’d known nothing but cruelty from them.

I couldn’t help but notice the similarity between her story, and how I’d first killed one of the Fae, and with that thought, the nervous anticipation that had been building in my stomach collapsed. If she’d killed this nameless Fae priest, he wasn’t my father. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed.

A part of me was angry that I’d never known any of this before…but then, I supposed it made sense. Even if Mother had wanted to talk about her past–and she clearly didn’t–I’d been barely more than a child when she was taken away. Hardly old enough to know the truth of what had happened to her.

“So you escaped?” I pushed, wishing to keep her talking. I needed to hear all there was to know, or I might never have the opportunity again–no matter how uncomfortable these stories made me.

“Yes,” Mother said. “I ran and made it as far as the Waywoods. I intended to reach the eastern shore and try to find someone who knew how to return to my homeland, but it was barely two weeks before I learned that I hadn’t fully escaped my husband after all.”

“What do you mean?”

She gave me a pointed look. “I was pregnant.”

The anxious bubble in my stomach re-inflated.

My heart pounded quicker and I wrung my hands in my skirt, the full realization of what she was saying washing over me. “So that would mean that Rosey and I are?—”

“Half Fae,” she finished for me bitterly. “It’s the curse I’ve borne for twenty-two years. My daughters are monsters.”

I stared at her in shocked silence, my heart pounding too loudly in my ears. “Why did you never tell me?”

My mother readjusted her position, pushing her back flatter against the bars of her cage. She assessed me with cold eyes. “If I had, would it have changed anything?”

“Maybe,” I snapped. "It might have changed how I felt.”

“No,” she replied. “If anything, it would have given you a reason to indulge in your unnaturalness. I wanted to raise you both to be human, not let you turn into one ofthem.”

A prickle of heat traveled up my spine like angry flames licking at my skin. I sucked in a startled breath.

I straightened, sucking in a deep breath and pushing every shred of feeling to the furthest corners of my mind. Only a few more questions, I told myself grimly. I just need to know the truth once and for all.

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