Page 54 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

Sonoma simply watched and waited.

When I could breathe again, I rasped, “Then who is?”

Her mask of stoicism slipped, her eyes brimming with pain and regret and sorrow as she said, “Me.”

Chapter Seventeen

Aurelia

Ishook my head, unable to find my voice. Learning my father was a king of Hel was one thing. Shocking, yes. But I’d never met the male. Had no picture in my mind of what sort of evil creature he might be. I’d known Sonoma my whole life. Grown up with her. Trained with her. Considered her my friend. It was that closeness that made her last admission so much more painful than the first.

So, I stood there, speechless. Reeling. Wanting to cry but not able to summon the strength to do so.

Sonoma was the first to break the silence. “Twenty years ago, I became pregnant,” she said quietly.

Her voice, those words, shattered all my control. My temper snapped. “Let me guess. I would have screwed up your plan to remain emotionally unattached, so you handed me off.”

“You were my greatest joy, but you didn’t belong only to me.” Her voice remained even. As if I hadn’t just practically screamed at her.

“What does that even mean? Either you wanted me or you didn’t.” Furyfire seared my veins, but I fisted my left hand,refusing to let it ignite. Then I remembered the whiskey bottle I still gripped with my right. I barely managed to set it aside without lighting it on fire.

“The Aine are forbidden from bearing children. We take a vow of?—”

“Celibacy, yes, I know.” It was one of the few reasons I’d been okay with not being able to officially compete to be one of them. Even being one of the Aine couldn’t make up for never having sex again. “It seems you weren’t able to hold up on that promise.”

I was being cruel.

I knew it, and yet I couldn’t seem to stop the comments from flying out of my mouth. It was all I could do not to light this entire library full of furyfire.

She’d lied.

Seven years ago, she’d sworn never to lie to me again. But it seems she’d never stopped.

“I thought the Fates would strip my magic or worse when they found out about you. But they blessed you instead. Before you were ever born, they imbued you with gifts and a prophecy. You became their Chosen One. The great Aine warrior who would defeat Heliconia and bring peace back to the realm.”

“Why me?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“You come from two great bloodlines. Light and dark.” Her expression hardened. “Though I’ve always suspected it was their punishment against me.”

“Whose punishment? The Fates?” I knew I sounded skeptical, but I’d only ever heard the mystical goddesses described as being benevolent.

But Sonoma shook her head ruefully. “Even goddesses have a temper. And I couldn’t refuse their gifts or your destiny in case they decided to do something worse instead.”

Anger and hurt and disappointment tangled inside me.Sonoma was my mother. Sonoma was mymother.Sonomawas my mother.

“How did I get here?” I asked, my voice finally losing its sharpest edge. My temper was quickly becoming heavy—like an exhaustion. I had no idea which was heavier: the truth or the lies still between us. “How did I come to be adopted by … Celeste and Tyrion?”

I stopped myself from calling them my parents, suddenly unsure what the rules were for something like this.

“After the Fates declared you as theirs, we knew you were in danger. We wanted to keep Heliconia from learning the truth as long as possible,” Sonoma said. The words were spoken quietly, as if she were trying to be gentle.

“Is that why you chose not to tell me who my parents really were?” I shot her an accusing glare. “You really thought so little of me that you couldn’t trust me with my own fate?”

“That’s not—” Sonoma began.

“You don’t believe I can do this.”

Sonoma frowned. “Of course I do.”

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