Page 129 of Heir of Illusion

My head snaps back, eyes widening at the mention of the sword. “How do you know about that?”

The barest hint of a smirk pulls at her cracked lips.

“I know many things,” she says vaguely. “I could always hear it talking to the guards, egging them on. It’s grown louder these past few months. More insistent… You’ve heard it too, haven’t you? It spoke to you a few nights ago?”

“How do you know that?”

Her gaze drops to my collar. “Call it intuition. Was that the only time you’ve heard the whispers?”

I nod.

“That will change.” Her voice takes on a sad quality as her eyes glass over, turning distant. “It won’t let either of us go. What was shattered into pieces longs to be whole once more.”

I open my mouth to ask what she means, but she changes the subject before I get the chance.

“He asked me about you, you know,” she announces.

My head jerks back. “Who?”

She ignores my question, rambling on in that strange way of hers. “He wanted to know who you came from.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

Was Maebyn always this way or have her years of isolation addled her mind?

“You see, he was afraid he’d have to kill you,” she continues. “At the time, I didn’t have the answers he was seeking.” She moves closer as her hands grip the bars in front of me, her fevered gaze boring into mine. “But now that I’ve seen you, it’s obvious. Those amber eyes could never be a mystery to me, not when they still haunt me every night in my dreams.” Her forehead creases as confusion splashes across her face. “But lately, when I see them, they’re full of anger.” She tilts her head, eyeing me warily. “Will yours turn on me too, I wonder?”

“Who are you talking about? Whose eyes do I have?”

She blinks. “Your father’s, of course. Who else?”

I stand there frozen, absolutely speechless. She knew my father? Since Nigel’s eyes were nothing like mine, I can only assume she’s speaking of my true father, the one whose identity has always been a mystery to me.

“If the other one asks me again, I’ll tell him I don’t know where you came from,” she promises earnestly, shifting the conversation once more. “But if he were smart, he’d have killed you the moment he laid eyes on you.”

A shiver coils down my spine. I glance over my shoulder at the path that brought me here, wondering if I should be running for my life.

Glancing back at the chair that faces her cell, I register that she’s talking about Baylor. He’s the one who asked about me, who wanted to know where I came from. My fists clench at my sides as I realize she’s right. Heshouldhave killed me.

“Do you want to know a secret, little one?” she whispers.

I turn to find her clutching the bars, pressing the center of her face between them.

“We Gods are so secretive.” She rolls her eyes. “Always hating for anyone to know our weaknesses. But I remember when the Gods were new, when we believed we were immune to weakness. That all changed the day Claudius was murdered.”

My eyes widen. “You were there?”

She nods. “I’d never seen my father that furious. Of course, this was back before we began sending our children away to be raised in secret. Before we knew that would become necessary. We hadn’t learned yet just how vulnerable an Heir was before they were fully ascended.” Her knowing eyes cut to me conspiratorially. “But that’s a different secret for a different day.” She shakes her head. “When Philo killed Claudius, everything changed. My father had warned him not to touch thealmanova. But Philo was always optimistic in those early days, never believing anything truly bad would happen. He was wrong.”

“You mean when Philo used the sword to kill Claudius?” I ask. “The book was right…”

Her eyes brighten, a genuine smile warming her face. “Oh, you found my history book? Was it still hidden in the library after all this time?”

My eyebrows pull together. “Yourhistory book?”

“Of course.” She shrugs. “Who else could have written it? I left it so there might be some small record of the truth hidden among all the lies.”

I want to ask her what other lies she’s referring to, but she moves on too quickly.

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