Page 147 of Cursed Dreams
Tansy leapt into Thalia’s lap, curling against her stomach with a low purr. Thalia absently stroked her fur, heart pounding.
“What things?” she asked, voice hoarse. “What don’t I know?”
Rodric and Goldora shared another look. The fire crackled softly in the hearth, the room so silent they could hear the wind rustling against the eaves of the cottage, waited for one of them to speak.
Goldora broke the silence first, her voice barely above a whisper. “We knew… pieces of it. Old stories, half-believed legends passed down in whispers. But some of them stayed with us, Thalia. Enough to know not everything in the temples is truth.”
Thalia blinked at her mother, stunned. “You knew?”
Rodric leaned forward, his voice grave. “We knew of the high fae. That they were not dead, as the histories claim, but cursed. Banished in the last days of the war. Their sacrifice was not meaningless. It weakened the dragons enough to force their retreat from the mortal lands. But the dragons… they didn’t just leave. They cursed the high fae to be forgotten. Their names, their deeds, erased.”
Cellen let out a low whistle. “And the Forest?” “Did you know about that?”
Rodric nodded slowly. “It’s been spoken of for as long as anyone can remember, all across the lands. Dismissed as a legend, amyth told around fires. No one knows where it truly lies, or even how to begin finding it.”
Thalia stared at them, mouth parted, “You knew all of this. All these years. I spent months in the temple searching for this knowledge” “All this time, and you knew?”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. They had kept this from her!
Rodric’s expression darkened with sorrow. “We didn’t know it would become your path. And the older you grew, you were so focused on being a healer in the temple Thalia, we didn’t want to fill your head with nonsense”
“Nonsense, “Thalia could feel the anger rising in her at his words, it wasn’t nonsense!
Nyla reached over and gently took Thalia’s hand. “Thalia…” she said quietly.
But Thalia could barely hear her. Her thoughts were spinning, heart pounding with everything she’d just learned. If she had known this sooner… if she had known, Marand might still be... She couldn’t allow herself to finish that thought.
She clenched her hands, her heart twisting painfully.
Cellen’s voice, rougher than usual, broke the silence. “So, what now? “
Rodric stood and placed a hand on Thalia’s shoulder. “You get some sleep, all of you. Tomorrow morning, I’ll come with you to the forest.”
Goldora set down her teacup and moved to Thalia, brushing her hand through her daughter’s hair. “You’ve come so far, my girl. Whatever lies ahead, know we are proud of you.”
Emotion surged in Thalia’s throat. She nodded, unable to speak.
As they rose and moved toward the bedrooms Goldora had prepared for their guests, Thalia cast one last glance at her parents. They had known. All this time, they had known. The thought hollowed something in her.
She climbed into the small bed Nyla would share with her, curling toward the wall with a silent tear sliding down her cheek.
Chapter 37
Thalia woke with a jolt, her heart still pounding from the remnants of a dream she couldn’t quite grasp. Her mother stood over her, face drawn with worry, one hand gently shaking her shoulder.
“Thalia, you have to go. Now,” Goldora whispered urgently.
Thalia blinked into the morning light, already streaming through the curtains. “What? What’s happened?”
Goldora didn’t answer, just tugged at her hand until Thalia was up and stumbling out of bed. Tansy darted from under the blankets with a yowl, leaping to the floor and disappearing under the dresser.
“Vaelith’s here,” her mother said quietly. “He’s in the village.”
That snapped Thalia fully awake. She grabbed her satchel, still packed from the journey, and hurried down the stairs two at a time.
Downstairs, the cottage was filled with tension. Rodric stood by the hearth, fully dressed and armed. But it was the man beside him who made Thalia freeze.
Marcus.
