Page 30 of Mischief Maker
I know all of this. I witnessed it firsthand—though he has changed as time has gone on.
“So?” I’m not going to let him get away without explaining himself.
“So...” Kireth trails off, his tail lashing behind him. “I, um, might have gotten on the bad side of an oracle.” He flinches at his own words.
“What did you do?” I’m trying to control the heat rising into my cheeks, but I must try not to judge him until I hear the whole story. There’s no possible way he’s responsible for what happened here, right?
Kireth doesn’t look at me as he talks. “I was summoned, once upon a time. Hundreds of years ago. My master at the time sent me on a ridiculous quest, and I was looking for a way to, um...” He trails off. “I needed to punish him for it. So I went to the oracle to ask what his future was.”
“Why?” I ask.
“I wanted to know what his life would be like. If he would have a family or children.”
I feel cold, but I don’t speak. After a long breath, Kireth continues.
“I stole a goat and traded it to the oracle for the answer. But she said that I couldn’t interfere with the future she told or there would be repercussions.”
That coldness spreads down my arms and legs. Kireth reaches out to take my hands, but I bring them back to my chest. His shoulders sag.
“When I found out he would meet a woman in a nearby town and marry her in just two months’ time...” His eyes finally rise to mine and they are frightened. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my god look afraid before.
“Tell me the rest of the story,” I say, my voice hard. It’s as if I’m watching a huge, terrible boulder rolling downhill toward the village.
Kireth’s voice pitches higher as he continues, his shame growing. “She said if I got in the way of the man’s destiny, she would ruin me in kind—in proportion to my error.
“I didn’t listen. When I returned from my quest, it was right at the perfect moment. On the day my master was supposed to meet his future wife, I broke his wagon so he couldn’t leave the way he was intended to.”
It’s as if my blood has stopped moving through my veins. “So she ruined you in kind,” I whisper.
Kireth nods slowly. “That is what Lucia said. That the curse on your farm was my punishment.”
The world tilts, and I struggle to stay upright.
“My mother.” The words are strangled as they come out of me, because they are so hard to say. To even think. “My mother died because of that curse.”
Kireth’s eyes plead with mine. “I didn’t know, Faela. Truly, I didn’t.”
Why me? Why her? I feel that there’s more, and as deep as the wound already is, he has not yet told me everything.
“Kireth.” I say his name again, slowly, the tears streaming hot and fast from my eyes as the love that I felt for this demon in front of me morphs into something painful and ugly. “Why did the oracle choose my farm?”
“Faela, please.” He grabs my hands in his and holds them, even as I try to get away. “Listen to me. I couldn’t have known that I would ever find you?—”
“Stop!” I’ve never shouted at him before, and Kireth leans back in surprise, releasing me. I get to my feet and dust myself off, trying to hide how my hands are shaking. “You didn’t answer me. Why my farm? I know that you know!”
His eyes are impossibly sad as he searches my face, clearly hoping for a way out. But when I offer none, he lowers his eyes and speaks.
“The oracle saw the future. She realized the best way to hurt me was through you. That the curse would bring me to you, and...” My pain rises inside me like a beast. “...I would fall in love with you, and then, by the nature of my agreement, I would be forced to leave you.”
He loves me. He loves me, and I am his punishment. I was just an object to be used, a pawn to inflict on him what he inflicted upon someone else hundreds of years ago.
I can’t look at Kireth’s miserable face any longer, so I turn and rush into the house.
“Faela!” he calls out. “Wait, farm girl, please?—”
The door slams closed behind me.
My misery has no bottom. It is a well yawning wide underneath me, sucking me toward it, threatening to swallow me into the nothingness.
