Page 27 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“What does it do?” he asked sharply.
“It binds my life to hers. Consider it my…safeguard,” she rasped out, his power still coiled at her neck.
“I would have never known if you hadn’t said something,” he countered.
“Not a safeguard from you,” she replied, straightening as he loosened his power even more. “From your father.”
“Who else knows?”
“No one,” she replied. “At least not that I have told. He bound me with a Secrecy Mark, but it faded when he was not the Arius Lord for a short time.” Lifting her bare arm, she showed him where a Mark had once graced her flesh above the crook of her elbow for the entirety of his life. True to her word, it was gone. He’d never questioned it. His father forced others to take Secrecy Marks all the time. He’d had some of the same Marks on his flesh at various times in his life.
“If she still lives, then where is she?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Now why would I tell you that?” Cressida asked, a smirk lifting at her newfound leverage.
“And Axel?”
“Axel is mine,” she said fiercely.
That made sense. She always favored him, while she seemed to tolerate Theon. She would sometimes intervene on Axel’s behalf, leaving Theon to fend for himself against his father. Axel had the auburn undertones to his dark hair thanks to Cressida’s dark red locks, while Theon’s hair was the pitch black of his father’s. But still…
“We look nearly identical,” he argued.
“Genetics are powerful,” she said simply. “Your father made sure his Match…had certain characteristics.”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”
“Believe me or don’t,” she said with a shrug. “That’s your prerogative.”
But he did believe her. That was the problem. The female before him now was cunning and creative, just as her bloodline was known for. For decades she had put on a persona. A female who only cared for frivolous and superficial things. Being invited to the best gatherings and having the finest dresses and jewels. When in reality, she had been scheming, harboring her owngrudges and vendettas. Just like everyone else in this damned realm, she’d been plotting her own power moves.
Her smile grew as she watched him come to the realization she spoke the truth. Even if she wasn’t his mother, she had watched him grow up. More than that, she’d paid far more attention than he thought she had. She would know his tells and mannerisms.
“How would this have been hidden from the other ruling families?” he asked. “They approve Matches and verify all pregnancies.”
Her features darkened. “That is enough questions for today,” she snapped.
He fought his own smile now, finding a weakness. “But you were so willing to tell me all about my mother,Cressida,” he crooned, stepping closer. Towering over her, it forced her to tip her head back to look at him.
“This is bigger than you and your little Source,” she bit out.
He tsked. “But she’s not my Source. You know that. Have always known that.”
“I didn’t knowwhatshe was.”
“ValterandRordan kept you in the dark? Maybe you’re not as valuable as you believe,” he replied with a sharp smile. She brought a hand up to slap him, but he caught her wrist before she even got close. “What am I to do with you now?” he mused. “Lock you up until I can verify your claims?”
“Verify them all you like,” she retorted.
“And how am I to do that?” he asked, cocking his head to the side and watching every intake of breath and twitch of her eyes. Watching for the lie.
“You know nothing of what it is like to be a female in this house. In this kingdom. In the realm,” she hissed. “The only value we have to our families is to help them move higher up in society, closer to a Lord or Lady, and then only if we can bear achild. Do you know what would have happened if I hadn’t borne Valter a child? And not just any child. My contract wasveryspecific. I was to produce a son, and your father had insurance.”
“How could he have insurance against something like that?” Theon asked, trying to keep her talking. She was angry. People revealed all kinds of information when they were in that state of mind. It was one of the basest forms of manipulation.
She looked him up and down with a bitter laugh. “You were it,” she said. “At least, that’s what he told me. But I suspect the outcome would have been the same even if my first child had been a male.”
Theon blinked at her, not grasping what she was saying. Or rather, not wanting to believe it, but he knew full well the lengths his father would go to in order to ensure the outcome was what he wanted. Still, if Cressida wasn’t his mother, who was? What other bloodline ran in his veins?
