Page 24 of Tempests of Truth

“Is she dead?” Nina asked, staring at us with wide eyes.

I shook my head. “Happily not. As far as I can tell, she collapsed from a combination of shock and exhaustion, nothing more.”

I pushed some energy into her, and the woman stirred. As soon as her eyes fluttered open, she tried to push herself upright. I steadied her, holding her gently down.

“You’ve pushed yourself too hard,” I told her sternly, adopting the healer tone I had learned in the Caltoran hospital. “I’ve given you some energy, but you need proper rest before you attempt anything strenuous.”

The woman stared at me, her eyes even wider than they had been when I first saw her in the doorway.

“You’re a healer?” she whispered.

Before I realized what was happening, her arm shot out, her fingers closing around my wrist like steel.

I tried to yank myself free as her power speared into me, but her hold was too strong. Throwing up my wall, I pushed her back out, but not before I felt the shape of her power inside me.

Nik, who had drawn back while I worked, appeared at my side. Grabbing the woman, he pulled her roughly away, using enough force to break her hold.

“Wait!” I cried, before he could do anything more drastic. “Wait! She wasn’t trying to mesmerize me or hurt me.”

“Of course she wasn’t!” the matriarch exclaimed, clearly offended at the suggestion. “Lady Isolde would never do that.”

“Lady…Isolde,” Costas repeated in a numb voice. He alone hadn’t left his original position by the table, although his eyes were glued on the woman. “You’re my mother?”

ChapterSeven

Isolde’s eyes flew to Costas, and she gasped. The two were frozen for a moment, staring at each other while the rest of us watched them in an equally motionless state.

Slowly two tears slipped over her eyelids and tracked down her cheeks. “My son,” she whispered. “My little Costie.”

“How can you be my mother?” he said stiffly, clearly not recovered from the shock. “You can’t be my mother. That’s impossible!”

She struggled to her feet and started toward him, but he flinched back and she stopped.

“After a few months had passed, I couldn’t remember what your face looked like anymore,” he whispered. “I was too young. When I met you during my adventures in the forest, I thought you were someone from the town out foraging. I used…I used to imagine you were my mother. I would pretend I was a normal boy, and we were a family.”

More silent tears ran down her face.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a broken voice. “I wanted to tell you the truth every day, but I didn’t dare. Too many lives were at stake. Possibly even yours after they murdered your uncle.”

He shook his head violently. “No. No, it doesn’t make any sense. It can’t be.”

“You know each other?” I looked back and forth between them, utterly confused.

“Sit down, your ladyship,” the patriarch said, pulling out a chair and gently helping Isolde to sit. She allowed him to guide her, hardly seeming aware of her body’s movements.

Once she was seated, however, she looked back at me. “You’re a healer—a master level healer. And you brought my son to me. How is any of this possible?”

“That’s exactly what we’d like to know,” Amara said, resuming control of the conversation. “But first I must ask you not to touch or test my apprentice without her permission again.” Her voice was ice, and the woman’s eyes widened, a look of guilt coming over her face.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t think. It’s been so long since I’ve been around anyone who—” She cut herself off and shook her head. “I apologize. Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Isolde—not Lady Isolde, just Isolde. I don’t hold any rank—and officially I’m married to Augustine Constantine, although I haven’t seen him in many, many years.”

Amara’s stiff stance softened. “I’m afraid I have to inform you that you are now a widow. Your husband was murdered.”

“By your son,” Costas said baldly. “Your son murdered his father, his grandmother, and everyone else he could get his hands on.”

Isolde gasped again, her hand flying to her mouth. “Ignatius? Ignatius did that? But why…how…?”

I expected even more tears to flow, but strangely the news dried the last of them. Her brow furrowed, and I could almost see her turning the information over in her head, trying to make sense of it.

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