Page 21 of A Clash of Embers

“I don’t want to overwhelm you with too much information so I will tell you the most vital information at this point and over time we can add extra details to it.”

I nodded in response to her statement, awaiting what would come.

“Before the curse, Athiana and Theo were completely enraged with each other, fighting over the right to Amari. What wasn’t told to you was that Amari and Theo were mated—they were inamoratos. Her mother made her strip the bond from them, causing a portion of Amari and Theo to be broken. Theo became enraged. He wanted to get her back, but Amari was no longer the same girl he knew. She was a shell of a being, no longer capable of love after rejecting her mate.” Queen Anne paused and sat down next to me, passing me the tea that she had prepared.

“Theo fought for her, then over time it became something...more. He wanted control over everyone and everything. He thought Athiana overstepped her boundary, and he wanted to ensure that she knew it and she felt the pain that he endured. They both met during a battle near Ingria and then time stopped. We never truly knew who’s curse took precedence over the other, but we knew it must have happened. When we awoke in the prison of Carondelet, the shell of who we were was glamorized to fit the time. Every twenty-two years, time would start over and we would have to relive everything over again, butonlythe first generation would remember; not humans or any other generation aside from ours. The curse was bound to us with our power markings. Now that the curse has ended, our branding is gone. Along with our branding gone, every building that was created during the curse is gone. Completely erased from time. The curse that was cast was intricate in the fact that things could be created and stay in the curse, but the only royal being that survived being created was you.”

I realized that my breathing was heavy and I was unsure of what she was telling me. I knew it was honest and the truth, but it was hard to hear. Evander told me something similar within the curse about my existence. I looked down at my arm and realized that my power marking was, in fact, not there. There was no marking on my arms, hands, or fingers.

"Is that why I don't have another body outside of the curse?" I asked.

Her dark eyes pierced into mine, “Yes, it is because you were born within the curse. You are theonlyroyal to be born in the curse. That is why we knew you were the one to finally break the gods-forsaken misery we were enduring. We all waited for you. We knew it all had to play out perfectly in order for there to even be a chance to get out.”

I looked at the tea in my hands, searching for an answer. I hadn’t even taken a sip yet, so I took one and let the warmth coat my throat and ease my muscles before I spoke.

“So, my entire existence was created to destroy a curse. I just can’t fathom—”

She interrupted me before I could finish the sentence. “No. Your existence ismuchbigger than that. You were created through two pure royal bloodlines; that is rarely heard of. Then, we found out that you were mated to Evander—and to be honest, we were shocked. Who he is outside of the curse is not the same as who he was inside of the curse, and before you ask, I have no idea where he is, but I know that he is continuing the same war his father started. He hasn’t stopped.”

I nodded my head and took another sip of the tea before I mumbled, “I honestly don't want to know where he is.”

Her brows furrowed and she tilted her head towards me as I clarified my statement. “He... he spoke to me through our bond. He told me that he doesn’t love me and that if I try to find him, he will kill me.”

Queen Anne’s eyes softened and I saw the sorrow she felt for me in the depths of her being. She took a breath and turned to set her tea on the end table before turning back to face me and placing her hands in mine.

“Clara. It might be for the best. Who he is... isn’t what you think. He isdifferent. He is a monster in every form. I don’t even know if he is truly capable of love in the capacity you once knew.”

I hung my head in defeat at that statement. I knew in my heart she was probably right, but hearing it out loud sealed my fate, and I wasn’t ready to close that chapter in my life quite yet.

“What about King Alex and his kingdom? What of Lettie?” I asked her.

Her shoulders tensed with my question, signaling to me that something was making her uncomfortable. Unsettled.

She glanced between my face and her feet before finally speaking. Reluctantly.

“King Alex is—was human. Before the curse, Amari married him for protection from others. Lettie was born before the curse with no magical powers. No abilities. Before the curse, Lettie was struggling to find her place in this world. A world that is full of magic, and she had none. She had just reconciled her relationship with her mother before the curse happened. I know that Lettie is a very strong-willed young woman. She doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do. I got word from a few people that Lettie ran off when the curse was officially lifted. No one knows where she is. She’s probably dealing with her own hurt and pain and doesn’t want to be around anyone.”

I tilted my head in question as I asked curiously, “Is that something she would do often? Run away?”

She nodded. “Yes, it happened quite often. She would run off from her parents and no one would know where she would go.”

“What about Amari, Jeremiah? Where are they?”

She sipped her tea and blinked a few beats before she answered. “They are where they are supposed to be.”

What kind of cryptic answer is that?

I sat with my thoughts for a few minutes trying to sort through the information that she had just told me. There were manyanswers that needed further clarity, and I hoped my mother would be the one to help me understand them. Except for the questions I had about Leo.

"Why is Leo's name not the same as in the curse and why does he not have Fae wings?" I questioned her.

She sighed and looked away from me before glancing back at me with a determined look in her eye. "It was to protect him," she sighed, her expression turning defensive. "But his full name is Leonardo Madokus, so we pulled the name Madok as a sort of cloak for him in the curse so that others may not connect who he truly was. As for the wings, when he was younger, he and his sister both became ill. We sent him away to a caretaker, and I wanted to keep her here. She unfortunately didn’t make it, but Leo did. At the expense of his wings."

I remember this conversation with Leo, in the woods. He told me part of this, but I didn’t know whether I should expose that information to her.

"I— I never knew. That’s awful. He is the same man, right? He is the same Madok that I knew in the curse." I questioned her with hopefulness that he was.

She nodded her head, "Yes. He is the same man. Fantastic in every way. He just doesn't remember what happened because he is not a first generation." She sighed before her look turned more somber, "And I want to keep it that way. He doesn't need to know what happened in the curse, because you arematedto Evander, not Madok. You can't hurt his heart again like you did in the curse. Do you understand me?"

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