Page 62 of A Clash of Embers

But I was suddenly becoming more aware that this was my job. To protect my region. My Kingdom. My home.

Chapter 30

Toward one side of the room were refreshments and fresh Bolzana fruits that were on the table for anyone to take. We grabbed something to drink and I decided to grab a soft orange fruit with fuzzy skin on the outside. Kay brought me to a small circular table where she sat down and I joined her.

"So, what is Queen Anne's reasoning for coming here?" I asked her.

She swallowed her piece of fruit and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "We think it's to check in on the Queen. To ensure that Queen Clairece hasn't changed sides."

I responded with a question that had been lingering in my mind since I was placed down here. "Whenever I went to Monowi, Queen Anne told me a lot of information about Athiana and Theo. Is that information correct you think or a little miscued?"

Kay sighed after she took a sip of her drink. "She most likely told you only the parts she wanted. The parts that make her look good in all of this."

Queen Anne was very adamant that Eros was a monster. That he wasn't good. She was also very clear that Athiana never meant to hurt anyone, but I found that hard to believe. The other part that threw me for a loop was the fact that Colette was in the castle. With my mother and Queen Anne. She could destroy anything with the snap of a finger, but she didn’t and I needed to know why.

"When you became a goddess under the curse, and, yes, your mother told us all about it." She smiled as she watched me bite the soft fruit. "After you became what you are, you were given absolute power. Power that none of us, including Colette, have seen in a long time."

I leaned in and whispered, "What do you mean even Colette has seen in a long time?"

Kay leaned back in the chair smirking, "You didn't read the book, did you?

"I don't know what you—"

Kay interrupted me, "Don't play coy. We all know about the book, but we also knowsomeof the contents of it. Youobviouslyhave not." She sipped her drink and sat it down softly on the table onto the side of her and leaned on the table with her forearms.

"TheInfiniteWar. It was the beginning and end of Athiana. Way before you and I were even a thought, the gods and goddesses were in a war with one another. All because they wouldn't agree to mate Athiana and Myrick. But she forced their hand and told them that if they didn't agree with her that they would destroy them all by trapping them in Darthium. Not allowing them to seek out their own worlds that they had created."

She leaned in closer, "After they agreed to mate her and Myrick, they didn't realize that she was pregnant with Amari. When they tried to kill her, Myrick stepped in and sacrificedhimself for her and Amari. Athiana created a curse so powerful that it trapped the other gods and goddesses here alongside her. As punishment."

I'd heard this similar story many times, but this particular piece of information seemed to strike me at the core of my being. Myrick sacrificed his life for her and his child. Also, why was it that someone who barely knew me was telling me everything that I had been trying to figure out for so long?

"Years later at the last battle before the curse, Theo was fighting against Athiana. Ironically, he was madly in love with Amari and she was with him. Athiana wouldn't allow it, but Theo wasn't going to let it go. So, he fought for her. Amari was pregnant with twins, one is Eros and the other is, well, we don't know who he is or where he is. But this curse was unique because it was forged throughhate. Hate from Athiana toward Theo for falling in love with her daughter and Theo's hate for Athiana for forcing her daughter to strip her inamorato mating bond with him."

I could feel my heart quickening because I had heard part of this before, from Amari and from Queen Anne. I thought back to the conservator book from under the curse and I couldn't help but make a connection.

"So, Athiana and Theo's curse was enacted at the same time because it was fueled by hate, therefore it had to be broken by love? That wasme,right?" I spoke.

She nodded as I continued, "The one thing I just can't seem to understand is why when I broke the curse, Theo tied himself to Madok and Evander? He said if I killed him, that it would kill them too..."

I stopped talking because it all made sense. Why would Theo tie himself to those two menspecifically?Madok and Evander. And how did he know that I would do it? That I would try to kill him.

"It's because Theo loves Madok and Evander. And it's because I loved Madok and Evander. His love for hissonsand my love for them both was able to break it. To release them."

Kay leaned almost all the way over the table. "Wait. Wait. You think Madok, the guy under the curse, is Eros's twin?"

I blinked away some building tears of rage because I should have known. They both have the same marks on their ribs. They were both tied to Theo.

“But how did they live? I just—”

“You're asking the wrong question, Clara Bear.” The deep voice startled both Kay, myself, and all other witches inside the Beacon.

He started to walk closer and I noticed his tired expression as he neared me at the circular table. “I said you are asking the wrong question. You are supposed to ask, ‘but how did they die and come back to life?’”

He pulled a chair out next to me and I asked, "How did you even get down here?"

His smile gave away the answer. He didn't need permission—he just could.

"Since you won't ask the question, then I'll answer it."

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