All That Falls

16 Without A Trace

I had never known anything about my mother's side of the family tree. I had never asked my uncle for any information regarding where I had come from on that side, the Fae side. Because it was easier to ignore that part of me completely while living in a world that historically hated magic so vehemently. It was easier to pretend that it didn't exist, that she didn't exist, because there was never any chance at all that I might see her again.

Now that had changed.

And not only might I be meeting my mother but I might meet my grandfather as well. My grandfather who was a Fae King, ruler over the largest territory in the immortal realm, the Court of Peace and Pride. They were the protectors of the realm, the sowers of the fields, and the defenders of the plane. They prided themselves on hard work, determination, and an iron will. They tilled the fields in their expansive territory and used the harvest to feed all the immortal realm. They honed warriors in their barracks, military schools, and training grounds, creating a new class of soldier, immortal men who had dedicated their unending lives to the defense of all courts, to protecting all Fae.

I had learned all of this from Cass during our daily lessons back at the Court of Light and Life. She had had nothing but respect for the brown court when she had told me about it. About the property of its people, about the dedication to such a noble cause, even about the Bronze Throne. And in all that time, in all that teaching, she hadn't told me that my grandfather was the king. She hadn't even mentioned him. Not once.

So the betrayal I felt at that revelation was sudden and it was great. So much so that I narrowed my eyes, glaring right back into that intense gaze of Lark's, those dark, brooding eyes, and I snapped.

"Take me back."

He blinked at me, truly stunned for a moment. It was the first time I'd ever actually seen him genuinely surprised.

"Ren," he said and the way he spoke my name, the strained pain of it, almost made me change my mind right there.

But the anger won out.

"Take me back," I spat again. "Now."

"Ren, please. Just wait," Cass tried but I whirled on her next.

"You knew," I barked at her. "You all knew and you didn't tell me. You lied to me."

"We didn't lie," Cass said, holding up her hands in a show of surrender and stepping slowly toward me. "You didn't ask."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Next time you teach me about the courts and their thrones, I'll be sure to ask if any of the royal asses that sit upon them happen to be related to me."

I stormed away from them then, stomping down the street, back through the city. Cass called out after me but I didn't so much as glance backward as I strode away, fists clenched at my sides, teeth gritting so hard they ached. But I didn't care. I was so furious I could hardly see straight.

For all their talk of wanting to be my friend, wanting to give me the time and space I needed to learn about this place and to figure out if it was somewhere I might want to remain, they had lied to me about what it meant for me to be here, for me to return. I was a princess.

It was hard to breathe as I turned blindly down an alley and continued storming through the streets, putting as much distance between myself and the others as I could. A princess. I was royalty, a member of a Major Court, an heir to the largest court in the land. My grandfather was a king, an ancient king. My fists clenched at my sides and I squeezed them tight. They had known who I was all along. They had known exactly what court I belonged to, exactly who my family was, and they let me parade around in gray. The hapless mortal so far out of her element that she was willing to blindly trust the first supremely magical being that showed her a hint of kindness. I could barely contain my rage as I whirled around another corner in one of the most dangerous territories in the immortal realm.