Daughter of the Night [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

Chapter 15

"She would be happy with you," Lilia whispered. "She loves you just as much as you love her, but..."

"But what, Lilia," Malleus nearly screamed, his voice hoarse. "What is holding her back from loving me? D-do I scare her? D-does she not love me like she once did?"

"No, Malleus," Lilia said. "She still loves you. She loves you more than she has ever loved anyone or anything. She doesn't fear you." He sighed and ran his hand over his face. Should he tell Malleus the truth and risk the wrath of the late queen? Should he hold his tongue and sentence them both to miserable lives? No. That one wasn't even worth considering. They were both like his children. As much as Y/N had helped him with raising Silver, she was a daughter to him just as much as Silver was his son. And he had raised Malleus after his mother had died. 

"Malleus," the old fae said after a moment, "I need to tell you something." He waited for Malleus to look at him before continuing. "I'll start by apologising for not telling you this sooner, but I had my reasons for not telling you before."

"What is it?"

"I will deal with the punishment that comes," Lilia muttered to himself, "but you need to know this," he said, taking a seat on Malleus' bed. He patted the spot beside him, and Malleus frowned at him. What was he talking about? He glanced towards the clock and bit his lip. They only had a few minutes before they were expected down in the hall.

"Don't worry about the time, Malleus," Lilia said, pulling the boy's attention away from the ebony grandfather clock. 

Malleus sighed and walked over to the bed, taking a seat beside Lilia. For once, he didn't hold the traditional stiff posture expected from a prince. His shoulders drooped, his back was slouched, and there was no expressionless look on his face. His emotions were written clearly across his face. Sorrow, heartbreak, confusion, and too many others created a whirlpool in his eyes.

"What is it that you wish to tell me, Lilia?"

Lilia reached out and took Malleus' hand. "Your mother was the one who sent Y/N away."

Malleus' eyes widened. His mother? But she had died so long ago, how did she have a hand in this? 

Lilia continued before Malleus could ask his questions. "Just before your mother's death, she had a portrait of herself done, and she placed a powerful enchantment on it that would allow her consciousness to remain in the paints, just as it had been with her in life. It was her way of assuring that she could watch over you as you grew up, and keep an eye on whatever was happening in the palace."

"How come I was never informed of this?"

"Most of the council was not aware of it. Only I and a few trusted officials were informed of the portrait's placement in the castle." Lilia paused for a moment and stared out the window at the rain clouds brewing on the horizon. 

"When your mother found out that you and Y/N were romantically involved, she asked me what I knew of Y/N. I told her that she was from House Umbra, and I fear that it was House Umbra's low status that caused your mother to hate her. She ordered me to take Y/N to see her, and I did. She told Y/N that she would never be allowed to be with you. Right then and there, she gave the ultimatum that either Y/N leave the castle and never pursue you again, or lose her magic and immortality."

"What," Malleus breathed. He could feel the tears pooling in his eyes as he listened to Lilia's story. So it wasn't Y/N who had run off? He hadn't scared her as he had thought. The nightmares of her being scared of him were simply that? Just nightmares... She wanted to be with him, but his own mother had made that impossible. 

"We were both sworn to secrecy," Lilia continued. "That is why neither Y/N nor I, ever told you."

Malleus glanced up at Lilia. "And what happens now that you've told me?"

Lilia sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. I suspect that I shall have to endure some form of punishment, but I don't know what. Your mother never said."

"But why are you telling me this now? Y/N and I are both promised to different people."

Lilia reached out and took Malleus' hand. "Because I couldn't stand by and watch you two be miserable because I didn't tell you the truth. If Y/N saw you, I do not doubt that she would tell you the truth as well. Nothing is holding her back, save for her mother's wishes." Lilia's head drooped slightly. "Not anymore."

"What does that mean?" 

Lilia didn't answer, but Malleus quickly put the pieces together. 

"Her magic... My mother took her magic and immortality, just as she said she would..." Malleus shot to his feet and started pacing, pulling at the roots of his hair. "B-but i-it wasn't her... I was the one who..." The tears were falling freely now, coursing down his cheeks and slipping onto his jacket. Because of him, Y/N had lost her magic, and she had lost her fae life. She would live as a mortal now, doomed to die in a few short years. She would suffer from sickness and disease, from wounds and injuries that her body normally would have been able to withstand. And it was all his fault. Because he had kissed her. Because he had pursued her. Because he hadn't listened to the subtle hints she was dropping that there was something more going on that was keeping them apart. 

"I can't marry Lady Fayetta," Malleus suddenly declared, spinning around to face Lilia.

Lilia smiled. "No. You can't."

"But what do I do? The wedding has already been planned and the council..."

"The council can't dictate everything. They are only pushing you to do this because it is your mother's dying wish. She wished for you to be married to someone the council approved of."

Malleus felt a smile slowly creeping across his face. "But if I could make the council see that Y/N was the one I truly wanted..." He was beaming now. The tears had stopped falling, and he felt like a boy again. 

Without another word, Malleus tore from the room, running down the halls towards the wedding hall. He had a wedding to stop, and a council to convince.