They cleared the table in silence, though Credence was desperate to hear Lilith speak.
Tense anticipation radiated off of her, and Lilith could feel it. The witch relished in holding the girl's rapt attention, so she took her time getting to the point, chuckling as she led Credence outside to begin an idle walk in the woods.
At the boundary of the meadow and trees Credence paused, but Lilith pulled her by the hand and gave a soft push on her back to usher her forward, and in this simple act Credence accepted that the woods would not be avoided. They passed the marred tree and Credence swallowed the urge to question her mentor about it, afraid that any deviance from what started inside would end her chance of ever learning the truth.
"Home," Lilith said with a sigh as she squeezed a dangling leaf between her fingers. "Woods are home to magic. It's where it was born and where it will remain for all of time. Like me. Everything outside of it belongs to humans, but...did Galeia ever tell you about the way she was born?"
"A spell."
"Aye, blood magic. Our mother intended for her to be the most powerful witch in the woods, to spread chaos and fear wherever she went. But even as a babe, Galeia refused."
"Because there is goodness in her. Light."
Lilith threw her head back and cackled.
"Goodness—in Galeia? Hardly. Spiteful and heartless, that was Galeia."
"I won't believe it."
"Temperamental, too. Rebellious as a storm. Any command ever given to Galeia was met with questions, questions, questions. And usually refusal. So, when she took off, our mother saw no reason to chase her. Instead, she created me. Second born and twice as powerful. Mother fixed the mistakes she'd made the first time."
"Ma said humans killed your mother because she did terrible things."
"They did. She did."
A thread of compassion rose in Credence—not for Lilith, but for the child who had lost its parent. Credence knew all too well the deep, lingering sorrow that followed such a tragedy.
"Were you here...when it happened?"
" 'Course I was. I was barely a week old."
"It must have been very frightening. I'm sure Ma felt the loss of her too, even if she ran away. I know Ma would never wish for the death of anyone."
Lilith grinned, but it was not a comforting sight.
"Aye, Galeia ran off to have her fun, but she came back."
"Back?"
"It was too late then. I was born to take her place—hours old and already muttering my first incantation!" Lilith's voice dropped into a low grumble. "But Galeia did not return alone. She'd been spotted in the woods by a hunter and his kin. She told them everything, and then there were men pounding on the door, with fire and a lust for blood."
"She was the reason they found her mother?"
"Who do you think led them here? She knew the fate that would befall us when she engaged those humans—and she purposefully brought them to do it. She may not have dealt the final blow, but she killed her own kind, her blood."
Lilith's mouth twisted into an ugly shape, as if her mouth wanted to smile but hate kept it at bay.
Credence couldn't believe the words tumbling from the witch's mouth.
Ma responsible for her own mother's death? It couldn't possibly be true.
"Ma said—"
"Whatever she said, she lied. Right before those men broke down the door she scurried away, unseen by the distracted humans, even as her own mother tried to keep her killers at bay. Galeia didn't care to stay and watch what her mischief had wrought."
"Did your mother not fight back?"
"Tried. Fat good it did against their iron. Weak sacks of flesh they may be, but in a swarm humans are deadly. Why do you think we avoid the towns?"
"How did you escape?"
"Had the good sense to hide in a cabinet, but I peeked just in time to see the end. I saw what they did to her, how they dragged her from the house and strung her up by the neck—they laughed while they did it! And mother's eyes bulged as she choked and wriggled!"
Credence winced at such a grisly image. "You didn't try to save her?"
"What could a newborn do against a mob? I waited for them to come back for me, or to burn the house down, but after the murder was done they simply...left. Then there was silence. I pulled my mother from her killing tree. I took what I needed and buried the rest." There was a tinge of sorrow in Lilith's tone, that only one who knew her well would have heard.
Credence felt a prick of pity for the child who had lived her whole life in solitude—and a punch of anger for the sister who left her alone. A thought struck her, that the marred tree in the woods might be the very one that helped end Lilith's mother.
"Should have been me," Lilith continued. "I should have been the one to kill her. It was my right to take her life and her power!" Her expression fell into sorrow, just as Credence's twisted into disgust. "Galeia stole it. It was mine, it was supposed to be mine."
"Ma...took her power?"
Lilith shook her head. "That's the worst part of the whole bloody mess! She didn't end mother's life with her own hand, she let a human do it." Lilith spat on the ground. "A pathetic mortal without a drop of magic in him. So who got all of that delicious power? No one. In the end, I think Galeia just wanted to hurt and destroy. I hate her for it, though I can't deny what a wonderful display of cruelty it was. That's who Galeia was, that's the very essence of her." Lilith's posture slumped forward, and she spoke with a tone that implied she was hard-pressed to believe her own words. "Mother's death, stolen from me. Wasted. It was supposed to be beautiful and glorious—not at the end of some man's rope."
A perplexing urge to reach out and take Lilith's hand rose in Credence, but Lilith shot her a look that warned against it.
"Don't you pity me," Lilith growled. "Hate saved me, hate drove me to survive. Made me strong, mother did, without the weakness of doubt, and when I buried her I buried my last ounce of remorse. Got back at those men too, don't you think otherwise. They found their end, and it wasn't as swift as the one they gave my family."
"Did you find comfort in your revenge?"
"I found comfort in their tongues hanging out, and the sorrow of their wives and children."
"That's horrible."
Lilith gave her a hard look. "You would have done differently?"
Credence thought for a moment and was uneased to find she didn't have an answer.
"Why should I believe you about any of this?" Credence asked.
"Said I'd tell you the truth. It matters little if you believe me."
"So," Credence said with a sigh, "that's what you mean when you say Ma turned her back on destiny. She did not accept the path of a dark witch."
Lilith chortled long and loud. "That was nothing! A speck of dust in Galeia's life. The Queen of the Wood, that idiot sow, took Galeia into her care and let her run wild and free—undisciplined—and caught a bitter taste of her charge's true nature when Galeia scorned her!"
Credence nodded. "When she married Pa and gave up her place in the Queen's court."
"No, no. When she refused the only command the Queen had ever given her."
"What command?"
"Marry her son, of course. Quiet little thing, but a handsome enough prince. Galeia never saw anything in him, no, wouldn't spare a glance for the wretch. But the Queen had made her decision. They were meant to be wed, and the prince would take the throne with Galeia at his side. Instead, she went off and promised herself to that human boy, even went as far as becoming mortal—and forever turned her back on the Queen."
A heavy, meaningful pause hung between them. Credence hesitated, not sure if she wanted the conversation to continue. Hazy thoughts swirled around her head, and it felt like an impossible task to grasp them.
"She brought a world of trouble to her door the day she did that," Lilith added carefully. "But she saved herself and her pathetic husband by striking a bargain."
Credence tensed. "She promised me to the Queen."
"It wasn't the Queen you were promised to."
Dreadful silence passed.
"What promise did she make," Credence whispered.
Lilith's mouth thinned into a wide smirk.
"That when the time came, she would give you over to marry the Queen's son. That is your destiny. It's the only reason you were born."
Something took hold of Credence's heart. It felt like dozens of fingers were wrapping around the precious organ, applying the smallest possible pressure.
Lilith swam in the girl's obvious terror and confusion.
"What," the witch teased, "you thought the promise meant ambling through the Queen's court, wearing fine dresses and drinking tea with nobles?" She gave a nasty laugh. "Cat's teeth, you are daft! The promise was to take Galeia's place, aye—but it was never Galeia's place to be a simple courtier. Not in the court, but ruling it!" Lilith winked. "Doesn't sound so terrible, does it?"
Credence ignored the question, her mind focused elsewhere.
"And when her promise was broken—"
"It brought the wrath of the Queen and the prince upon her. Upon the whole wood."
"The...Collector?"
"Aye, yes. The Collector. On the hunt to bring you home."
"But the Queen...she—"
Fell to the Collector, Credence began to say but stopped herself.
"—she's been protecting me from it this whole time. Why?"
"How should I know why the Queen suddenly changed her mind?" Lilith waved her hand dismissively. "But family quarrels mean nothing against a vow made in blood."
"Family quarrels?"
"Oh, keep up! Who do you think the Collector is? Why would he be chasing you through the woods unless you meant everything to him?"
Credence's breath caught in her throat.
"The Collector...is—"
"The prince, child. Searching for his promised bride."
The ground was pulled from under Credence. Her eyes closed and opened in a lazy, drunken rhythm.
Lilith gave a quiet scoff. "Though I suppose with his mother gone he's no longer a prince. He'd be the king, wouldn't he? The King of the Wood. And you would be the new queen."
Credence barely heard her. The witch's voice was distorted, as if she were speaking underwater.
"But...I don't...he's—" Credence slurred, and before she could finish she fell to the forest floor, unconscious.
Lilith didn't move to catch her.
"Should have drunk that calming tea like I told you to."