I'll never know how long we stared at each other, comparing our features to confirm again and again that they were the same. It was like gazing at my dark reflection, only this time she was in front of me, raising her face, defiant, with Scilla's heart still in her hand.
Asreyn, upon seeing me, made an attempt to approach me, but Furya stopped him by raising a hand.
"Persephone."
He approached me, hesitantly, as if he wanted to analyze my reaction. I didn't even see myself capable of backing away, I stayed in place, alternating my gaze between the two of them. The Queen appeared less aged than she was, there were barely a couple of wrinkles on her pale features, so soft and delicate that made me think of an angel, something ironic considering the things that woman had done. I was surprised to discover something of those features in my own and Hecathe's, though she looked more like me... and the Dream Man.
This could not be happening.
That's what I told myself when one of Furya' s hands stroked my cheek with utterly desperate tenderness.
"I have searched for you for many years, my child. I can hardly believe I finally have you in front of me."
I remained silent when he turned to the rest of us and announced:
"Seventeen years we have spent hunting down the Insurrection, and at last we have regained what was taken from me so long ago."
She looked at me again, and in her metallic eyes I could see elation, triumph and something faintly resembling love, but that was... impossible.
"My daughter, the third witch, and rightful heir to the throne of Ethryant, Princess Persephone Rosaline Lovescar has returned!"
The applause that filled the throne room was much louder than it had been after the execution of the woman whose body still lay before me. I heard them as if they came from a place far away, I could not think of it when the Queen, Queen Furya, the conquering witch and tyrannical Ethryn, threw her arms around me and pulled me close to her.
As soon as it did, it was as if something twisted inside me, something that had nothing to do with magic, and, when it was over, I found that something had clicked into place, a piece in a puzzle so huge and overwhelming that I staggered to get away from it.
Behind her, Hecathe stood motionless. She had already thrown the heart to the ground, and was watching me with such an inscrutable expression that I felt like shrinking back in terror.
"No, it's not possible"
If it was, everything was going to change. Because it would mean that I was... that they were... it was just impossible.
"It is, my daughter. I am your mother."
"No, it is not true."
"I've been looking for you since Aursong kidnapped you seventeen years ago."
"It's a lie."
"Look at Hecathe, look at your twin."
Twin? Twin?!
"You are my daughter, you are her sister, and you are the Princess, Persephone."
"No..."
"I have fought all this time to bring you home to where you belong, and every second has been worth it. Now you are here, with your family, and no insurgent is ever going to threaten you again."
Furya's voice, though completely firm, had a warm, motherly note. It was how Gracelie had spoken to Clariess all her life, how I had dreamed for as long as I could remember that someone would speak to me, it was the voice I had always given to the imaginary mother I had fantasized about for years of loneliness.
But on none of those occasions could I have imagined that it would be from her that I would hear it. So when she made a move to touch my face again, I took a step back.
"No."
Something fleetingly crossed her expression.
"You can't be my mother."
"I'm sorry, my daughter."
"It's the truth, Persephone."
Asreyn had approached us, and I could not but think that he was wearing the robes of Seneschal as if he had been born with them on. That was him. For the first time, he was letting me see who he was in his entirety.
"No," I repeated, more firmly. "It can't be. I know who my father is, I know my father."
"Your father was my husband, Eriavar."
"They are your family, Persephone," Asreyn insisted, "They sent me to find you, they wanted me to bring you back, to bring you to Ethryant to get you to safety and see you again."
"You knew... and you didn't tell me..."
"I made him swear not to do it," said Furya. "Knowing that could have put you in danger."
I could hardly think about any of it, I was afraid of what would happen if I did: to accept reality. To accept that the monsters I had spent all that time hiding from, the great darkness that awaited me on the other side of the sea, were actually my family. A mother. A twin. Not in a thousand years could I have imagined such a thing.
"Persephone, let us explain..."
I looked to both sides, feeling suddenly suffocated. I had just remembered that we were surrounded by the entire Ethryn Court, who seemed to be holding their breath, not missing a detail of that scene, and that Scilla's blood was spreading to almost stain the soles of my high heels. Just looking at her made me nauseous.
I turned and hurried out of the throne room, pushing aside the nobles who stood between me and the door. Outside, a worried Leilith was waiting for me.
"Do you know, then?"
"They have killed her, the Princess... she has cut out her heart..." I replied.
"I was afraid you would see that."
"She is my twin..."
"Yes, I know."
"I have to get out of here, please help me to get out of here..."
"Get out? Why?"
"I can't... I can't..."
"I'll take you to your room, okay? You just need to calm down."
"No, you don't understand, I have to get out of here."
"But this is where you belong, Persephone, you're in no danger. In there are your mother, your sister, and the man who loves you, why do you want to leave?"
"I..."
"Come on, come with me, as soon as you have calmed down you will think clearly."
I ended up letting Leilith guide me back to the room I had woken up in, and when I asked her to leave me alone, she did. I lay back down on the bed, with the feeling of something hammering at my temples. I raised my head to see my reflection in one of the mirrors. My reflection was smiling, with my chin resting on my hands, moving my legs happily. A dark and dangerous magic whose origin I had asked myself dozens of times, and the answer had been right in front of me the whole time. As little as I liked it, it made sense: Princess Hecathe didn't have powers because she was some sort of chosen one from a false prophecy, she had them because her mother was a witch. She was also my mother. My mother...
I couldn't dwell on it, on the confusion. I had to focus on my priority, which was to save the Dream Man. If the Queen was the one who could help me, maybe I had a better chance now that I knew I was her daughter. As soon as I fixed that, I would deal with everything else, but I didn't know how much time I had left.
After what seemed like hours of pondering, a knock on the door announced the presence of Hienrrick Scrai, who appeared in the doorway.
"Everything all right here?"
I nodded with a grunt.
"Look, I know things haven't exactly gone as planned. The execution... you shouldn't have seen it."
"See what? How did a twin I didn't know I had rip someone's heart out?"
"She's not going to apologize for it, and he doesn't have to. Scilla Erise deserved to die for the murder of King Eriavar, and that's all."
"Is that all? Are you Ethryn people really so heartless?"
"I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear, Persephone, so I'm not going to tell you that I feel sorry for that woman, nor that any of these people have felt sorry for her. I'm surprised that you should feel sorry for her when she plotted your father's death."
"The King is not my father! I know who he is."
"Yes, Asreyn already told us about those special dreams of yours. In any case, the trials are over and your mother wants to talk to you in her studio."
"Have you spared the lives of any of these insurrectionists?"
"None of them were innocent."
"You couldn't have known."
"They joined our enemies and that's all we need to know."
That palace should not deceive me: as beautiful as it was, it was a den of beasts.
"So they're all dead. The Princess has taken it upon herself to make them all heartless?"
"That kind of death was reserved only for Scilla. I don't see how that matters, so let's stop arguing about it. Will you come with me to talk to Furya, please?"
I couldn't waste that opportunity, so I nodded and picked up my shoes to put them on.
Hienrrick walked a couple of steps ahead of me, and I resigned myself to another walk through that labyrinthine place.
"What do you think of the palace?"
"It's not ugly."
"Furya has excellent taste. When we occupied this place, it had the most basic decor and a lot of wasted space, it was fun to get it ready for the coronation. Those were the days when we had just finished the conquest. It didn't take long for problems to arrive and complicate everything."
"Problems?"
"For example, the surviving Garathard and the Insurrection. But the most difficult to solve was your father and his immediate crush on Furya."
"Why do you say it was difficult to solve?"
"I could not solve it, you are the result of it, Persephone, and so is Hecathe."
"Cousin!"
A little boy came running awkwardly toward us, carrying a book in his arms. Glasses bounced off the edge of his nose in front of a pair of big, kindly brown eyes. He was rather small, but I got the feeling he couldn't have been younger than twelve.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You're Persephone! I've been looking forward to meeting you!"
"This... thank you."
"I'm Jay!"
"Hi, Jay..."
"Persephone, this is Jaydert Lovescar," sighed Hienrrick, with a smile.
"Call me Jay, Hecathe does too. We're cousins!"
What I was missing, another relative of whose existence I had no idea.
"Wow, I... I didn't know that."
"Our fathers were brothers. Have you met mine yet?"
"Your uncle Steaphan and aunt Hynnah will be present for dinner, you will meet them then."
Steaphan?
Oblivious to the stupefaction he had just provoked in me, Jay continued, enthusiastically:
"You're going to stay with us, aren't you? Asreyn says you're going to stay, and that you two are friends."
"Don't lie, Jay, that's not what Asreyn told you," laughed Hienrrick, obviously malicious.
"Yes, but I was trying to be polite, grandpa."
"Grandpa?"
"Many people in this palace call me that, you'll get used to it. Now I have to take Persephone with me, but you'll catch up later, okay, Jay? You're not the only one who's looking forward to meeting her."
"Everyone wants to meet you, my parents want to meet you too."
"During dinner."
"All right, all right. Bye, cousin!"
The boy walked away again, book in hand, but he looked incredibly happy. I looked at him as he walked away, I did so until the Counselor put a hand on my shoulder.
"Are you all right?"
"His father's name is Steaphan?"
"Yes, he and King Eriavar were brothers. Jaydert is his only son."
I remained still, slowly coming to terms with what it meant.
"Come on, your mother is waiting."
We got to some doors, and he stopped, without entering.
"Do me a favor, will you?"
"It depends on what it is."
"Give them a chance. They've been waiting to meet you for seventeen years, they've been looking for you relentlessly. It may take Hecathe a little longer to open up to you, but remember they are your family. We all are."
I nodded, not too convinced, before he opened the door for me.
Furya was sitting at her desk, fingers crossed, while her daughter was leaning against one of the bookcases filled with books. She had changed out of her suit and wiped off the blood. I may have stared at her for too long, but it made me realize that we were not exact copies, not just because she had much shorter hair. In her features there was more hardness, more firmness than in mine, and the mole that I had on my left cheek, she had on her right.
"Thank you for coming, Persephone."
I said nothing, so the Queen sighed and continued:
"I'm so sorry you had to see that, but I hope you understand that for Scilla there was no forgiveness possible."
"I don't feel sorry for her. I hate her, and I don't care if she's dead."
My mother analyzed me with her eyes, inquisitive and perhaps pleased, and Hecathe raised an eyebrow.
"I'm glad to hear that. Asreyn kept his word by not updating you on your current situation, so I'd like to answer any questions you have for me."
I didn't have to think too hard before asking:
"I didn't know you had two daughters. No one had told me, nor that I had a twin."
"I have no doubt that the insurgents have used all their resources to hide it from you. Asreyn has already told me what their plan was: to turn you against me, to convince you that by kidnapping you they had rescued you, and to use you as a hostage during the war."
"Actually, his plan was to train me to face you."
"We suspect that this was not their intention at all, but to threaten your life in exchange for me ordering strategic withdrawals of my troops. They would not have risked having you confront me, giving me a chance to draw you away from them."
I hadn't considered that possibility, but the truth is, now that I knew it, it made a lot of sense and explained why they had taken so little care in training me for the war.
"So that's it? I've been their hostage all this time?"
"In a way. Not knowing if you were still alive has in many ways coerced our attacks against the Insurrection, but we hadn't heard from you since General Aursong kidnapped you. You can imagine our immense relief when Asreyn found you in Cavintosh."
"If you were so relieved, why didn't you get me out of there? Why didn't you bring me here before, before they lied to me and tried to marry me off to Eneas?"
Before he tried to kill me.
Furya looked down.
"Asreyn wasn't just sent to find you, he was also on a mission to gather the necessary information about Cavintosh's defenses in order to take down the Insurrection and dismantle their smuggling network through Ethryant. I couldn't have gotten you out of there without help, the Insurrection controls everything that goes in and out of their hideout. He made sure at all times that you were not in danger, but we could not risk that the plan to get you out of there was not infallible."
"Infallible? I almost died on that island. It didn't exactly seem infallible to me."
"I know. Asreyn and Marjorie were sold to Aursong by one of the spies we sent with them. The insurgents must have captured him before going there, that's why the mission didn't go as it should have. You must understand that, being you, I was not willing to take any risk, I did not want to jeopardize your safety while you were in the hands of Aursong and Garathard."
"So that's it? The Insurrection has been destroyed?"
The Queen gave Hecathe a reproachful look before replying:
"I'm afraid your sister acted too impulsively in taking her troops to the island. Her reckless assault on Rislock gave them enough time to evacuate their troops. They still retain their army, plus all the men on bases on our border, and General Aursong survived."
"What about Eneas? Is he dead?"
Furya glared at her daughter again to urge her to respond:
"I didn't make sure that he was dead before I took you out of the shelter; we can't know for sure."
I inhaled sharply and ran a hand through my hair.
"I don't understand."
"What don't you understand, my daughter?"
I was about to ask her not to call me that, to tell her that it was disconcerting for me, but I didn't dare.
"I don't understand why I was kidnapped."
"The Insurrection flatly refused to accept me as Queen, despite all the times I reasserted my authority. They knew that, with two daughters as powerful as you at my side, we would be unstoppable, so, taking advantage of the information that Scilla provided them, they carried out a last attack against the palace while I was on a campaign outside the capital. They wanted to kidnap you both, but only the nanny who took care of Hecathe managed to hide."
"And why did I...?"
I kept silent when I realized i already knew the answer.
"It was your father who was with you when it happened. He tried to get you to safety, but the general eventually caught up with him. He died to save you, Persephone."
"I know," I interrupted her, unwisely abruptly. I was aware of it, and I didn't like to know it. "I have seen it."
"What do you mean, you've seen it?" asked Hecathe.
"In his memories, he showed me."
"Explain."
I hesitated, but at the firm look they both gave me, I said:
"I've been seeing him in my dreams since I was a little girl. He appeared at the end of every one, even nightmares. For many years I thought he wasn't real, that he was just a figment of my imagination. He thought so too. But when I used magic for the first time, when I was put in front of a mirror, he began to... remember."
"Remember? You mean he had lost his memory?"
"Yes."
"I feared that it could happen, it was a possibility that I had already contemplated, but it had not occurred to me that the awakening of your powers could cause him to recover ..."
"How do you know all this?"
Furya stood upright in her seat, her hands folded in front of her.
"After losing you and your father, I desperately searched for a way to get you back... both of you."
"Him too?"
"Being as powerful as we are sometimes creates the arrogant thought that we can do anything. All I wanted was to bring your father back, but I soon learned that not all the magic in this world can bring the dead back to life, no matter how much I wished for it."
"But you tried."
"Yes, I tried. I summoned Krysthei, my creator, and all he could do to help me was to go to Octavia, entity of souls, and ask her to give me Eriavar's soul. There was no spell capable of returning him to his physical form, but he taught me a spell capable of anchoring his essence to this world, specifically, to a person. It was to be me, but I was able to talk to him before completing the ritual, and he told me that he chose to leave with you. He would never forgive himself for not stopping Aursong from taking you, he knew you would need him more than me. So, instead of clinging to me, he clung to his own blood. We knew that you had been close all these years, and that if we found you, we would find Eriavar too."
"If you really care, there is something I must ask of you."
The Queen and Princess watched me, inquisitive.
"My father is dying. He can't bear the burden of his memories, not in that state, and it's killing him, the last time I dreamt of him he was already... he was gone. I saw the void swallow him up, something took him. I need that spell to save him, I can't let him die..."
"You don't have to worry about that, my daughter."
"What?"
How could she be so calm when she had just told him that her husband was in danger?
"But..."
"I don't know what you saw in that last dream, but I imagine it was due to me."
"What do you mean? "
She stood up, advancing toward me, so I stepped back.
"When you arrived at the palace, I cast a spell to separate Eriavar's soul from your body. It has not disappeared, I only extracted it from your mind."
"What did you do to him?!"
Anger came over me, suddenly, like a wave.
"What do you mean you extracted him?"
"That's just it. Now Eriavar is anchored to me. He is safe."
"Was it you who took him?!"
"If what you say is true, then I have prevented his soul from being destroyed."
"You had no right to take it!"
"He is my husband."
"It's my father!"
"Mine too," replied Hecathe.
"This discussion is pointless," Furya silenced us. "What matters is that the four of us have come together. The Insurrection can no longer do anything to stop us, our kingdom is finally untouchable. And you, Persephone, are my heir."
"Me?"
The idea could not be less than ridiculous.
"Why me?"
"Because you are my daughter."
"I arrived in this kingdom two days ago."
"But you were born in it, it's in your blood."
"I don't want to be Ethryant's heir. You already have another daughter, you don't have to do this to me."
"You are both my heirs. When the time comes for me to leave the throne, you will rule, together, as equals."
"I do not plan to do so."
That was simply inconceivable. This woman had just met me, and now she wanted me to be the next Queen of Ethryant, to be Queen next to Hecathe, the slayer of the Crown, the bringer of hell. Just a week ago I was a witch slave of the insurrectionists and, a few months ago, a simple lady-in-waiting.
"What do you mean, you don't plan to do it?"
"I won't be your heir! I don't want anything to do with this!"
"I'm afraid, Persephone, that is inevitable."
I no longer knew what to think of that name now that I knew she was the one who had given it to me.
"Whether you like it or not, you are a Princess by birth, and we want you to be by our side when the time comes for the final destruction of the Insurrection, in the war to come."
"No!"
I had escaped the Insurrection only to end up in the same situation: that woman wanted me to fight for her. I had hoped it would be different after reading her diary, but it was not.
"I will not participate in your stupid war."
"We do it for our kingdom, for our family."
"I said no! I've had enough of everyone wanting me to fight for them in this war! I've had enough!"
"Our father died for this war!" Hecathe exclaimed, ignoring her mother's warning glance as her eyes gave off that silver gleam she knew so well. "Our people are willing to do it! And the Princess is not?"
"I don't want to be a part of any of this! I don't want anything to do with you, or this Court!"
I turned my back on them, furious, to get out of there, and just as I had my hand on the doorknob, Furya said:
"I know I can't force you, daughter, but you must be aware of who you are, and the responsibilities that come with it. In this war we are all going to have to fight sooner or later. You hate the Insurrection as much as we do, even more. Let's end it together. Fight with your family for what is right."
I looked at them out of the corner of my eye, and, seeing them so much like my reflection, so white and fierce, they didn't even look human to me.
"You are not my family."
I came out of there like a hurricane, and ran through the corridors without caring who saw me. I couldn't believe that they had taken my father away from me, that they wanted me too in that damned war. Suddenly, although the corridors were wide and lighted, they seemed to me, narrow, dark and suffocating. I hated that place. And I didn't want to be there any longer.
When I entered the room I had been offered, I could see through the windows that it was getting dark. I went into the dressing room and took one of the dresses, tearing it to improvise a kind of bag in which I put more clothes and the jewelry from the box next to the dresser. In the drawers I also found some curious handled mirrors that I opted to take with me as well.
I was about to leave when I met Leilith at the threshold. She looked at the torn cloth bag from which a couple of necklaces were sticking out, at the mirror in her hand, and then at me.
"What are you...?"
I grabbed her arm and forced her inside, closing the door behind us and commanding my reflection to grab her by the neck. The young woman crashed against the wall, struggling against the invisible grip.
"Agh! Persephone, don't...!"
"Silence," I whispered, bringing my face close to his and letting my eyes change color. "Here's what we're going to do. You're going to show me the way out. You're going to take me to where they keep the horses. And if you do anything foolish, I'm going to kill you."
I must have been convincing, because she nodded, terrified.
"Good."
I took her by the arm again and we left the room, making sure to keep the contents of the cloth well wrapped. In the hallway mirrors, it was my reflection next to her, and that encouraged her not to try anything as she led the way.
"This is not necessary, Persephone."
"Shut up."
"I don't know what happened in the meeting with the Queen, but your mother only wants the best for you..."
"I told you to..."
I did not finish the sentence.
On the wall in front of us hung a huge painting, reaching almost to the ceiling. Queen Furya appeared in it, with her black tiara and a maroon dress. And, next to her, was a man wearing black and red robes, with a dark crown pushing his brown hair away from an attractive sharp face with a sly smile surrounded by a goatee. Each of them held in his arms a newborn baby surrounded by white silk and the little heads barely covered by a scanty brown fuzz.
I forced myself to look away. I hated what I was going to do, but I knew I couldn't save him. Furya could, and besides, we had been separated, for the first time since I could remember, he wasn't by my side. He had been taken from me just like that. I would have to find a way to get him back, one way or another.
"This is your home. Give it a try."
I didn't bother to tell her to shut up, but my reflex strengthened my grip on Leilith's arm. We continued to move forward, and the few service members we came across did not try to get in my way.
She nodded in the direction of the Galateans guarding the doors leading outside, and although they followed us with their eyes until we were out of their sight, making me feel a continuous tingle on the back of my neck, they remained motionless, at their posts.
In the stables they had the most majestic specimens I had ever seen, steeds with shiny coats, silky manes and sturdy legs. I chose a cinnamon-haired one and put a saddle on him, filling the saddlebags with jewelry and clothes.
"Entities, Hecathe is going to kill me..." Leilith lamented.
"Go before I do."
I didn't have to tell her twice. She had already shown me where the gates were that would allow me to go out into the city, I didn't need her anymore. I put some reins on the horse, which behaved in a completely tame manner, and pulled on them so that it would follow me there.
"I'm afraid you've ruined any chance you had of Mylod liking you, gorgeous."
I didn't need to turn around to know who was hiding in the shadows of the stables.
"Are you going to try to stop me?"
"I should. This is a bad idea."
"I'm going to do it anyway."
"The people of this palace have fought tirelessly for seventeen years for you, and you're not even going to stay?"
I looked at him, furious. He was still wearing that black suit with gold embroidery mimicking flames on the collar and sleeves that, while it looked amazing on him, made him look even more intimidating.
"I can't."
"Yes, you can. But I know that, if you don't want to do it, we can't force you."
"I don't want to be part of all this, Asreyn, I can't do it. They can't expect me to find out that they are my relatives and immediately feel that I owe them something, that I must fight for them. It's not fair, I won't do it."
"I understand," he nodded, though he lowered his head and pursed his lips in disgust. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, but you haven't seen or felt this place enough to understand it yet. Don't be so quick to judge. Stay. Stay with us, stay with me. I promise I'll make it work."
My heart was shaken, but now I knew that his promises were not enough.
"I tell you I can't, Asreyn. Not now."
"As you wish, but, if you really want to leave, you'll have to do it now. Sorry to disappoint you, but Leilith is more afraid of Hecathe and Furya than of you."
He walked beside me in the direction of the exit and, almost without our noticing, our fingers intertwined in a union so fragile that we remained silent out of sheer fear that it would unravel. Deep down, I knew I was acting out of pure impulsivity, but I simply couldn't stand another second there, I couldn't even see myself capable of thinking about all the things that had been revealed to me in just a few hours.
When we reached the doors, I let Asreyn kiss me, and I hugged him as if it was goodbye, although I had a feeling it was not.
"We will come for you," he warned me. "I don't know who will bear your absence longer, Hecathe, your mother or I, but one of us will come for you when you are ready to accept what you are, to accept Ethryant. Until then, take care of yourself."
"I always do," I replied, even though I was in no mood for jokes. "Take care of yourself too."
"You know I can't promise you that."
I accepted his hand to climb onto the horse, and held it for a moment before spurring him into the streets of Krysthei, bathed in the evening light. Sadness was wrapped around my chest like an iron snake, but I was able to ignore it as the faint sunlight hit me full in the cheeks and the icy wind blew my hair away from my face.
Neither general. Nor Queen. None of them decided my fate.
Now I was the only one doing it.