Crown of the Phoenix by C. A. Varian

Author:C. A. Varian [Varian, C. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2022-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Spectre Forest

Variel was already in the kitchen making sandwiches when Cristos and Aurelia entered the cottage. She gestured for them to sit at the table and placed a plate of food and a mug of tea in front of each. Septima and Exie were eating as they sat on the sofa. Septima flashed her sister a wry smile, wagging her eyebrows suggestively as she looked from her to Cristos. Aurelia did not want to know what went through Septima’s mind as she stared at the post-sparring session sweat that still covered them.

The wolf shifter sat across from them with her own food and drink, setting her gaze on Aurelia. “You look so much like your mother did as a child,” Variel said. Aurelia set her mug down with a thud as she struggled to make sense of the statement. How could Variel know what her mother looked like? Her mouth went dry as she stared at the elderly woman.

“My mother?” She felt ridiculous for even entertaining the shifter’s words. There was no way Variel had known her mother. She must be mistaken. “My mother is from the human realm. You couldn’t have known her.”

Variel’s lip curved into a knowing smile. “Your mother lived in the human realm when you were born, yes. But, my child, your mother was not human.”

The look on Cristos’ face echoed how Aurelia felt. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears. She tried to calm herself so she could ask questions and actually hear the answers, but the thudding was persistent. Septima walked up behind her sister and joined them at the table.

“What do you mean our mother wasn’t human?” Septima asked before Aurelia could remember how to speak.

Variel arched her brow as she looked from one sister to the other. “Your mother, Messalina, was from Aegricia. She left this realm when the disgraced queen, Joneira, took the throne. She did not tell you?”

Time slowed down as Aurelia turned statuesque. Her muscles felt weak and numb, like they’d atrophied over years rather than the seconds that passed. She stared blankly into the distance. She could feel Cristos watching her, probably waiting for a reaction other than shock, but she could not muster one. Septima’s features fell into disbelief as she continued to converse with the oracle. “We never heard of Ekotoria before meeting Exie and Taryn. This makes little sense. She died when we were young, but she never appeared anything other than human… not that we knew what to look for to know she wasn’t.”

Variel nodded, her expression grim. “The queen before Otera killed anyone who challenged her to the throne. Your mother was chosen by the crown as the next queen of Aegricia, but Joneira stole the throne, anyway. The false queen held onto power until the rightful family, the Lumino family, rallied allies across the continent and forced Joneira out. The current queen, Otera, is your aunt—your mother’s sister.”

Bile rose in Aurelia’s throat, coating her mouth in a bitter taste as she swallowed.

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