Chapter 7

Faerson Manor, the Kingdom of Wuthia, 1126

Solomon Laenas (Jared Faerson)

“And that’s all of it,” Mabel said, still leaning in her chair.

The fire snapped and hissed in the hearth, throwing shadows that stretched long and jagged across the shelves. The scent of old parchment and beeswax polish hung thick in the air. My sister sat close beside me, her hands folded tightly in her lap, her knuckles pale as ivory. We had decided—at last—to tell Eudora about who we truly are.

Silence hung heavy. The crackle of the fire seemed suddenly loud.

I could not meet Eudora’s eyes. I stared instead at the flame chewing through a log, my own words tasting bitter in my mouth. “We wished to spare you from this truth. But you are too dear to us, Eudora. You are the mother we didn’t know we needed. You deserved more than lies.”

She remained silent, still contemplating what we had just told her. I would be too if I just learned that the people I serve were creatures that embodied unrelenting carnal hunger and urges. She might be reconsidering working for us. Before we arrived, Mabel and I resigned ourselves to accepting anything that Eudora decides to do from here on out. I just hope she can understand our plight.

Eudora didn’t say anything, only reached out across the table and held both mine and Mabel’s hands in hers, her face no longer lined with thought, but unwavering love and support that one might find on a mother’s face.

“My lord and lady,” she said quietly, “do you think I will abandon you? Just because of what you are?”

I dared not breathe.

“I see you all as my children,” she said, her gaze hardening, though I saw the wetness gathering at the corners of her eyes. “Just like the Phasionites I brought to you all, all those months ago, I stand by them just as I will stand by you all. You gave all of us a place we can call home. Whatever -” She paused, swallowing. “Darkness that lies inside you all. You are not monsters to me. You are my lords and ladies. No matter what.”

Mabel smiled as she gripped Eudora’s hand with both hers.

I gripped the table’s edge until my knuckles whitened. “Eudora,” I whispered. “You do not understand the full picture. Our ... darkness has grown much stronger than before, if it should ever take control over us permanently...”

“Then I will be here,” she said firmly, her voice ringing with a steel I had forgotten she possessed. “To remind you all of who you truly are. And to stop you, the worst should come. That is my oath.”

For a moment, the silence of the library seemed to press in upon us, broken only by the crackle of the hearth. And for the first time in quite a while, though the darkness still gnawed beneath my skin, I felt something else rise stronger than fear.

Hope.

Support.

Love.

Eudora was another safety net we had against our growing darkness. We should’ve told her about us the first day she started to live and work for us. Yet we were too scared of what she might have thought of us if we did. But now, I know those assumptions were made out of fear, not reason. Fear that everything and my siblings had fought so hard to achieve would instantly crumble before us if we let anybody know who we truly are.

Now, that fear has been settled. A wave of confidence and reassurance washed over me as I embraced the journey that my siblings and I now must take to finally end this family curse once and for all.

“Eudora,” I started. “Soon, don’t know when, and my family will have to leave on a long journey to the Golden Mountains.”

“Does this have to do with your Lustillean heritage?” Eudora asked.

I nodded. “We have learned that there may be a way to silence these urges permanently. The journey will be long and uncertain, but it is something my siblings must do.”

Eudora looked at us with understanding in her eyes. “It pains me to see your siblings have to go through this, but I understand that you must do what you believe is right. I will support you all no matter what.”

“Thank you, Eudora,” Mabel said, wiping a tear from her watery eyes. “For everything.”

“My lady,” Eudora said with a smile, “I should be thanking you and your family. Without you all, I would have no idea where I or the Phasionites might have ended up. We are forever in your debt.” Eudora quickly wiped her eyes with water before rising from the table. “Now. With all this behind us, I should continue with my duties more than ever. Will that be all, my lord and lady?”

Mabel smiled. “That will be all, Eudora,” I said.

Before Eudora left the library, she stopped and turned to face us once more. “My lord and my lady,” she started. “What should we call you now?”

“Keep calling us by the name we told you when we first met,” Mabel said. “For those are who we are now.”

Eudora smiled and left the library.

“We are so lucky to have her,” I said.

“I agree with that statement,” Mabel said.

I exhaled slowly, the tension in my shoulders refusing to leave. Mabel sat next to me, her eyes lay on the hearth, reflecting the dancing flames. The weight of what we had just shared with Eudora lingered like smoke, twisting around the edges of the room.

Now it was just the two of us.

I couldn’t meet her gaze at first. Not because I feared her, but because looking at her made my chest ache in ways words could not hold. The love I still held for her, in that quiet, tethered way that went beyond family—but that was deeper, darker, and infinitely more dangerous than simple brotherly affection. The love we confessed that night by the fountain in town. The love we shared in Bromhazy Fields.

Yet, the darkness tampers and corrupts such love that we were so afraid to be in the same room with each other. Alone. But now, we were finally alone with each other. Our hearts are aching for each other’s embrace once more.