Chapter 203
~ NYSSA
Evelyn led us to a small cottage in the middle of town with a thatched roof and flowerpots at the windowsill. She glanced back at us, her eyes soft and silently pleading.
"Please don’t hurt her," she said softly. "I will take whatever punishment you have for her, just... she is a good woman."
Rowan said nothing, his jaw clenched and eyes cold.
I saw the desperation in her eyes, and I knew without a doubt that she was not the monster that he thought she was. She was just a girl trying to protect the woman who raised her.
"We just want to talk," I assured her. "I promise."
Evelyn knocked twice before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a key. The door unlocked easily and as soon as it swung open, I was greeted with the scent of cocoa and gingerbread.
"Evelyn!" a warm voice called from inside. "Is that you? Oh my sweet girl, I heard about what happened. Why didn’t you come to me the minute you got out of—oh, Your Majesties."
The woman standing in front of us had dark brown hair that was tied into a ponytail at the back of her neck. The hair at her temples was already a shade of grey that matched her eyes. She wore a colorful apron and mismatched socks and although she was short and plump, there was an aura about her that told of her fierceness.
She stared at Rowan and I, then at Evelyn and a knowing look crossed her face. She sighed, smoothing her hands down her apron as she made her way over to the couch.
"Sit, I will get us something to drink. I have tea and coffee—"
"We did not come here to drink coffee," Rowan said curtly.
She smiled. "I know why you’re here, especially you, Nyssa."
I blinked at the way she spoke my name. There was a fondness to it, almost as if she had heard it up close before. "Do we know each other?"
"No, we have only met once, but I know your name. I was there when it was given to you."
I swallowed thickly. "You knew my mother?"
She nodded. "You look just like her, you know? She was beautiful and smart, and funny. You would never have believed that she was someone’s slave. She was always so positive—"
"Wait!" Evelyn cut in. "Her mother was a slave too? Does that mean—"
"That you have the same father?" she asked. "Yes, sit down. I’ll get the tea."
She walked away without another word, leaving the three of us in the living room alone.
Evelyn stared at me like I was some kind of apparition. Her jaw slacked, her eyes wide as she took me in carefully.
I knew we were siblings the moment she spoke of a nurse and what she was. However, hearing it confirmed was something else entirely. I had never had a sibling, and I had no idea how to react to it. We looked nothing alike and yet we shared half of our DNA.
"So you’re..." Evelyn trailed off.
I nodded slowly. "I guess so. I only just found out."
She exhaled deeply, flopping into the couch behind her. "This is fucked."
On that we could agree. "Tell me about it."
The nurse returned a few minutes later with a tray holding a steaming kettle, a few mugs and a tray filled with cookies and cake slices. She placed them on the center table and sat opposite us, wiping her hands on her lap.
"You can call me Marlene," she began softly. "I presume you have questions."
"How did you manage to get an entire child out?" Rowan asked. "How did you get here? From what we have heard, the vampire king is not a kind man. I cannot imagine that he would let you go."
"You would be right about that, but he is also very self-absorbed. He has more slaves than he needs and more children than he can count. So many women have died in his care, what was one more to him?"
Her nose scrunched as she spoke, her lips pursed with disgust.
"He let me go after an accident." She pulled up the sleeves of her dress showing long ragged scars. "One of his subjects went awry and attacked me. He damn near tore my hands from my body after finding out that another of the king’s children was dead. They thought I would never regain use of my arms and as such, I was no longer useful."
"So what?" I asked. "You just left. What about the other women? The children?"
"I had Evelyn, and I was not going to die in that place. You may judge me all you want, but you do not know what it was like there. It was hell and it reeked of death and terror. It is not a place I wish for anyone to be and I feel terrible for those women, truly, I do, but I know how to pick my battles, your majesty, and a battle with the nameless king is not one I will win."
On the surface, I understood her reasoning. She had her whole life ahead of her.
However, I could not shake the anger that swelled inside of me at the thought of hundreds more who were there suffering still.
"I do not know how much you already know," she began slowly. "I do not know how far you are gone, but I will tell you that the less you know, the better. Drink as little blood as you can, refrain from using your vampire skills as much as possible."
My brows knitted in confusion. "What skills?"
"The speed, the strength, the ability to compel."
"Compel?" I asked. "Compel what?"
"People of course. How do you think the King got to where he is? How do you think he managed to hold so many captive. He compelled them all. That is why he is as strong as he is. Everyone in that palace is compelled."
"We need to leave, now!" Rowan snapped, rising to his feet.