Found: A Sage Hollins Novel

CHAPTER SIX

"Are you sure she's okay, Mags? She's never fainted like that before." I heard my father's panicked voice. 

"Yes she's fine love, probably just needs to drink a little more water...why don't you go put some tea on? I'm sure she will be waking soon. I will stay with her." Mom's voice was quiet now, unlike the yelling she had done before. 

I felt her hand in mine, and  I could smell her lavender perfume. It brought me comfort knowing she was here, even after I had spied on her. 

I heard my door close and let my eyes drift open, "Mommy?" I whispered.

"Mom, what happened?"

I heard her breath hitch as she combed her fingers through my hair, "Oh sweetheart, we have so much to talk about."

I tried to sit up, but she gave me a firm nudge indicating I was not ready for that. 

"I thought I was dreaming...Reid...was that all real?'

Tears were swimming in her eyes as she gave a short nod.

"Yes, love, that was all real." 

I let the memory of the conversation I'd overheard slide back into place and flung upwards, not giving her time to stop me.

"Mom, what the hell was he talking about?! You sounded like crazy people!" 

"Shhhh, your father doesn't know. And I'm not quite ready to talk about it with both of you." 

"Okay but I want answers. Faeries? Queens? Mates? What is going on?!"

She sighed, "Okay, okay. But if I'm going to tell you this story, I have to tell you everything. Do you understand?"

I nodded aggressively, "Of course mom, but I need to know."

She climbed up into the bed next to me and I leaned on her shoulder. 

"Well...I was born a long, long time ago. One hundred fifty years ago to be exact. The world was different then, fae and human alike. At the time, my family was very strict in their beliefs- we followed the Moon Goddess and she would always provide. We had a small farm, not far from here. In the fae world, we have a kingdom. Ruled by a King and a Queen. The Queen is the one who holds the power, she makes the decisions, she protects the Kingdom. When I was born, King Robert and Queen Larissa were halfway through their reign. 

Larissa was a remarkable Queen...she loved her people and they loved her. She had been a lowly fae, you see. She wasn't born into royalty, like most Queens. See, traditionally, the Prince finds his mate amongst the Royal Court. The Court is  group of highly ranking faeries who help the Queen make all of her decisions, they help to keep order. But Prince Robert had met all of the girls sired by members of the court, and none of them were his mate. His parent's reign was coming to an end, and the entire Kingdom feared they would be without a Queen. 

As it turns out, he was just looking in all he wrong places. One day, he was in town harassing the market girls. Rumor has it that he was quite the playboy prior to his coronation. One of the girls, Larissa, was working for her father's bakery, putting out fresh bread. Robert approached her and tried to charm her with his  money and title. She wasn't interested. When he went to take her hand to kiss it- in an attempt to charm her further -he was met with lightening. The mate bond. 

He tried to deny it as long as he could. How could our Queen be a commoner?! But his father, King Elijah, would have none of it. Their reign was coming to an end and the Moon Goddess had decided on the new Queen. Elijah forced to pair to get married, and to join." 

I stopped her, "Join?"

She cringed, "Joining is just the fae's way of making 'have s*x' less crude. The bond is not completed until the pair have each other completely. Mind, soul, body. The bond itself will take over your mind- starting with your dreams. Soul- marriage. Body- joining. Elijah forced this on his son, and by doing so forced it onto Larissa as well. She did her duty to her people, but there was never any love between the two. Robert resented where Larissa had come from, felt he was disrespected by the Goddess for placing him with who he thought to be a peasant. 

Larissa was a kind, hard working Queen. I remember being a young girl and playing with her in the market place...even with her elevated status, she never forgot where she came from. As I got older and into my teens, she asked me if I'd like to come work for her at the royal estate. She had plenty of maids and cooks to wait on her, but she knew my family was struggling. I became almost like her personal assistant, she always kept me around. It wasn't until years later, when I was in my mid twenties that I realized why she really needed people around all of the time. 

King Robert was a cruel man, my sweet. He was never a worthy king. I had stayed late one evening, trying to get caught up on linens. As I approached the Queen's room, I heard Robert's voice inside. This was odd to me, as the King and Queen barely spoke, and they surely didn't share a room. Their voices were getting louder, and Robert was screaming at Larissa. I went into the room, pretending I hadn't known they were in there. I walked in just in time to hear him yell at her 'you will give me a child!' as his fist slammed into her face. That was one of many occasions I caught him hurting her. Yet she held her head high. She pretended that it had not happened and she continued to guide her people and protect them from the corrupt king. 

I will never forget the day she came to me and told me she would never, ever give Robert  a child. She did not want the legacy to go on. She did not want any other women to be victim to the Moon Goddess' curse. When I met your father, Larissa and Robert were nearing the end of their reign. They still had no child, and her beatings were getting worse. Your father is human, darling. By fae law it is forbidden to pursue relations...but I fell in love with him immediately. Larissa told me she envied me that, envied that I had found love. She would never know that feeling, she would never even know the love of being a mother...my heart broke for her. 

She told me to run away, promised she would never tell. I begged her to join me, to get away from the evil of the King. But she wouldn't. Insisted that her people needed her, she couldn't leave them in his hands. I knew I would never be able to convince her to leave her kingdom...so I left. And I never looked back. Reid coming into the library is the first interaction I have had with another faery in over twenty years. 

Her story made me feel like I was in another world entirely. As if she were reading directly from one of my fantasy books. But it was real life, her life, my mother. A sudden realization swept through me and I looked up at her, 

"Mom...if Larissa was the Queen twenty years ago, and she insisted that she would never have children... what about Reid?" 

Her eyes welled with tears, "Sweetheart, Larissa would have never produced an heir to Robert's bloodline willingly." 

I felt a knot in my gut and the bile return to my throat. I gestured rapidly for the trash bin beside my desk because I would not be able to hold back the utter disgust racing through me. She grabbed it for me quickly and I emptied the contents of my stomach into  the bin. 

Poor Larissa...poor Reid...

Mother stroked my hair back away from my face, and removed the nasty bin from the bed. 

"Now we need to talk about you, Sage."

I was feeling tired, overwhelmed. 

"What, that I'm the next fated Queen? That I don't get a choice in the matter? That if I don't shack up with some guy I just met I will die?! Doesn't that sum it up?" 

She was quiet for a moment, letting me take a few relaxing breaths. 

"So it's true? You're having the dreams?"

I scoffed, "Mom...I've never in my life been attracted to another person. I've never had a real crush, I've never had fantasies about someone. But ever since last week Reid is all I think about. And when I sleep...Mom, at the risk of morbidly embarrassing myself...I am a virgin. But when I wake up from those dreams I feel like an experienced lover. I can smell him in my sheets, even when he's never been in my room. He's never even been close enough to hug me. But I feel him on me always...so yes...I'm having dreams." 

Another silent moment while she gathered her thoughts. I never imagined I would be sharing these things with her, but at this point I felt I didn't have a choice. 

"That's the mate bond darling...though when Larissa described it, she never mentioned that intensity. She simply felt compelled to be near Robert, as if by some mystical force."

"Oh, great. So it is the rampaging hormones I ignored all through high school." My face fell into my hands. 

She laughed at me- I couldn't believe it, she laughed at me!

"Mother! I'm in crisis!" I whined.

"Oh darling, you definitely are." she squeezed me, "But we will find a way through this. There has to be another way- if you don't want to do this, we will find another way."

I looked her in her eyes, "Mommy, I just turned eighteen. I haven't even graduated yet. I don't know him. After hearing what his father did, I don't know  if I want to know him. And I know for sure, from the bottom of my heart- I'm not ready to get married. I don't even know if I want to go to college. I don't even know what it means to be a faery, let alone lead them! How can I be their Queen?!" 

The tears started and suddenly I was sobbing.