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Lainule looked at Wrath, who let out a long sigh

"No, you are not hter," he said

"Then as ht cry She’d waited all her life to knoho her father had been, and when Heather died, it looked like there was no chance of finding out

Lainule looked at her "You are my niece," she said "My brother sired you--you are his child He was killed during the battle with Myst You are part Cambyra like your cousin And as my closest female heir, you, my dear, will be the next Queen of Summer, even as Cicely becomes the new mistress of Winter"

And with that, our world shifted forever

Chapter 20

The silence was deafening Rhiannon and I stared at her, as if she’d suddenly said ere turning into Martians Ulean swirled around lad you finally know I have had such a hard ti you over the years You will be ave me to you I could feel the swish of her tailwind as she danced

Rhia staue "I will not become Myst!"

"I did not say you were to becoo Court You will become the next Queen of the Snow and Ice, even as Rhiannon will be Queen of Rivers and Rushes There has been no true Queen of Winter here since Myst killed her long ago and took her place"

"Tabera The Unseelie Queen"

"Yes, I see your father has been giving you history lessons" She smiled at Wrath, then looked back at the two of us "Myst knows nothing of balance, of give-and-take She must be destroyed and the proper equilibriuate your contract with Lannan, though he iance, but that is acceptable" Lainule s year, as Rhiannon was born to the waxing You are two of a kind, born on the cusp Cousins, who mirror one another"

Rhiannon stammered "Your brother was my father? Did our mothers know all of this?"

Wrath shook his head "They knew so Your fa held the Veil House and land--they have an interwoven history with the Golden Wood"

"Then what is my animal form, or like Chatter, do I carry Fire as erness in her voice was tinged with fear

I turned to her "Snake I dreamed it"

Wrath shook his head "You and your dreams But Cicely is correct You are of the snake people But for now, leave that be You do not have time to master the forhed "We chose your mothers to bear the two of you e realized that Myst was rising again Before she ever made a move, we knee had to ensure that there would be a summer and winter queen to come, should the unthinkable happen"

"Why didn’t you stop Myst back then? Before she destroyed your Court?" I shook my head "Why not prevent a problem before it started?"

"We could not We only knew she was here, not where she was hiding Geoffrey thought it was the vampire court she was after, but that was only a part of her plan He was shortsighted and arrogant And the prophecy of the Blood Oracle is partially true--she is out to diminish their control"

Ysandra moved forward "We knew all of this, but the Court of Rivers and Rushes turned their back on our help But we’ve been working on our own, in other tohere the Indigo Court has been ed that no one will ever hear of--behind the scenes, bloody and costly to the Consortium but also costly to Myst’s domain You have no clue of hoerful she is and how vast an empire the Vampiric Fae have bred over the years"

"We chose not to ask for your help because we believed this to be a matter for the Seelie and Unseelie Courts We werebitter

"All well and good, but look at the cost your isolationism has caused And it’s not just here, it’s in other small towns like this, around the world But it is not just you…the va the as theirs alone" Ysandra shrugged "Arguing is useless now There is no blaainst our common enemy"

Lainule nodded "She speaks the truth And this is why you n as the Queen of Snow and Ice, with Grieve as your consort Once Myst is routed, the Indigo Court will seek another queen You will have to hold the winter against theed to destroy them all" She ser Through the co war Then Wrath and I must leave the Golden Wood Rhiannon and Chatter will take our places as Lord and Lady of Su therasp the significance of what they were saying It was too overwhel

"When Myst neared my heartstone, you savedso, you would set into e the future for you and Rhiannon?"

I nodded, still not understanding the exact nature of how things had shifted "Yes"