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They’d pus, then asked, Do you understand why you s? Those ht I’d shaken off most of their "therapy"

Yet I’d failed to recall vital events from the past No, the situation orse than that: I hadn’t even realized the aps in my memory" My brain felt like Swiss cheese at this point Apparently, the gaps even predated the deprogra the truth about all this

So why did I sense she was lying to ? "I remember the day you were arrested You talked toto you about the you stories" Almost to herself, she said, "I knew Karen hatedwill trigger soes from my childhood? Why would she ever lie about this?

But I hesitated to open the book It gave ave me chills "This was passed down?"

"From my mother, and then her mother before her"

Mom had told me the whole line was disturbed I supposed I wasline "How far back do these chronicles go?"

"There are detailed entries froames before that are summarized" She waved ateway to transfor fate just to read it?

With a shaking hand, I cracked open the weathered leather The scent of old parchan: What followeth is the trew and sworne chronikles of Our Lady of Thorns, the Emperice of all Arcana, chosen to represent De life, all its cycles, and the myst’ries of love

"Who was the chronicler here?" I asked "Who wrote these words?"

"They’ve been translated by chroniclers over the generations, transcribed and retranscribed But they were first recorded by the Empress’s mother"

"My mother, in that other life Was Moed "Maybe We can’t know for certain"

"Was this chronicler a Tarasova?"

"Probably We’ve been fortunate in our line Our chroniclers are usually gifted with second sight"

I took a deep breath, bracingof the oldest entries, the Empress’s mother--possibly Moathered about the previous gaame, my allies had been the Fool, Fauna, and the Priestess My kills: the Star, the Hierophant, and the Her with power, it hadn’t saved me My death had been at the hand of a trusted friend, the ultimate winner--

The Fool

My jaw slackened My stomach roiled He’d murdered her

Me