Chapter 79: Chapter 79
I longed to know more now, but I knew I would be playing Althea and Priam’s game if I showed too much interest. I still had to summon my patience, but I couldn’t avoid further questions forming in my head, so shaken by the news. How was it possible? Who was my mother? I thought she was locked up somewhere, trying at all costs to communicate so that I could free her. It was what I imagined, it was what I believed, but I was way off the mark, and I was soon to find out.
We went into a living room adjacent to the dining room. Other servants offered us refreshments, which I refused out of hand.
“Ethan, how do you communicate?” I asked my brother, standing facing the window, staring blankly.
“It’s a long story.”
“Which I’m willing to hear!”
“Wouldn’t you rather know about our mother first?”
“I’ve known her for five seconds, I feel like I’ll know more very soon.”
“You know, she’s really my mother. Blake lied.”
“I never doubted it. Blake wanted to cause conflict between us and he succeeded, didn’t he?”
“You’re still mad at me for the wedding night, right?”
“What do you think?! But we won’t talk about it now, Ethan. I’m not sure this is the best time.”
My brother eyed me warily, but what did he expect?! A family reunion where we would happily hug! Then I heard Magnus burst out laughing, and the sound made me shiver.
“Blake has at least told us the truth about our mother being on this island, and I sincerely hope the same is true about the treatment they promised to give Magnus. But why did Althea say our mother was her daughter?”
“Because I am,” said my mother, leaving a conversation with Priam.
He approached me. Every hair on my body stood on end. I had to break off the secret conversation and leave aside my mother’s startling assertion, in order to stay focused.
“Glad to see your family again, I imagine.”
“I would have preferred other circumstances,” I replied, my tone cold.
“Discovering your mother and your grandmother on the same day,” he said with an evil grin, “it’s still a happy surprise for you.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
Althea joined us, a glass of wine in her hand. I no longer understood anything.
“I immediately knew that you were of my line.”
“Don’t blame me, but even in my worst nightmares, I never would have imagined it.”
“I don’t doubt that. But I’m sure you still don’t know what a worst nightmare is.”
The placid tone she used made my blood run cold. This woman gave me the creeps! I had no doubt for a moment that she was capable of the worst. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mother next to Ethan. She invited him to sit down. Now the little family was reunited. My brother, my mother and my grandmother formed a circle around me.
“Do you know your mother’s story?”
“No, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy telling it.”
“You already know her, Eve,” Ethan told me. “I think it was Thomas and Eric who told you about her.”
My puzzled gaze fell on him.
“What are you talking about?”
“Their uncle, Joseph, had made discoveries concerning your ancestry. He thought you were descended from the Burton Race.”
“That, I haven’t forgotten,” I said, casting a contemptuous eye on Magnus who was advancing towards us.
“My wife, Eleonore, had two children,” said Magnus. “One died in her womb, but our daughter, Camelia, survived and gave birth to children herself. Joseph Ferloni, your friends’ uncle, was right. You descend from this branch of the family, and I’m your father’s grandfather. And therein lies the irony, since a very ancient member of this lineage here met her own blood, having children with your father.”
“I don’t understand anything,” I said, tired. “Can you be more clear?”
“Camellia was my granddaughter,” said my mother, “so your father is from my line and that of Magnus. That’s what he means.”
I tried to gather the information Thomas had given me at that time when I was discovering my true nature. Suddenly, my blood froze, and I remembered his revelations almost word for word: “You are the descendant of Isabelle Castellane, one of the first castes of this world according to what we know (it was before the discovery of the six living-dead of Amsterdam). Joseph always thought she could have been the most powerful of them all if she had been past her twenties. She perished at the stake under the orders of the Inquisition, denounced as a witch. At that time, she must not have been aware of what she really was. However, she took with her more than five hundred people, consuming by fire everything within a radius of two kilometres around.”
“Are you Isabelle Castellane?!” I exclaimed.
She lowered her gaze, as if mentioning her name had stabbed her in the heart. It was proof that I wasn’t mistaken.
“Fate willed that she had two children with a descendant of her own line,” said Priam. “The only mistake that Joseph made was that he thought you were a distant descendant of Isabelle, whereas in fact you are her direct descendant. Therefore, you’re the granddaughter of the most powerful caste in this world, my wife, Althea.”
“Which doesn’t seem to be a problem for you, apparently,” I said, as if these preposterous revelations didn’t reach me, which was totally the opposite. “You don’t mention the fact that you’re my grandfather, so I assume my mother was the product of adultery, then? Besides, if you think about it, it might be better this way, because you are brother and sister, Althea and you! I am, in the end, very happy not to be the fruit of incest. Thank you for reassuring me on this point.”
Priam glared at me, Althea burst out laughing. My mom looked shocked and my brother was smiling so broadly I was worried he’d end up wrinkly.
“My poor child!” Althea blurted. “You still have no awareness of what immortality represents. I had been walking this world for more than two thousand years at the time. Know that morality doesn’t apply to immortals. I had many children, because perpetuating the line was the objective. What would you be if we didn’t exist?! And if we were the only castes in this world, then what’s the point? But I must admit that I was very much in love with Isabelle’s father, and it was a difficult ordeal to abandon him the day I gave birth to her. My heart still couldn’t bear to see my offspring die.”
“The fact that you mention your children as offspring already says a lot.”
“You speak ignorantly,” she said coldly. “Ties are a luxury that you’ll soon no longer be able to afford. You may understand it when your first friends die one after another. But back to our story, you still know so little!”
She turned to Priam, who smirked at my mother.
“Even if he tolerated my adventures, as I tolerated his,” Althea continued, “he never liked that I bred with other men, while we ourselves failed to have children. He killed most of my lovers, so I kept Isabelle’s birth a secret to protect her father. At the time, it was heartbreaking for me to leave them both. Priam, knowing me only too well, understood that I was hiding something from him. So he investigated, and it didn’t take him long to find my daughter. He waited until she was of caste awakening age to woo her. Isabelle fell in love with his inexplicable charm, and accepted his marriage proposal. He arranged to impregnate her before the date of said marriage, and left her pregnant. She then gave birth to a little girl, Eleonore.”
“You make me want to vomit, and he killed Eleonore if I remember correctly. Blake told me.”
“You don’t know anything,” said Magnus, whose sullen tone intrigued me.
“I think Isabelle will be able to explain everything to you as much as you want,” declared Althea, “but it’s time to go to your room. We’ll call you when we need you.”
“Before, tell me what you want from me?”
For an answer, Althea got up and left the living room. Sarah, the maid, entered by the same door and asked me to follow her with a gesture, a basket of provisions in her hands. I took one last look at my mother and my brother, but as I rushed for the door, Connor grabbed my arm. My eyes narrowed in his direction, and his translucent blue gaze pierced me. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. I abruptly pulled my arm out of his grip and left with Sarah to go to my room.