Prologue
If there was one thing that Euphamia couldn’t stand, it was a liar. Sure, she had bent the truth a little here and there, and she’d hidden a few things to protect people, but she’d never outright lied to someone who’d asked her a direct question.
Okay, so she’d lied about her and Nyx in the beginning; but who really wanted all the extra baggage that came with an official title? It was filled with gossip and misunderstandings.
She’d gotten used to it by now though, gossip that is, but there was no way she was letting this particular liar get away with it. Not with a lie of this magnitude; and how many times had she inquired about it, specifically asking where she’d come from; only to be lied to?
‘Momma, where do we come from?’ Oh, she remembered that day in Sanctuary’s courtyard so well; even the scent of roses came to life as she relieved that moment.
‘You come from us, Euphamia. From the Verse itself!’
That was a lie, and a biggie too!
‘Mother, what do they mean, we are not like the others? That we were travelers?’ How can anyone ask a more direct question than that? ‘Our kind has explored all over, Euphamia!’
Yeah, you forgot to mention, another Verse; or rather, that we’d come from one. Or she had. Ellaria and Eroch had both come from another Verse, and both had kept it from her and her sisters.
“No, I did not!” Came to a voice as clear as day, just as Mia was about to round the corner to her room. She was no longer alone to toil through her thoughts.
“You knew well that we came through the Rift, my child.”
“Yeah, you said six of you had fallen through!” Mia shot back, gearing up for another argument.
“Not a hundred, or two hundred; and definitely not a Queen!” “You need to lower your voice, Euphamia!” Her mother sighed, her long white hair and blood-red tips falling down about her shoulders as the elegant female removed her hood and shook her head.
“Why? You don’t want them to know there was a Queen out there the whole time? Or that you knew, and said fucking nothing?”
Were they really having this conversation? Here, and now? Surrounded by massive stone walls and paintings of epic battle scenes, a few chairs off to the side could be thrown if necessary. Mia had no idea what was going to come of this, but she was more than ready to stand her ground.
“Watch your language, Euphamia!” Lady Ellaria snapped at her.
“Or what? You’ll banish me from my home? Kill someone I love? Or even better, let’s just put me in a cave, reshape a whole planet around me, and then forget I exist!” Mia was seething through gritted teeth, nothing but the truth escaping her lips.
“We had no choice!” Another appeared beside her mother, and Mia shook her head.
“You summoned your guard dog, over me?” Mia laughed, “Seriously?” Before her, stood a duplicate of Malice herself, but with darker hair and she was way older; still, she retained her youthful looks.
“I am no guard dog, just stating the truth!” “What, that you were in on this too?” Mia rolled her eyes, “Let me guess, it was all your idea?”
“Euphamia, you need to calm yourself.” Lady Ellaria sighed, watching her daughter pace back and forth in the cavern. “I need to get out of here!” Mia cut in. “I need to get away from you.”
“You will not leave!” Ellaria waved her hand, and Mia laughed.
“That stay-put shit hasn’t worked on me since I was a hundred!”
“It would seem so, ever since you met that Demon, T’ryx..” Her mother started, and that was when Mia really lost her shit.
“You don’t ever get to mention his name. Ever!” She hissed at Ellaria.
“All that male ever did was make me happy, and you let him die; just like you let everyone believe your fucking lies!” “You need to relax!”
She heard the tone in her mother’s voice and just dodged Ashlyn’s grasp.
“Euphamia, stop this at once!” She shouted, but it was no use; she couldn’t hear anything but the rage burning inside her.
In a matter of seconds, Mia found herself in the midst of a full-blown fistfight with Malice’s mother. By the time it was over, Ashlyn held Mia in a headlock to prevent her anger from being directed at her own mother.
“You will let me go, now, or I will gut you for the fraud that you are!” She was shouting, over and over as Ashlyn held on for dear life; and then it all just stopped. Her mother’s words had reached her ears and her heart had just stopped.
“I have no choice, but to ground you! Your position will be temporarily filled by Malice when she returns.” Ellaria sighed, and Mia just stood there.
"You will regret this!” Mia replied after a few moments, closed her eyes, and vanished from sight.
