Valka

We sujourned back to Ebonheart with Kara. The girl didn’t speak for the entire journey, or even look at us. She didn’t ask for her mother either. She knew, even without being told.

And in the event that she ever looked in our direction, it was to watch Drustan pick at his food delicately like he irritated her. Her small lips would curl with contempt before she turned away completely, only to watch him again only minutes later.

Drustan, in his defense, didn’t seem to notice this. Or her. And if we ever turned our backs for a few seconds, they were fighting again.

Upon arriving at Ebonheart, Evadne took Kara with her. The goodbyes were brief. Of course, we’d see around on important occasions. And we would write to to each other. Sebastian, of course, went with her.

In the subsequent years, Evadne and Sebastian would come to have a daughter, giving Kara a sibling, Gianna. But they never wed. Theirs remained a toxic situation. Sebastian stuck by Eva’s side, but he could never truly get over what she was. He loved their daughter, but I had been right in my foreshadowing.

His initial reaction to seeing their daughter straight out of Eva’s wound has been jarring enough that Lucien had punched him until his jaw broke.

And that had been enough to decide the path of Sebastian’s relationship with Evadne. It hurt her, but she got over it quickly. They remained lovers, but Evadne slept with other people just to hurt him back in turn.

I came to learn very quickly that Evadne was the nicest person, but she held a grudge like the devil.

Our children grew together. Kara remained in Castle Kaldrith, however, refusing to mingle, except during Solstice. She never stopped hating my children. But Jessamine, she seemed to like better than the boys. They could have been called friends. The others got along quite well. Even an aloof, unfeeling Asterin, seemed to accept that this little family we had would always be a constant.

And in the years following the war, after we abandoned our kingdom and focused on preserving the lives of our people, getting them out before the invaders could lay hands on them... It was difficult times, but we were fine.

We stuck together.

But the divide began when Drustan and Kara crossed a line they shouldn’t have.

And perhaps it was my fault for not paying closer attention. For not recognising the heated arguments and hatred for what it was. Until we found them in the haystack at seventeen, Kara’s skirts around her waist and Drustan...

It was quite the image. You never quite realize your children are growing until you walk in on them having sex.

It would have been fine. We would have been able to handle it. If Kara hadn’t looked then at us, at Drustan and said,

"He took advantage of me."

Evadne was livid. I knew Lucien and I had raised our children better. I knew my sons. I heard Kara. I found them. I know what I saw. But in that moment, I let myself wonder if it was because I couldn’t see Drustan hurt anyone, or hurt a woman. I let myself wonder if it was because he was my child that my first thought had been to doubt her.

And I let myself take her side. I struck Drustan for the first time. He’d always been stubborn, but he was the only of my boys who never forgot my birthday, never forgot to bring me flowers before breakfast. For Asterin, it was routine, because Lucien drilled it into them. For Tristan, he plucked them on the way to hand them out to the women he kept winking at--it was, after all, no shock that they were all beautiful in the way their father was--and knew he’d get an earful from Lucien if he kept forgetting.

But Drustan did because he wanted to. Because he was a gentleman. Because he was gentle at heart. And he was loyal.

And I slapped him and made him kneel and apologize to her. He did it. He didn’t try to clear his name. He said once that it was a lie. Just once. And after that, he didn’t try anymore.

But it wasn’t enough. Because even after so many years, we were all still broken in many ways by our ordeals. And Evadne would never let any kind of assault slide. Especially not with her daughter, or Astrea’s.

It didn’t matter that I pleaded and asked how we could make it right.

Nothing could be right again after that accusation.

Our little family was cleaved in half. Evadne took Gianna and Kara away, and I lost my best friend.

Drustan and I had a rocky relationship after that. He went cold. I’d never been more confused in my whole life, hurting from inside because I didn’t know what to think. I knew he was hurting but I didn’t know how to help. Didn’t know if he needed help or discipline.

Trying either earned me a backlash. And soon, all my children began to rebel. They were like a hive mind, four of them. And I was quite sure they hated me because I’d taken Kara’s side.

Lucien remained a solid rock for me. I told him I’d failed somehow, and he said I’d done the right thing. He might have been lying because in his eyes, I did no wrong. He told me they didn’t hate me, though, their constant behaviour stated otherwise.

We reached some form of impasse. Sometimes it was better. Sometimes we were happy. Very much so. Most times, however, we were arguing.

One day, Lucien decided he’d had enough. And he kicked them all out with one sentence.

"Go see the world for yourself, experience all we have shielded you from. And do not come back here if you do not learn to appreciate what a wonderful mother you have."

It worked like magic, however long it took.

But Lucien carted me off to our home on the mountains, almost immediately. It stood the test of time and remained our safe space.

Eternity was... promising. Eternity was... diabolically hot.

(See author’s note)