Game of Prythian

Chapter Thirty-One

Kana's POV: 

The Queen of Rask had insisted that I was moved to the official royal quarters. One of the Queen's maids escorted me through the halls of the East wing. Which was completely dedicated to the Royal family.

This was the family space, anyone outside the family seen in here could be executed for treason at worst. Only if they were uninvited though. The maids kept shooting me strange glances. My stone mask held true.

The best way of ignoring my sisters was not thinking of them.

I was thinking of them again.

You deserve this. You caused this. Monster. Have your payback. You can leave now. Shoving their furious voices away I focused my eyes on the Queen as she stood at a table and quickly approached us.

The maid left quickly, bowing at the waist I claimed. "Majesty," The Queen laughed and waved her hand. "None of that now, you're a Princess too Kana."

Her dark hair matched Xer's, however seemed to be just a little bit brighter. Bright brown eyes stared at me, shining with the epitome of happiness. Her darker skin almost looked like an Illyrian's, and her velvet red dress brought out her attributes beautifully.

As I swallowed the Queen pulled me over to the sofa and pulled us both down to the velvet wine colored cushions. I spoke, "Why am I here, Queen?"

She smiled softly, her face image only appearing as an early twenty year old. She said, "Kana, please noen of the formalities, you can call me Dione or anything else you prefer."

Folding my hands on my lap, Dione settled into the cushions and spoke, "To answer your question, I'm here to explain to you a bit of the history of Rask and traditions we hold, before the ball in two days."

Nodding slightly she flicked her fingers, and a gust of wind forced me to relax into the pillows behind me. Her lips tilted up again, and I blinked. "Aren't you supposed to hate me? I'm proof that your husband had an affair."

She snorted, "That's what's so strange about Rask, honey, did you ever feel that motherly connection with your mother?"

"No," I answered quickly. Mother had always claimed Nesta was for the conquering of all the money our family could ever need. Elain would marry for love, Feyre would just be. But I was in charge of keeping them all alive, in charge of being the bastard nobody.

Dione nodded softly and fiddled with her fingers, "Females imprint on children, it's basically a statement of whose child they are. Your mother couldn't imprint on you because you were never hers."

"She birthed me," I blurted, hands curling into fists. "She birthed me along my twin, Nesta."

"Yes," She nodded and sat up, running her hands over her shoulders. "Those girls in Prythian are still your sisters, but she never imprinted on you, so you were never rightfully hers. A mother that imprints on a child cannot directly or indirectly bear to see their child in pain, let alone hurt the child themselves."

Nodded slightly she brushed the loose strands of my hair behind my ear with cool fingers. She spoke softly, "I've bore many children for a fae. That night at dinner, when I snapped at Darwyn, I knew he was hurting your feelings. I'd wanted to see you when Xer brought you into the castle, so I did."

"You imprinted on me." I swallowed. She pursed her lips together and nodded, "I couldn't stop myself from snapping because to me, you were just a newborn babe, because the imprint had just clicked."

Heta flooded my face, she wrapped her arms around me tightly, setting my head on her shoulder. I sniffed and she continued, "Kana, I know I am not your real mother, but I would be honored if one day you could let me in as one."