“Skye,” I said slowly, “why are you here? Is there something wrong?”
She whirled around. “No, no.” She smiled and came over to sit beside me. “I thought you might want to come down to the city tonight with us.”
It was sweet of her to make the effort, but Tristan had made it very clear some time ago that he didn’t want me tagging along on his excursions to the city. “I don’t think Tristan would be so pleased if I joined you.”
“What! No, of course he doesn’t mind,” said Skye quickly. “Why would you think that?”
I told her what I had overheard Tristan say the last time she had asked me to come out with her.
Skye’s face turned the color of a ripe tomato. “I wondered why you never came down that day. And why you never mentioned it or asked to join us again.”
I looked at my feet. “It’s okay, I don’t want to come where I’m not wanted.”
Skye laughed. “You’ve got it all wrong,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “It’s not that Tristan doesn’t want you around. The problem is that he does, and he hates that. He’s the one who sent me to get you today.”
“Why didn’t he ask me himself?”
Skye smiled. “He didn’t think you would come if he did.”
I scrunched my eyebrows together. “I don’t understand.”
“As soon as Tristan got to know you, he became extremely fond of you. I’ve never seen him like this. He talks about you all the time. But you know how he hates mages? Knowing you are half-mage and having you constantly by his side brings back too many bad memories, reminding him of a time he would rather forget.”
“Why does he hate mages so much?” Ever since I had met him, I was curious to know more about Tristan. He never opened up to me about himself, and the only time he would speak at length was if I asked him a question about fae history.
“When your mother lived in Elfi, Tristan’s mother Selene, the Grand Duchess of the Night Court, was her best friend.”
“I never knew that. Tristan hasn’t mentioned it.”
Skye nodded. “They were very close. While Elayna was meeting your father in secret, Selene met and fell in love with one of your father’s courtiers who had accompanied him to Elfi.”
My eyes widened. “No wonder Tristan wants nothing to do with me. He must blame my family for his mother’s infidelity.”
“That’s not the half of it,” Skye went on. “Tristan’s father, the grand duke, found out about the affair, and in a fit of anger, exiled his wife from the Night Court. Selene went to the queen to seek refuge, but Izadora accused her of encouraging your mother to defy her and marry a mage. So she refused to help.”
I held my breath. I could tell already I wouldn’t like where this story was heading.
“That’s when Selene decided to leave Elfi and journey to Illiador and seek refuge with your mother, the only friend she had left.”
“Where was Tristan? Why didn’t he do anything?”
“Tristan was away at the time at a training camp, deep in the Old Forest, and couldn’t be reached,” said Skye. “My mother says Selene was too ashamed to face him anyway. When he got back and heard what had happened he went after her.”
“Did he find her?” My voice was a whisper.
Skye hung her golden head. “It was so tragic,” she sniffed. “Selene was a kind soul, a healer, she was not equipped to endure such a journey alone. Tristan’s mother managed to almost reach Illiador, but on the way she was set upon by a group of soldiers.”
My blood went cold.
“She was raped and murdered, Aurora, by a whole garrison of warrior-mages.” Tears formed in Skye’s eyes as she recounted the horrific tale. “Tristan found her, but he was too late.”
I sat still, barely breathing. “What did he do?”
“Tristan’s rage knew no bounds. He killed the whole garrison of mages and razed their fortress to the ground.”
“The mages have a different version of the story,” I said as I remembered the ruins of the fortress I saw in Eldoren on my way to Calos. Brandon had told me about the merciless fae-warrior who swooped down from the sky and wreaked havoc on the mages. I knew it was Tristan who had destroyed the fortress; Brandon had said it was the Prince of the Night Court. But until now I never knew why he did it.
Skye nodded. “I’m sure they do. The mages asked for Tristan’s head; otherwise they would threaten war against the fae. Tristan’s father was willing to give him up, but it was Izadora who made a deal with the mage King of Eldoren. Your grandmother saved his life.”
“What kind of deal?”
“To keep Tristan bound to her under oath and control him. If he breaks his oath, his life is forfeit to the mages.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t imagine the pain he must have had to endure, but at least I was starting to understand him a little better. “It must have been such a difficult time for him.”
“It was.” Skye nodded. “Tristan had to bring his mother’s broken body back to Elfi to lay at his father’s feet.”
“What did his father do?”
“The grand duke, Kildaren, knew he had made a mistake, but he couldn’t admit it. Ever since then Tristan’s relationship with his father has been strained. He barely visits the Night Court, and then only on his mother’s death day to put flowers on her grave.”
I closed my eyes, trying to remove the images of Tristan’s mother from my mind. The world was such a gruesome place, and I couldn’t blame Tristan for hating mages after what had happened.
“I’m not supposed to be telling you this,” said Skye sheepishly. “Tristan doesn’t like to talk about it. If he finds out I told you, he will have my head on a stick.”
“I won’t say anything.
