Aeryn raised a trembling hand and said, "Stop. Please… don't say anything more."
Her voice cracked; not from anger, but from something more brittle and fragile, fighting inside her. As though the weight of everything she'd just learned had cracked something inside her, something that was too delicate to name.
Sakina paused. Her lips parted, as though some words with same meaning still pressed against her teeth, but the look in Aeryn's eyes silenced her. She bowed her head and stepped away without another word.
The heavy wooden door shut behind her, sealing the tower chamber in silence.
Aeryn turned her face to the hearth, letting her eyes lose focus as the flames crackled and danced. She didn't blink as she stared. Her whole body had gone still, stunned by the flood of truths and revelations that had just reshaped her blood, her name and her very soul. Firelight licked the stone walls, throwing shadows across her face as she stared, unseeing.
Then suddenly, something caught her attention.
A scent.
It was faint at first, like blooming myrrh and spiced rosewater carried on the wind. A warmth that was not fire. A breath that was not hers.
She blinked, startled, and turned.
There, just beyond the edge of the firelight, stood a woman.
Beautiful, regal and royal. With a presence that made the air feel denser. She looked to be in her early forties, her crimson hair cascading down in waves, her hazel-brown eyes soft yet endless. Her dress shimmered like dusk silk threaded with sunlight. There was something hauntingly familiar about her.
Aeryn gasped. Her heart lurched in her chest.
"I-It's me?" she breathed aloud in disbelief.
The figure laughed softly, covering her mouth in the most elegant and maternal gesture.
Aeryn stood up, frozen between wonder and dread. The woman also walked forward slowly; and before Aeryn could react, she was pulled into an embrace.
It was warm, strong and safe. How long had it been that someone hugged aeryn.
The moment their bodies touched, her strength collapsed. She couldn't resist the embrace. Without needing words, she buried her face into the woman's gown, clinging tightly. Then her body started to shook with sobs; loud, messy, aching; and soon the spot beneath her cheek was soaked.
The figure said nothing. She simply held her, one arm around her back, the other stroking her hair gently like a lullaby. The fire crackled softly, and for a moment, time stood still. The pain that had built inside Aeryn since childhood; the ache of not knowing, of losing, of being called cursed; poured out of her like a storm that had waited too long to break.
When at last her sobs quieted, the woman eased her down and sat beside her on the velvet couch.
"Aeryn…" she said softly. "I am your mother."
Aeryn's eyes flew open.
"No. You are not," she said, shaking her head in denial.
"Yes, I am, love," the figure said with a quiet smile, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"My mama had black hair!" Aeryn insisted, her voice a sharp whisper of disbelief.
"I know, love. But you are my daughter," the woman replied. Her voice was neither defensive nor accusing; only filled with impossible sadness and love. "I am your mama Anya, Aeryn… don't you recognize me?" she said softly
Aeryn stared. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.
Her hands moved on their own, reaching forward, grasping the woman's hands tightly. Her own fingers trembled as her eyes widened, wild and glassy. She didn't know what she was feeling; grief, joy, horror; but her body knew. And her heart knew. And that was all that mattered to her.
The figure; Anya; cupped her cheek with one hand and ran the other through her hair again, soothingly.
"My love," she said, "I don't want you to suffer. The Trinity… it ruined us. All of us. We got it without our consent. I tried all my life to get rid of it… but I couldn't. And when I saw that none of my children inherited this hideous power, I was relieved. I was happy. I stopped trying to get rid of it."
She paused. Her voice dropped, heavy with sorrow.
"I thought even though it ruined me, if it dies with me without affecting my children, that's all that matters… But seeing you now… my heart is in pain, Aeryn. I didn't want to pass it down. I didn't want to inflict pain and suffering upon my children. Never."
Aeryn didn't speak. She couldn't. There was lump in her throat. The tears came again, quiet now, slipping down her cheeks.
"Aeryn! My love!" Anya's voice broke slightly. "This is not power. This is a curse. A memory of pain and suffering. But we have to break the cycle. What happened… happened. It was meant to be this way. But we cannot allow it to ruin our future. Can we?"
Aeryn, lips trembling, nodded silently.
Anya's hands gripped hers.
"Aeryn," she said, with that same softness, "protect everyone. But do not protect everything, okay? This is not a power, it is a curse born in pain. Don't let it burn you, blind you and then consume you!"
Before Aeryn could answer, the figure began to shimmer, her edges going faint and glasslike. The light around her dimmed. Her outline blurred like wind scattered across water.
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