Part 41 (1/2)
”Not in the way I'd hoped when I first sent Archer after you.” She motioned to
a large chair positioned near the bed. ”Please, sit. I'll have Marietta bring some
tea.”
Talia sank gratefully into the chair, but waved off the offer of tea. ”No, thank you.” She looked up to find the queen studying her with disconcerting frankness.
”You really do bear an amazing resemblance to your mother.”
”Thank you.”
”Of course I never knew your mother but my father kept images of her close
by for the remainder of his life.”
That information made Talia pause. ”I found some sort of cube today, in my mother's chamber. Apparently she locked the contents of the room under some sort of spell or illusion. There was a message in it, though. She said she had
the key to open it, or, failing that, the next healer would. But I don't know how. I tried. The cube cannot be taken from the room, either. I'm sorry.”
Catriona waved away her concern. ”I am sorry there wasn't more for you to
look through, for your own sake. But there is little to be done for it now.”Talia paused, then said, ”My mother... she mentioned your father's name...”The queen's gaze sharpened. ”Yes? Explain yourself.”Talia straightened, reminded again whose presence she was in. '”It was nothing, really. Just the way she said his name. I got the feeling they were close. I imagine my mother's role was a trusted one, so that makes sense. I guess I was just warmed by the idea that she seemed close to your family. I know it wasn't easy for her to leave.”
The queen's focus intensified. ”You know why she left, do you not?”
”She was pregnant with me. Baleweg told me it cost her a great deal to turn
her back on her obligations and leave, but there had been threats against her
and she was afraid for my life if she didn't.”
The queen closed her eyes and Talia started to rise, automatically opening herself up to find out what was wrong.
”Don't,” Catriona said, her eyes remaining shut. ”It's all right. I'm just... a little overwhelmed. I already had the proof but... I suppose I had to hear it from you.”
Confused, Talia had pulled back before connecting with her. She had no idea
what the queen was talking about. ”Hear what from me?”
”Did you not wonder at the depth of our connection? You do know that empaths only connect with those they care deeply about, or are connected to in some way.”
”Yes, I know that. I a.s.sumed it was because you are a royal, and I am destined
from birth to... to serve you somehow.”Catriona shook her head. ”Many rules apply between royal and healer, but that is not what forged the bond you felt today. Empathy is not exclusive to healers. In fact, it is a somewhat common ability. At least in this time, if not in yours-the one in which you were raised.”
Talia opened her mouth, then shut it again. So she knew.
The queen smiled lightly. ”Yes, I am aware that the Old One helped to hide your mother in the distant past. Again I wish to tell you of my grat.i.tude that you so willingly came to my rescue. I would like to think I'd have made such a
selfless gesture, but I am learning that I am a far more petty and closed- minded person than I thought myself to be.”
Talia had no idea what to say to that.
”As you have also discovered,” she went on, ”you are not a healer. That is not
the source of our connection.”
”I don't understand.”
”Did your mother marry after leaving this time?”
”No, she never did.”
”Did you wonder who your father was? Did you perhaps come back in hopes
of discovering who he was?”
”I have wondered, of course, but no, actually, I never thought of looking for him here.” She was somewhat surprised about that, given what she and Devin had talked about the night before. But it had never even occurred to her. ”Do