Page 66 of A Vow of Shadows
I curtsied graciously and the footman offered his arm to help me into the coach.
Once inside, I felt immediate shame at my appearance compared to the woman helping me. From afar, she’d been beautiful, but up close, she was beauty personified. Her unmarked skin was radiant in the sunlight. Rosy cheeks, fulllips, and bright eyes played in perfect harmony upon her face. Her sunny, blonde hair was styled into an elegant coiffure, and her form fitting dress revealed she had all the desired curves as well. She seemed older than me but not old. Mature yet youthful. Ageless and timeless. An enigma made flesh.
I’d taken the rear-facing seat opposite her and regretted not sitting beside her as she leaned forward and fixed me with an all-seeing stare.
“Itisyou,” she said, slapping her thigh. “I should have known.” Twisting, she propped one leg on the seat beside her, and leaned back into the corner of the coach. She knocked against the carriage wall two times. There was a sharp command from the driver and we eased into motion.
I didn’t know if I was more caught off guard by her informal posture or her words, but after several seconds of gawking, I found my tongue. “Do I know you?”
The woman scoffed. “I know it has been some time since I last visited you, Katrin, but I thought our first meeting was rather memorable.”
“I’m sorry,” I started, unsure why I was apologizing.
“I guess it has been over eight years now. I thought my parting gift would have made an impression,” she said, running a pointed nail over the darkened side of my face.
I flinched away from her touch, brows creased as what she said sank in. “Youmarked me?” I gasped, taking in the woman before me with new eyes.
“Indeed, I did.”
“But I thought Death—Behryn—marked me?”
“I know you did, silly girl, but that’s all right.” She waved me off with a flick of her bejeweled hand. “I’m blamed for everything. I don’t mind him taking credit for this one thing.”
My brow crinkled in confusion. “I don’t understand. Who are you?”
She leaned forward as if sharing a secret, lowering her voice so that I was forced to sit forward as well to hear her. “Some people call me Fate, but you may call me Moira.”
“Fate?” I sat back stunned, and she hummed her affirmation. “Why did you mark me?”
“Well, if you must know, Behryn insisted I do it when I revealed that you are destined to become Queen of the Afterworld.”
“Excuse me?”
“An amazing destiny, if I do say so myself.”
“But I don’t want to be Queen of the Afterworld. I could never marry that monster.” The thought alone had my stomach roiling.
Moira shrugged. “It is not for me to decide such things. Nor you, I’m afraid.”
“So you’ve come here to warn me?”
Her answering laugh was a bubbling brook. “Not at all. There’s no sense in warning you of something that can’t be changed. I merely wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”
“What fuss?”
“Don’t you know?” Moira smiled conspiratorially. “Your presence atTyr Anighhas caused quite a stir.”
I shook my head. “What do you mean? My presence in The Between is known only by Evander and myself…” I trailed off. Clearly, if she was bringing it up, my stay there had not been the secret I thought it to be. Something I ought to have figured out between Death’s Fangs and Ani. I dropped my head into my hands as the realization struck me.
“You do amuse, little Katrin.”
It had been many years since anyone had called me little, but she seemed to say it with affection rather than condescension.
“How?”
“Behryn, of course. He came running to my door the moment he saw you with Evander.”
“But he didn’t see me. I was hidden.” I thought back to that day and distinctly remembered Inky and Storm blocking me from view.