Chapter 129
Chapter 129
ATASHA’S POV
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Agape told me I might have fae blood, but the way he said might made all the difference. It wasn’t certainty, just possibility. Even he couldn’t confirm it, and somehow that uncertainty only made my chest feel tighter.
“So…. you’re saying this because I reacted to the corrupted stone?” I asked, frowning.
Agape nodded once. “All fae react to the stones, Lady Atasha. They are drawn to them, even when they shouldn’t be. The same stones that strengthen ordinary werewolves will twist and corrupt a fae’s body. That is how we recognize our own, through the pull, through the danger of it. The stones know us. That… and the fact that you have no wolf. Fae’s cannot have a wolf and werewolves… do not have any special ability like the one that you have.”
I blinked, uneasy. “But I don’t look like you. Or Prince Kaelith. Fae look different, don’t they?”
Agape’s lips curved faintly. “Some do. Some don’t. The fae are not one kind of people, and blood weakens with every generation it’s mixed. What I suspect is this, you carry only a trace of it. A drop, perhaps passed down from an ancestor who once bound themselves to one of our kind. This is why it is forbidden for a fae to mate with.. someone who doesn’t have a fae blood.”
He leaned back slightly, studying me in a way that made my stomach twist. “If your bloodline mingled with ours generations ago, it would explain why you do not bear the same traits as we do. The pointed ears, the glow in the eyes, the inability to conceal what we are. But the blood remembers, even when the body forgets. That’s why the stone called to you.”
I pressed a hand to my chest before I even realized I was doing it. “So you think I’m….
part fae?”
Agape’s eyes flickered toward Kaelith, who didn’t speak but didn’t look surprised either. “I think,” Agape said quietly. “That the stones see something in you that we cannot.”
So now, I might be part fae. The thought sat heavily in my mind, too strange to fully accept but impossible to ignore. I shook my head slightly. Maybe I would never know for sure.
“It would help if you could speak to your parents,” Agape said after a moment. “Ask them about your ancestors, where your bloodline began.”
I nodded slowly. That answer didn’t exist for me. I now knew that the people who raised me weren’t truly my parents. As for the ones who were… no one knew. I didn’t have the time to inquire about them.
My thoughts drifted to Celeste and the family that had always belonged to her. The life that should have been simple, whole. I wondered if the truth about mine had been buried with the same care they used to hide me. Perhaps I would never find out.
“What about my healing ability?” I asked. I had read enough to know that fae were said to draw power from nature itself. “Fae are connected to the elements, aren’t they? They can harness them.”
Agape nodded slightly, his expression thoughtful. “That much is true. But, Lady Atasha, what most do not understand is that every form of magic, whether it belongs to witches or fae, follows the same law.”
10:30 Mon, Oct 6 M
Chapter 129
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
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“Witches depend on sacrifices,” he explained. “That much you already know. A trade must always be made. Fae are different, yes, but the principle is similar.”
He paused, then continued in that calm, measured tone of his. “To put it simply, we do not create magic. We borrow it. We take from the world around us and return what we use. A fae who commands water must have water nearby. A fae who shapes fire must draw it from an existing flame. Nothing comes from nothing. That is the first rule of power.”
I frowned, trying to make sense of what he’d said. “But that doesn’t make sense for me,” I murmured, half to myself. “I don’t draw anything from the air or the earth. When I heal, I don’t feel anything flowing into me. It just… happens.”
Agape tilted his head slightly, his brows furrowing in thought. “Then you have no source,” he said.
Prince Kaelith, who had been silent for most of the conversation, finally spoke. “There are exceptions to the rules.”
Both Agape and I turned toward him. His sharp eyes met mine, and for a moment, he hesitated, as if weighing whether he should continue. Then he added, “One of those exceptions is if the person belongs to the royal bloodline.”
I blinked, startled. “Royal bloodline?”
Kaelith nodded. “The Royals among our kind have the strongest connection to the world. Their blood is pure enough to sustain power without needing to draw from the elements. They can create magic where there is none, light from darkness, fire from air. But it is not without cost.”
“What kind of cost?” I asked, the question escaping before I could stop it.
“Their lifespan,” he said simply. His tone didn’t waver. “It is well known that we live an impossible longer life compared to the other supernaturals but it doesn’t mean we are immortals. The more power they create without a source, the more of their life it consumes. For every spark of magic born from nothing, they burn a little faster.”
Agape gave a small, grim nod beside him. “That is why the true Royals rarely use their power freely. Creation takes from the body, from the spirit. Even their strength cannot shield them from the balance that governs all magic.”
I swallowed hard, my fingers tightening against the table’s edge. “So you’re saying… if I really am part fae, and if what I do counts as magic…” I trailed off, the realization making my stomach twist. “Then every time I heal
someone…”
Kaelith’s gaze didn’t soften. “You may be giving away more than you realize.”
The fire in the brazier crackled softly, but the warmth no longer reached me. The air felt heavier now, pressing down on my chest as the truth settled in. I had always known my healing came with exhaustion, but hearing it like this, hearing that it could be chipping away at my life, made my breath falter.
Agape folded his hands on the table. “The body will always find a balance, Lady Atasha. Nothing comes without cost. The question is only how much you are willing to pay.”
