Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #2) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,76

the legend goes. Who could prove that, though? Her witches or her own daughters? Daughters she murdered when they spoke against her? Sure, because that makes perfect sense. Let me tell you the story of Hecate, as told by my aunt. Hecate had three groups of children. The first group of daughters became jealous of one another and killed each other off. Seeing this, Hecate invoked the Laws of Magic, creating a failsafe that would deter her next born daughters from the same outcome. If one sibling moved to harm their sister or her offspring, they would suffer the same fate. Now, Hecate didn’t bother to tell her daughters about this restriction, so when Hecate favored one of her four daughters more than the others, they plotted that sister’s demise, killing themselves the moment she took her last breath. Learning from her mistakes, Hecate told her final set of daughters the stories of their lost siblings, ensuring they would survive and also that they would never speak or work against Hecate themselves for fear that there was another secret failsafe in place.

“That’s a great story and all, but I call bullshit. The Laws of Magic invoke only if a mother kills her daughter, and Hecate isn’t immune from it. I believe she cast the spell that led to her daughters growing jealous enough of the other, resulting in their deaths before they could testify to the elders that Hecate wasn’t in slumber. I think the ‘failsafe’ resulted from Hecate’s actions against her daughters, and she just told my mother and her sisters about it to keep them in line. Hecate’s daughters said she was evil, fueled by a need to rule over others, and turn the world into her personal idealist playground. Hell, she’d taken control of the Nine Realms once before, slaughtering the old ones because they refused her when she first showed up.”

“You think she murdered those kings and queens to ensure that the walls between realms remained open?”

“I think she wanted to rule everyone and did whatever it took to accomplish that goal. Her laws, to do no harm to others, and to rule justly, were supposedly for the betterment of the realms. But I don’t buy into that theory. Hecate was an evil, selfish cow who craved power and control, humping her way to the top. So why would she enact laws for the ‘betterment’ of the realms, when she clearly only cared about herself?

“Hecate did go to ground, but she did so because something stronger than her showed up. Whoever that was, they forced her to sleep, and the moment she went to slumber, someone murdered her. Now, why am I here? Because we didn’t leave by choice, Esme,” I scoffed, watching her lips tugging in the corner as her frown deepened. “I was conceived in the Nine Realms, but born in the Tenth Realm, or as you know it, the Failed Realm since the Nine Realms could not procure it. I had no choice regarding where I wanted to live. When my sister, Amara, went missing, we went to Haven Falls to find her, only to come face to face with Knox the moment we arrived.”

I smiled at the memory, which felt as if it were years ago, instead of close to only one year now. “I was changing when we arrived, and something about my proximity to Knox woke the creature within me. His scent, or maybe the sound of his rattle, I’m not sure which, but I know it was Knox that caused my change to occur. Once I heard his rattle, I started evolving much faster and couldn’t slow it down. The House of Magic in the Tenth Realm was unprotected because someone destroyed its shield, leading my sisters and me to stay in Knox’s mansion. I lost my virginity to him when a spell called for hymen blood of a pure Hecate witch to erect the barrier around the house, igniting the power once more.”

The blood drained from her face as Esme opened and closed her mouth several times. I snorted, watching her, trying to place everything I had told her into her mind.

“Holy shit,” she whispered in shocked horror that matched her worried expression.

“That’s one way to state it.”

“The King of Norvalla, he’s your lover? He’s the son of a bitch trying to kill us!” Esme watched the slow nod of my head, dropping her eyes to my lips that curled into a smirk.

“So he is, but I don’t