Coldness gripped me like I was the one drenched and dripping, as two terrible thoughts gripped my mind. I groped for the less hurtful one.
These fairies couldn’t be Agnë and Meira. I should have known from their unfounded presence outside the castle. What could have my handmaidens been doing so far away from the capital and the palace, anyway? They would have never been able to reach Briarfell alone!
Those two were imposters. And they’d known the waters would expose them.
My voice shook with barely restrained fear and fury. “Who are you, and what have you done with Agnë and Meira?”
The one who used to masquerade as Agnë rushed towards me. “It’s us, Fa—Briar, I swear it.”
I floated away from her, not wanting to let the other thought take hold.
But it did anyway. This wasn’t a totally different creature. This fairy had Agnë’s face, just with larger, more accentuated features.
“You–you were fairies all along?” I whispered.
“Yes,” Agnë said guiltily, sadness shimmering in her blue eyes, not as big now in comparison to her larger head and distracting ears. “We just couldn’t show that to your family, or they would have never let us near you.”
“Why did you want to be near me to begin with?” I choked. “Who sent you? The Spring Queen? What have you done to me?”
“Nothing! We came to watch over you and help you!”
I swatted at Agnë’s outstretched hand, forgetting that I couldn’t touch her. “You expect me to believe that? You’ve been lying to me for years!”
“We never really lied. Anything anyone believed about us was just their own assumption,” Agnë said in a breathless rush. “We didn’t even give false names. Your governess mispronounced ours, and we just didn’t correct her.”
“It’s the truth,” Meira said somberly, examining her feet, ears sticking out of her wet curls. “We have no allegiance to the Spring Queen, because Agnë is from Winter, and I’m from here.”
The Summer King laughed behind us, reminding me we were not alone, and of why I was here in the first place.
“Now this proves to be an entertaining start to what should be a fun day.” He pointed at Meira. “I knew you looked familiar, Merope! Welcome back! Last I heard of you was when I sent you as my proxy, to bless some human newborn.”
They were sent to bless—me?
All my thoughts tangled until I cried out, “Just tell me who you really are, no more evasions!”
Agnë looked hurt, but curtseyed to me. “I am Lady Agnessa, sister to the Duke of Hardreim of the Winter Court. I gave you the Gift of Song.”
“And I’m Merope of Summer, a courtier here in the palace,” Meira mumbled. “We’re your fairy godmothers, and I…I…” She finally faced me, tears in her dark eyes. “I’m the reason you’re a ghost.”
If I could faint, I would have by now. But all I could do was stare at them, my last years being wiped away and rewritten.
They’d been deceiving me for so long. But why was I surprised when my own parents had hidden the truth from Leander and I for longer, claiming they had no role in our curses?
Robin advanced on Meira, his expression thunderous. “You’re the one who cursed her, not the Spring Queen?”
“No! Never!” Meira exclaimed. “I made the amendment to the queen’s curse, that she should sleep instead of die. I just couldn’t change the terms of breaking the original curse, and it remains how she can be awakened.” Meira looked at me urgently. “The other fairy godmothers who were sent to bless you as a newborn left, but Agnë and I chose to stay and watch over you, and help ensure the breaking of your curse.”
I shook my head, my bewilderment deepening. “But I never saw you before I was ten!”
“We changed our appearances and took jobs around the castle, until you were old enough to have handmaidens,” a tearful Agnë explained. “We came forward then to offer our service. But it was all to care for you, to make sure you survived the queen’s cruel act of vengeance.”
Meira approached with pleading eyes. “I never meant for you to end up this way. I was about to bless you with a gift when the queen arrived, and issued her curse. I–I acted hastily before the curse solidified and wouldn’t be amended, so didn’t have time to word it carefully, guarding against developments like this. But I never worried about it since your