Mark of Love (Love Mark #3) - Linda Kage Page 0,76
so brutally cast them out.”
“I think I’m beginning to understand,” Indigo broke in. “Only people from the Graykey line or chosen by a blood-born Graykey can use the amulets now because Corandra reclaimed them from the fire after that first ritual, and they became hers again. And since her descendants share her blood, they can use them too.”
“Yes, and since it’s been over three hundred years since then, they could be anywhere now.”
“Have you tried Corandra’s burial location?” Indigo asked. “Many like to be buried with their most treasured possessions. Maybe she has a few there.”
I sighed as I set the stew pot on the fire. “That leads to another family legend.”
He glanced my way, and amusement flickered in his gaze. “Of course, it does,” he murmured. “Which makes me wonder why I’ve never heard any of these stories before.”
“Because they’re Graykey family stories,” Melaina piped up. “And Graykeys tend to kill their friends—accidentally and on purpose—soon after sharing family legends with them.” Tapping her chin thoughtfully, she murmured, “Makes me wonder how long you have left now.”
As he scowled at her, she continued. “Anyway, there’s no record of Corandra dying. She simply disappeared one day, never to be heard from again. The rumor is she never did die. She might even still be wandering around the Outer Realms right now.”
Indigo’s brow furrowed. “Did any of the other original nineteen die?”
“Of course. They all died.” Rolling her eyes, she gave the very logical claim that, “No one lives that long. Hello. Except maybe Margaret Scott. Though I’m sure she died in the regular order as well. In her new form. She was the only one who didn’t give herself a new name at the renaming ritual, you see. When Corandra learned what Margaret did, she turned her into an animal so she could never speak to humans again to give away too much information about the old world. She wanted the new world to grow and change under its own ideas, not from the old world’s customs.” Glancing toward Holly, who appeared next to Indigo’s knee rubbing against him for attention, she smirked. “I’ll give you three guesses which kind of animal she turned Margaret into.”
He looked down at the cat, his mouth falling open. “Wait. Unicorns were originally human?”
“No. Only Margaret the bitch started out human. The rest have been unicorns from birth.”
Holly hissed at her.
Indigo turned to the cat. “Is this true?” he asked. “You’re the heir of Margaret Scott?”
Holly bowed her head in a noble kind of nod.
“Half of Margaret’s descendants are still human,” Melaina went on. “She had a few children before Corandra changed her. Which should tell you what she had to have done to breed unicorn descendants.” Leaning toward Indigo, she widened her eyes scandalously. “She had to have fornicated with horses.”
“Oh!” He pulled back, wincing. “Honestly, you did not have to put that image into my head.”
Holly took particular offense to Melaina’s baiting and growled low in her throat before swiping out her claws. But Melaina only yawned.
“Bitch, please.” She snapped her fingers and turned Holly back into a white unicorn.
The equine neighed and stomped her hooves in Melaina’s direction before turning away and prancing off in a tiff.
We all three watched her go before Indigo turned back to us.
“So why are most people in the Outer Realms non-magical now?” he asked. “Did Corandra get upset with others and take their abilities away too?”
“No. That had nothing to do with her. Fights and disagreements were breaking out among the people. They started using their gifts to hurt and destroy each other instead of furthering progress in the land. Many—most of the population actually—agreed to discard their abilities and tossed them in the Back Sea in order to start fresh without them and hopefully create a more peaceful world.”
“Well, that worked out well, I see,” he muttered sarcastically.
“No,” Melaina agreed softly. “It didn’t, did it? As long as time continues and worlds grow, wars will break out and fester, pushing for change and progress. Peace never lasts. But alas, back to the Graykey family story. It says that Corandra drank from the sea after that to consume all the discarded magic back into herself, and she became more powerful again.”
I simply shrugged. “I don’t see why. She’s never done anything violent. Never killed anyone, never interfered too drastically in the lives of others. I think she prefers it when people are free to live their own way and make