At the touch to my wrist, I looked up at her. I could never be sure, telling this story, what reaction I would find. I had told Eamonn expecting revulsion and had found only compassion. Now, with Kate, it seemed it would be the same. I had, however, spared her the worst details.
"My mother has betrayed Terre d'Ange more than once, spanning back to before I was born," I continued. "She had been condemned to death and escaped, and secretly wed my father, the queen's uncle, who had a place of power in Caerdicca Unitas. It was there that I was born. When her plan to have the queen assassinated was thwarted by Phedre and Joscelin she had me sent away to the Sanctuary of Elua, and I was hidden there until my kidnapping, when my mother sent Phedre to find me. She - my mother - had claimed sanctuary in the Temple of Asherat, and she remained there for many years in exile, knowing her life was forfeit if she ever set foot outside those walls."
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"My mother has betrayed Terre d'Ange more than once, spanning back to before I was born," I continued. "She had been condemned to death and escaped, and secretly wed my father, the queen's uncle, who had a place of power in Caerdicca Unitas. It was there that I was born. When her plan to have the queen assassinated was thwarted by Phedre and Joscelin she had me sent away to the Sanctuary of Elua, and I was hidden there until my kidnapping, when my mother sent Phedre to find me. She - my mother - had claimed sanctuary in the Temple of Asherat, and she remained there for many years in exile, knowing her life was forfeit if she ever set foot outside those walls."