Book 2 Chapter 71

Willow didn’t know how to reply to her grandmother’s sudden despondency. She was also a little confused about how she’d reached the admittedly correct conclusion that her mother had passed away from an unrelated question like that.

But then it clicked. If her mother was alive she would’ve been an easy to reach teacher on the subject. With the added evidence of seeing Meteoros in Maple’s possession it all but confirmed Alexandra Petros’ death.

Her grandmother continued to stare at the rough stone table in front of her, and her mentor seemed to be just as lost on what to do as she was.

Maple, however, finally broke the heavy silence, her voice tense and morose.

“Ma was killed by her brother shortly after she gave birth to Willow after weeks of being chased by him.”

Grandma Thea winced and sighed heavily. “She was pregnant when Niko was let loose to hunt her? That’s worse than I thought, and I already thought what happened was horrid. Since he didn’t come back and you two are still alive I’m guessing Alexandra took him with her?”

Willow finally found her voice. “From what my Da told me it was the opposite. After giving birth, Ma was able to let loose and beat him in a fight, but then her brother detonated his core.”

Her grandmother wiped away some tears from her eyes. “My youngest son was always jealous of his sister’s gifts. Yet I’m still surprised at the lengths he went to. If only I had done more for him… for both of them.”

Willow felt her sister’s anger rise at that statement as she pushed her chair back and stood.

“Why didn’t you do more?” She demanded. “My family was torn apart because of your inaction! I grew up fearing that another stranger bearing the name Petros would show up and kill more of my loved ones.”

A pressure slammed into the group as her grandmother’s anger rose to match Maple’s. Her sister managed to stay on her feet, but both Willow and Mu were trapped in their seats and the small spirits were pinned to the table.

“I have suffered just as much from that name, do not speak it here.” She all but snarled at her granddaughter before coming back to herself and cancelling the effect of her qi running rampant.

She then continued in a much calmer fashion, but still very much on edge. “There was little I could do in my own house. My…” She grimaced. “My husband was a very controlling man, and exacting in how his family were to behave. I helped Alexandra where I could, giving her the means to defend herself and escape from that miserable place if she so chose. I even tried to obscure where she had run off to from her father for as long as I could. Yet I still didn’t do enough.”

Maple frowned. “What do you mean that you gave her the means to escape?”

Grandma Thea raised a brow. “Who do you think gave her a spirit perfectly suited to flee through the air at high speeds? It certainly wasn’t her father. He was absolutely furious when he found out, but he didn’t want to look weak by admitting it happened without his permission.”

Willow noticed her grandmother collapse in on herself for a moment as she remembered that time before letting out a breath and propping herself back up again. She had many theories as to why, but decided not to broach the subject right now.

Though her building resentment towards her grandfather quietly grew.

The anger writhing in Maple’s core vanished, or was at least redirected, upon seeing that particular reaction as well. Likely coming to the same conclusion as Willow.

“Why did you marry him?”

Grandma Thea snorted indelicately. “It was convenient for my father. He was getting up there in years and had yet to have a male heir. So when a talented young binder distinguished himself during the Night of Demons he decided to marry me off to him and declared him heir as a reward.”

Miss Mu decided that now was the time for her to add some commentary of her own.

“Guessin’ he was also a branch family member or at least part of the guard or somesuch right? Otherwise I wouldn’t imagine your father would be too keen on handing over the reins of his power to a relative nobody.”

Willow wrinkled her nose. “If he was a branch family member, wouldn’t that mean they were related? That feels gross to me.”

Mu waffled a hand. “Eh, at worst that means he was potentially a distant cousin. A good chunk of branch families are only tangentially related to the main house or clan, being brought into the fold by marriage or other means. They rarely cross pollinate as it were.”

Her grandmother looked nonplussed at the pair, and Willow belatedly realized they were derailing the conversation and being quite rude in the process.

Yet she still answered the question initially posed by Willow’s mentor. “He was, in fact, a member of the city guard in good standing. He was even quite popular among the populace before the demon attack so his ascension to clan patriarch was celebrated by the people even if it was criticised by others in the house.”

She shook herself to dispel the past from her mind.

“But enough about me for now, I tire of dwelling on my past mistakes. What happened to you children? You mentioned a beast king attack, was that what caused you to leave your hidden home behind?”

Willow fidgeted in her seat as she looked to Maple for help with explaining their situation. “Kind of?”

The sisters then took turns telling their grandmother what their living situation was like growing up, but by the end it was mostly the younger sister relaying what happened with the corrupted beast king since Maple was away when it happened.

She only stumbled a little bit when relaying the fate of Old Ping, which was a marked improvement in her eyes.

When they were done Grandma Thea looked at her youngest grandchild with concern.

“I’m sorry you had to experience that Willow. A child that age should not have needed to put themself in danger like you did.” Her core grew melancholy. “I wish I had been there to assist in dealing with such a threat.”

She turned and bowed her head to Miss Mu. “It seems I am once more in your debt, Miss wanderer. If it wasn’t for your intervention I would’ve lost more of my family, even if I hadn’t known of their existence until now.”

Miss Mu rubbed at the back of her head in embarrassment. “No need for you to start about that. Got enough thanks from Willow’s family to last a lifetime. I just happened to be at the right place to help, and Rotter got a chunk of power from the exchange so I wasn’t exactly doing it purely out of the goodness of my heart or anything.”

Grandma Thea chuckled, clearly not entirely believing her. “Be that as it may, is there anything you’d like as a reward? I don’t have much, but my granddaughter can attest I have a collection of materials stored here.”

Willow’s stomach chose to loudly announce its emptiness at this moment and all eyes moved to her.

“Some food would be a good start.” Miss Mu said with a grin.