Free Hail to the Queen (Sage Trilogy, Book 3) by Julius St. Clair Page B

recognition. He couldn’t identify her, but she was eerily familiar, like seeing an old photograph as an infant. The woman cleared her throat and put up her hands in surrender as she slowly approached.
    “No further!” James shouted and she stopped. She brushed her hands on the dirty apron strung over her shoulders and smiled warmly.
    “James, you probably don’t remember me, but…well, I’m your mother.”
    “What?” James snapped in shock, then he promptlyclutched his head in agony. Keeping that manifestation together had done more damage to him than he thought. The woman who claimed to be his mother took the opportunity to scurry over and sit beside him. James glanced at her and studied her face. He was just about to dismiss the possibility when he finally settled on her eyes.
    There she was.
    Perhaps they had seen a lot of suffering, stung by rivers of tears and bloodshot with a combination of stress and old age, but there she was nonetheless. The same eyes that stared deep into him when he was child, rocking him to sleep, humming lullabies and whispering tips of how to become a man though he was still a baby...
    But why was she here? Why now?
    “You are my mother,” James said emotionless. Neither budged from their position.
    “You must hate me for leaving you.”
    “No,” James chuckled. “No, I hate my father, especially for not playing his role properly, let alone yours. You, I don’t feel anything for, whether it’s hate or love.”
    “Fair enough,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. “But can I at least tell you why I left?”
    “What are you doing here, anyways?” James asked as he shook his head in disbelief. “Why appear now?”
    “I can ask you the same question, son,” she said. “You’re the one who appeared in Quietus.”
    “Is this where we are?”
    “Yes. A lot has happened since you went unconscious. I intercepted Catherine , and we had a mutual understanding. Don’t worry, there’s no animosity between the Quietus villagers and the two of you. All that endangered your lives are dead.”
    “Then where is she?”
    “I’ll tell you,” Nadia said as calm as she could. “But I have to tell you the truth first.”
    “It can wait.”
    “No. No, it can’t. Because I’m certain that I won’t see you again once you leave.”
    James looked at his mother curiously but nodded in her direction, giving her permission to continue.
    “You’re half-Quietus, James,” Nadia sighed. “I’m sure you ’ve realized it by now. Perhaps if you had stayed in Allay where there was nothing to trigger our warrior blood, you could have lived a normal, human existence, but since you joined Allay’s soldiers, I’m sure you’ve…transformed by now.”
    “Twice,” James stated truthfully. “And both times I had no clue what was happening. In the first occurrence, I was being tortured. I don’t remember much of the ordeal, but I know I killed a lot of Langorans.”
    “Your awakening,” Nadia said. “That’s what we call it. The first time a Quietus transforms. It’s our version of puberty. From that point on it gets easier, but in the beginning, it’s always bloody. We usually quarantine a young one when we suspect they’re close…so, what about the second?”
    “I was already a Sage,” James sighed. “I was fighting another Sage that was stronger than I was. He struck a fatal blow and I heard a voice speaking to me. It came from somewhere deep inside…I don’t know. It was something li ke that. Anyways, it spoke…and afterwards, I pulled out another eidolon, far different than the first. It was of my Quietus side, I think. It looked black and rippled with energy – a whole lot stronger than my Allayan one too.”
    “Fascinating,” Nadia said in awe. “ Kingdoms don’t mix their populations so it’s very rare to see a child like you exist, let alone one that is able to harness the power of both people.”
    “Yeah, how did that work? Dad…um, well, he doesn’t