My mind spun with Queen Lyra's revelation—the Moon Goddess had used her as a surrogate. All those years of self-doubt, thinking I'd been unwanted, and it turned out my conception had been divine intervention. A child both mortal and divine.
I stared at the woman who had carried me, who had loved me, who had given me up. Her words echoed in my head: "We have so little time left to prepare you for what's coming."
Her face, so similar to mine in structure yet weathered by years of grief, glistened with tears. Without thinking, I reached out and embraced her. She stiffened momentarily before melting against me, her body shaking with silent sobs.
"I understand," I whispered, feeling a strange sense of kinship. "I know what it's like to think you'll never have a child. To feel your body has betrayed you."
When I pulled away, Queen Lyra was looking at me with wonder. "The Goddess told me you'd have a compassionate heart. Even after everything you've been through."
