She’d kept so many secrets. From all of us, but especially from me. Her daughter, her firstborn. If anyone should have known the truth, shouldn’t it have been me? Before Teller, before even Father, it had been the two of us, alone in the world. An unwed mother and her bastard infant. A part of me hated her for it, even though I knew she had done it for me. I knew in my heart, my soul, that my mother would do anything to protect me. Keep any secret. Make any deal. Tell any lie.
