After All

Chapter 16: Past

When Artemisia finished updating the royals on all that she had learnt Catherina and Lief were stunned.

"Your grandfather was the one who murdered my mother?" Catherina asked, dumbfounded by what she had heard.

"Lucky for us, he's already deceased." Lief added, taking his wife by the hand before turning to Artemisia.

"Well, since we've got the motives for a war covered. Now we need to know what we're up against. Your friend mentioned your brother and his wives earlier. Is there anyone else we need to be aware of?" Lief asked.

"The only other person who could pose a threat to us is my mother, Bellona." Artemisia explained, giving Catherina and Lief some pause.

"What does your mother look like?" Catherina asked, feeling uneasy at the mention of Bellona's name.

"Like me, I guess. Black hair, blue eyes, pale, and she always looks angry. Oh, and we have the same birthmark on our foreheads." Artemisia rambled, pulling back her bangs to show off her Skathi rune. Catherina and Lief shared another shocked look upon realizing who Artemisia was talking about.

"Did your mother ever tell you about her childhood?" Lief inquired, leaning forward onto the table.

"Not really. The only thing I know about her is that she's from House Curran." Artemisia explained, feeling uncomfortable that she knew so little about her own mother.

"Curran? No, your mother was raised by Piper and Rufus Paulsen. And her name wasn't Bellona, it was Isabel." Catherina corrected.

"Huh? How do you know that?" Artemisia responded, confused by Catherina's comments.

"Your mother and I... we grew up together. She... she was my best friend." Catherina softly admitted. Artemisia blinked a few times out of shock at this revelation.

"Is... is there anything else you can tell me about her?" Artemisia replied, yearning to understand who her mother really was.

"The Paulsen's were a poor family, who made a living off of textiles. Bellona was the youngest of their nine children. After my mother's death, I took sewing lessons with Piper, she was known for being one of the best seamstresses' alive. That's where I met Bellona. We became inseparable after that." Catherina briefly summarized.

"I met Bellona and my wife at sea. My father Lars was an infamous pirate, terrorizing Elanans for gold. I was part of his crew as a teenager. For my first raid we tried boarding a royal vessel. As it turned out, Zacharias, Catherina and Bellona were on that ship. They helped me clean up my act after my father was lost at sea during that excursion. I've been here ever since." Lief added.

"But after we got engaged, Bellona became... distant. Not long after we got married, the Paulsen's were found murdered in their home. The only person who was unaccounted for was your mother. We tried to look for her, but we had to stop searching when the Skathi attacked." Catherina explained.

"Since then we had assumed Bellona had died or that she just didn't want to be found." Lief remarked, concluding their story. Artemisia blinked a few times in surprise, slumping back into her chair as she tried to process what she had heard.

"Why didn't my mother tell me she grew up in Elan?" Artemisia wondered out loud.

"Perhaps your mother was afraid." Catherina suggested.

"Or she had a guilty conscience." Lief grimly added, recalling the cruel actions of Artemisia's family.

After his failed attempt at murdering Artemisia, Quillian felt he had no choice but to confront his mother next. He stormed into the castle and found his mother in the throne room.