The statue of the woman not far away from Ava was just the exact face of the woman that she saw in one of her dreams. It was Lady Julliane. She had long hair and a stern-looking face. Despite this, she still looked beautiful. Ava approached the statue.
"Baba... imbued some magick into this place. Once you touch the statue, you can see her."
She heard Matthew say. Ava didn’t hesitate. She touched the feet of the teen foot statue. Almost immediately, her vision changed.
She saw a beautiful woman wearing a long white dress. She was sitting in front of a garden having some tea. Ava approached the woman. She looked too real, too lifelike, she couldn’t take her eyes off her.
A soft gust of wind moved the woman’s hair.
Slowly, the woman turned towards Ava.
Up close, Lady Julliane looked like a fairy.
"I have been waiting..." a soft voice came from the woman’s mouth.
"You— " Ava didn’t know what to say. Was she talking to Ava? Was this some sort of a secret message?
Instead of answering her question, the woman smiled. "You look beautiful."
"I— "
"Take a seat."
Ava said nothing as she complied. Well even if she wanted to say something, she couldn’t. Not when the woman’s beautiful face was smiling at her like that. To be honest, the woman had no similarity to Matthew aside from their eyes.
Hers was golden. Like an olive. It was beautiful, especially in front of the setting sun.
"Lady Julliane— "
"Please call me mother."
Ava blinked. She wondered if this message was supposed to be for Matthew instead. As if sensing her doubt, Lady Julliane shook her head.
"I am talking to you. Matthew’s mate."
"How did you— "
"I gave birth to my son. Even though he is not really my son, I carried him for forty weeks and was able to experience childbirth thanks to him. He is my flesh and blood."
That made sense.
"And he would never take another woman to see me. Aside from his mate." Lady Julliane took a quick sip from the teacup in her hand. Now that Ava was close, she noticed that there was no smell coming from the tea. Still, she could see steam rising from the cup.
"This isn’t a hallucination," Lady Julliane added. "I asked Babaylan to arrange this for me. I wanted to meet you. Though this is only a fragment of my soul. After this... I would leave this world."
"You asked her to do this? Did you know that leaving a fragment of your soul could— "
"I know," Lady Julliane said. "I was not able to travel to the spirit realm. Babaylan informed me. She forbid me from doing this. Though, I never cared about the world after death. She assured me it would be different. I declined. In the end, she agreed." Lady Julliane suddenly held her stomach, as if she was pregnant.
Then Ava realized it. The Lady must have done this right after she discovered she was pregnant or after she gave birth. Since she was wearing a large white dress, Ava couldn’t really see any bumps or any indication that she was pregnant.
"By now, he must have told you," Lady Julliane said. "I did not die from their schemes. It was from another curse that my family suffered."
Ava nodded.
"The cursed stated that our lineage would end with females that cannot bore a child. My cousins, my nephews, and everyone around my age were all women. And all of us cannot bore a child. The King, Matthew’s father knew this."
Ava said nothing. If the King knew about this then what about—
"The Queen and the others don’t," Lady Julliane said. "The marriage was an attempt to save our family. Though I admit, I have fallen for that man’s wits and appearance, the purpose of the marriage was to find a witch strong enough to help us. Unfortunately, Babaylan was not strong enough."
Ava frowned.
"But you are..." Lady Julliane said. "Aren’t you?"
"How did you know that?"
"Someone like him would never have a weak mate." Lady Julliane smiled. "He is not a Lycan. It is only right that he would have someone so rare, so unique."
"Did you try to— consult someone that could see the future?"
"I did," Lady Julliane smiled. "But I did not see anything. He was not supposed to be here. And so are you."
Goosebumps skittered on Ava’s arms. This was the second time she heard someone tell her something like that.
"Whatsoever it is that you are thinking is wrong." Lady Julliane added. "I knew you were a strong witch because of a prediction that my family had stumbled upon as we scramble to find the solution to our predicament. It was said that a strong witch would become a member of our family. I first thought it would be Babaylan. I was wrong. Now, I understand. Once you marry him, you will become one of ours. A strong witch that would break the curse."
Realization hit Ava. "Was this the reason why you risk leaving your soul although Baba already warned you of the repercussions of your actions?" she asked.
"You are very smart." Lady Julliane smiled. "I don’t know if you already married him but I don’t think I still have another opportunity to meet you again. However, I would like to give something to you." An old key floated towards Ava.
"Go on... take it. That is the key to a hidden room behind my statue. It contains every valuable that my family owned. I knew those things would never interest my son. So I am giving them to you."
"Lady Julliane— " Ava stared at the woman’s gentle smile.
"I know my appearance must have surprised you. And I know the responsibility that I just gave you might be too heavy. Please forgive me. Just know that I do not have any other choice." Lady Julliane suddenly reached her hand. "I truly wish to meet you again. I would love to have some tea and hear your story. But I do not have much time. You needed to leave. And remember... no matter what happens, Matthew is Matthew. He is my son. And that makes you my daughter. I will be watching over you two."
With that, a strong wind hit Ava’s face.
The next thing she knew she was already back in the hall, gasping for air, an old key in hand.
....
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