Taranheim 181

After I told Terry about the bird flying around in his head, I also remembered to tell him before he would set out to find the flower tomorrow, “Terry, be very careful when you leave tomorrow. I saw wild mothmen in that forest. Please, if you see any sign of them at all, just run.”

And we parted ways after that and I thought of any unfinished business I wanted to take care of before I went to bed.

I decided I wanted to finally have a talk with my sister. I thought I couldn’t stand another minute of her hating me and wanted to at least try to explain to her what happened with me and Morgan. I asked a slave who was shaking out a rug in the castle where Gerta was.

He told me, “she’s straightening up the private dining hall.”

“Thank you,” I replied and went to go find her.

Being very short, she was standing on a chair and wiping down the table with a consternated frown on her face when I entered the room. She shot me a glare briefly and then ignored me.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. “Gerta, you don’t have to talk, but you could at least listen.”

She wiped down the table all the harder in anger, and said nothing.

“I know you’ll never believe me, but I can’t apologize enough for Morgan’s death. I was just worried for your safety and I wanted to confront him to make sure he wasn’t planning anything sinister. I didn’t think… I didn’t think things would end up like they did.” I told her sincerely.

She stopped scrubbing the table for a moment and took a deep breath while hunching over. In a moment, she allowed herself to cry. “I… I know… You just went to confront him for me, and then you ended up unconscious for three days. It’s Morgan I should hate and not you. You were right about him, it seems… He was a wild mothman. I can’t help the way I felt about him, though. Men always just ignored me—even father did. But Morgan was different. He seemed so lively and innocent and he wanted to spoil me. Nobody ever treated me so much like a lady.”

Gerta tossed her rag at the wall with angry tears. “I want to stop being petty and hating you. You’re all I have!”

She hunched over the table and her whole body shook with sadness. “My hands are raw from working so hard each and every day… I’ve been spat on by at least three humans, and even kicked by a few.”

I flew to her side and hugged her, unable to imagine what she had been through. I told her comfortingly. “Gerta, the Morgan you loved seemed like a sweet mothman. He told me he was born into the wild mothman cult—he was a victim—and despite everything, he wanted to do the right thing for everyone in the end.”

She asked me while sniffling, “truly?”

I nodded. “Truly.”

She wept and wept, and, remembering back to our childhood, I remembered that Gerta almost never cried. How rare and strange a thing it was to see her cry now. “I miss being a princess. I miss my mother and our siblings and how we used to play together and our beautiful kingdom made of wood!”

“I miss it too…” I replied wistfully.

In a moment I said to Gerta because I felt she could be trusted, “I have to tell you something. You may not believe it, but the god of lust was resurrected through Morgan. And when he was resurrected, a bird flew into the eyes of every man in every kingdom. I believe that is where the human power to summon lightning bolts comes from. But there is something else as well; it seems as if any man in the kingdom can be corrupted by these birds in their heads and go mad at any time. Gerta, do you know of any way to release these birds?”

She was in disbelief of the story, but she slowly replied, “I don’t know why you’d lie, so I will believe you. If I remember scripture correctly, only the crimson god himself can take the bird out.”

“Oh no…” I said sadly. And then in a moment I said happily, “you believe me, then?”

Gerta nodded slowly and she looked very ashamed of herself. “I should have asked to visit you while you were unconscious. I’m such a terrible sister. I’m sorry.”

“You can make it up to me! I have something to tell you! You see, I have a plan to free the moths slaves, and maybe you can help!” I informed her of what I wanted to do with Paris and the moth slaves, and she agreed to do anything she could to help. “Of course I’ll aid you; I want to try and start liking you. I promise I won’t tell anyone either.”

I told her everything I knew and everything that happened to me concerning the lustful god and she took in the information with a look of shock on her face.

There was a great pause between the two of us when I finished and she said, “Mimi, I have something to tell you. I know Markus went behind my back and told you that father didn’t rescue you on purpose, but there’s something else too that you should know. When the change happened in father and the giants stole you away, your mother set out to find you by herself because father wouldn’t aid her. She died out on the road—killed by a human who robbed her. I left to find her and that’s when thunder struck Nui. I’m so sorry I couldn’t find the heart to tell you before; she saved my life in a way. I managed to bury her before the humans enslaved me.”

I blinked away tears.

She didn’t even get to die with her family.

Gerta consoled me and let me cry on her shoulder.

At least I knew for sure now that my parents loved me right up until the end—even father did. It’s just that his mind had been corrupted by that lustful bird whispering things in his head.

However, I never really doubted their love for me but for a second after Markus had informed me of the awful news of my father. Their love was ingrained in me, and not even the magic that had veiled my father in darkness could fool me.