Anna frowned.
"I think that's almost impossible."
"Yes. For a transformed human, it's impossible. But you're a Bruma. You're strong and after what you'll learn here, you'll know how to suppress the vampire inside you, and when you do it for the first time, you'll no longer have their privileged speed, sight and hearing. Those things will disappear, along with the thirst for blood."
"I'll be stronger being a Bruma and a vampire."
"Yes. But you shouldn't. We were slow to accept that there would be a change in the world of the supernatural. A progression. We didn't accept it, because we didn't want to. We were comfortable the way we were, but the other supernaturals evolved, and our stubbornness almost drove us to extinction. We need to match each other in strength, not in essence. In any case, from your womb will be born a creature that no one has ever seen before. But don't dwell on these things. Life will go on as normal for many years before significant changes take place."
"What do I need to do?"
"Lean against the green veneered wall and close your eyes. You'll probably spend a few days receiving the ancestral information. I'll be your guardian until you awaken."
"When I awaken, will I know everything?"
"Yes. Everything a Bruma should know."
"My daughter is a Bruma?"
Brianna smiled dreamily.
"One of the things I'm proud of, Anna, is being the mother of the Bruma who started a new era. An era where more than one Bruma can be born and live at the same time."
Anna smiled and approached the wall.
"Someone needs to warn my father about me being late."
"Henry doesn't need to be told, Anna. He knows a lot about the supernaturals."
Anna turned to the wall.
"I should lie down. I'll get tired if I stay here for days."
"Just lean against the wall, Anna."
Anna closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. Millions of images and pieces of information ran through her mind, and she learned every single one of them, down to the smallest detail.
...
Three days later, Anna opened her eyes. Her mother was no longer there. In fact, she now understood that she had never left. She lived inside her, just like all the Brumas of the past. Anna now knew every magic word, and everything she could do. Her eyes darkened when she remembered the oath Adam had forced her to take. But his lips showed a smile. He was driven by love, which he had never allowed himself to admit. She closed her eyes. She was the true queen of Avallon, and someone was usurping her throne. She looked at the entrance to the cave. This was a place that needed to be preserved. No other Bruma would enjoy the knowledge of the Mists of the past, but they would still need to pass through the cave in order for their magic to be awakened. She was curious to see its eyes. In her visions, the eyes of the Brumas changed color rapidly, alternately, when they practiced magic.
Anna felt invigorated. She left the cave and headed towards the place where her family's castle once stood. It was now a large, luxurious house, but it respected the king's decree that all the houses follow the colonial pattern.
She felt lighter now that she knew she would no longer have to quench her insane thirst for blood. It was impossible to separate the vampire gene from her body and spare her life. But it didn't matter about her speed, her wings that allowed her to fly freely through the sky, her hearing or her sight. No. None of that mattered in the face of what she could do now. In her heart, she longed to find an enemy so that she could put everything she now knew into practice.
She arrived in front of the house and watched for two seconds before opening the door and entering. That house was hers. And she would uproot anyone who was in her place.
She heard a giggle, almost childish, as she was about to climb the stairs, and turned around. A teenager was standing there, arms folded, looking at her curiously, with a cold gaze.
Anna put her hands on her waist and looked disapprovingly at him.
"Are you laughing at me?" She asked sternly, but she wasn't feeling it.
The boy looked at her seriously.
"Are you watching me laugh?" He asked with his green eyes blazing furiously.
Anna let her arms fall by her sides, then slowly raised her hand and looked at her wedding ring. The shade of green of that ring, she had only seen before, on two people. In her mother, and in herself. And now she saw it in that boy too.
Anna shook her head to clear away the improbable thoughts forming in her mind.
"I need to speak to the usurper of the kingdom of Avallon." She said, believing that she didn't need to discuss amenities with a child.
"Usurper?"
"Yes. Someone who takes someone else's place..."
"I know what it means. We have school here." He said aggressively.
"Don't they teach you to be polite and kind to people at this school?"
"You can check for yourself what is taught in schools. Maybe you'll learn something, like not to trespass."
Anna smiled.
"Your mother must be waiting for you, kid. I need to sort some things out."
"I don't have a mother, and if you need to sort some things out, do it, but not in my house."
Anna looked at him in surprise.
"You live here?"
The boy continued to stare at her angrily, but didn't answer.
"Where's your father?"
"He's on a ship."
"And he left you alone?"
"I can take care of myself."
"I don't doubt that. But who takes care of the kingdom in his absence? I think your aggression is linked to the fact that I referred to him as a usurper. He's the king, right?"
"No. He's not king. He's nothing. I am."
Anna stared at him in amazement, already thinking of asking him something, when she saw the person she had never expected to meet there emerge behind the boy, with the same man who had led her to the cave entrance.
"Genevieve?"
She smiled.
"I'm glad you haven't forgotten who I am." She replied wryly.