Epilogue

Kumud sat in her room, tears falling from her eyes as her shoulder bounced and her throat let out grunts. All she wanted was to be part of a family. Now that she had a family, she wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. Everything about her life had been a lie. Her mother wasn't a servant in the castle. She was the queen herself, and she had murdered her. She had a sister she didn't even know she had, a sister who didn't even know of her existence. A sister who seemed to want everything to be normal. But it could never be.

She took a deep breath and stepped into the bath. The water was warm on her skin, making her grip tightly onto the rims of the large tub, biting back screams of pain as the water lashed against the countless open wounds that marred her back. Images of the years she'd gone through so much pain tore through her mind, ripping her apart from the inside.

What will my sister do if she learned of these? Will she murder everyone who ever wronged us?

Part of Kumud wouldn't blame her for that, but the other part of her didn't want blood on her sister's hand. Not because of her. She would get revenge on her own. But how? How was she going to acclimate to her new environment? To her new title of princess? To her new role as a sister? She had been too long without any warm interactions. Now there were so many people around her. Would she be able to be herself and overcome her fears?

You're going to have to try, she told herself. All your life you have longed for a place among them and now you have it. You can learn to love. They will teach you .

Through her tears, she smiled. Maybe she could make the best of it after all. She stared down at her hands and watched as lightning sparked between her fingers. But only after she had her revenge.