The Crown of Gilded Bones (Blood and..

Another small smile appeared on her lips. “I remember
the deities, Penellaphe. While many could be prone to all
manner of misdeeds, not all of them were that way. The
others? If they had gone to sleep like the gods, who’s to say
what would’ve become of the deities? We’ll never know. But
Malec…he wasn’t a bad man, Penellaphe.”
Even though I had just basically said that Malec was
nothing more than a stranger to me, part of me filled with
curiosity and the need to learn more about the man who
was my father. That had to be natural. “He wasn’t?” I asked
finally.
Her hair shone a blue-black in the sunlight as she shook
her head. “He wasn’t a bad ruler. For a long time, he was
fair and just. And he could be very generous and kind. He
was never abusive toward me or intentionally cruel.”
“He was unfaithful. Repeatedly,” I said, and immediately
wished I hadn’t voiced what I was thinking. “I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t—”
“No need to apologize,” she said with a low laugh. “He
was unfaithful and, yes, repeatedly. The man had two heads,
and I’m sure you can guess which one he used most.”
It took me a moment to realize what she meant, and
then my eyes widened.
“But he wasn’t like that when we first met. It was only
toward the end that I started to see this…stirring inside him.
This great unrest that I came to believe, even before what
he’d done with his mistress, was because he was becoming
something else. I…I don’t know what happened, what
changed him so that he was no longer satisfied with me and
the life we were trying to build. Why the generosity and
kindness that had once been second nature to him faded.
But I know it was no fault of mine, and I have long since
stopped wondering and caring about why he sought
completion and purpose in the arms of others. What I am
trying to say is that your father wasn’t a monster,