To Those Who Never Knew (A Monksblood Bible Novel Book 1)

by Isabella Anton

  Did they also die because of me?

  The unnerving feeling of being suspended made my heart ache. I didn’t know what had become of Tristan—of any of them. I knew my magic was still within me despite the prince’s wishes, and that the land, though severely drained, still held a certain amount of magic. I had felt it while standing atop the hill. One spark.

  There was a knock on the outer door of the shower. “Jade, that’s twenty minutes! I’m calling them!”

  “Alright!” I yelled, annoyed that Jackie had broken my self-wallowing. I dried and pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, the tight material feeling more like a straitjacket than comfy clothes.

  When I got out, Jackie was standing right there with her ear to the phone. “Janet.” Did she just call Mom, Janet? “She’s here.”

  There was a pause and then, “I’ll try,” and she hung up. “She says you’re not to move an inch until they get here.”

  “No worries there,” I said more lightheartedly than I felt. “I’ll be in my room.”

  Bowen trailed behind and when inside made himself comfortable on my bed, his feet dangling off the edge. He patted the space next to him.

  I threw the skirts and bodice of the dress into the trashcan, leaving it to die, and joined him.

  “It will take them at least ten minutes to get here.” He smiled and put his arms around me.

  “That’s more than enough time for a quick nap.” I was exhausted. Wielding all-powerful magic, making Bowen immortal, and time traveling back home had really taken it out of me.

  “I’ll wake you when they’re here.”

  My parents must have been closer than we thought because just as I was about to close my eyes, I heard my mother’s booming voice.

  “Jade. Elizabeth. Morrison!”

  I quickly jumped out of the bed, but she was already standing in the space of my door. “Mom!”

  She stormed in, Dad hanging back, a big smile plastered on his face.

  “How dare you leave us!” She was pissed off. Beyond pissed off. Her hands shook as she came towards me and I was ready for them to wrap around my shoulders and shake me until I was unconscious. She even scowled at Bowen, who was still lying without a care in the world on my bed.

  “Mom! It’s not like I planned it or had a choice–” She cut me off, pulling me into her shaking arms. I could feel her tears drop onto my shirt.

  “Don’t-t-t,” she stuttered between breaths, “don’t ever do that again.”

  I glanced over her shoulder and saw Dad still sheepishly standing behind. “Hey, Dad,” I called.

  “Hey, pumpkin.” He came over and joined the hug. “I knew you’d be fine. Bowen promised us that much.”

  I laughed. Even after all I had been through, everything I had discovered about myself and about the world, it was true, I was fine.

  We all stood there, enjoying the moment, until Jackie interrupted.

  “Jade… um… There’s someone here to see you…” Her eyes darted out the room with every word she uttered.

  I came to stand beside her and looked out to see who it was. When I did, I almost tore the door off its hinges.

  It was Finch.

  Envoi.

  There was an old woman tossed up in a basket

  Seventeen times as high as the moon.

  Where she was going I could not but ask it,

  For in her hand she carried a broom.

  “Old woman, old woman, old woman” quoth I

  “Oh wither, oh wither, oh wither so high?”

  “To sweep the cobwebs from the sky, but I’ll be with you by and by.”

  - Aliquis

  Translations.

  A fydd o bwer, Pwer ewyllys. Cymerwch hwn enaid personau ac yn rhwymo I fy llaw. Gyda sillafu hwn, Dwi ddim yn rhwymo. – Will of power, power of will. Take this persons soul and bind it to my hand. With this spell I do bind.

  Cachu – Shit

  Cawl – Soup

  Ffwciwr – Fucker

  Gå döda dig själv – Go kill yourself

  Gath fach ofnys – Kitten (or scared-y cat)

  Golau a Tywyll – Light and Dark

  Gruffydd – Griffith

  Iwan – Okay

  Llundein – London

  Mae’r ddraig goch yn arwain y ffordd. – The red dragon leads the way.

  Penblwydd hapus – Happy birthday

  Tafod – Tounge

  Teithio – Travel

  Tra bod yr hwrod yn codi, mae’r defaid yn cysgu heb ffŵcin ots. – While the whores rise, the sheep sleep without a fucking care.

  Y Goedwig – The Forest

  Acknowledgments.

  I want to give a huge thank you to UWTSD and Lampeter for inspiring my adventures, especially Gruffydd Wyn Owen, without whose cultural trips I would have never seen all the amazing places set in this book. And to all the people I met along the way. If you found yourself reliving our glory days, then I must have done something right.

  Thank you to my family: Victoria, Katarina, Laylah, and especially my dad, Paul Stefan Anton, who was my first beta reader. I will never forget you coming home from a business trip, dropping your bag right in front of me, and scooping me up into a big hug, the words “I can’t believe you wrote something like this” positively hanging in the air.

  Special thanks goes to one of the best people in the world: Kelly Mundt-Czerkawska at KJP Services (twitter.com/KJPServices). Thank you for taking the time out of your days to read and steer me in the right direction. I would also like to thank Rhys Thomas Lennon for helping with all the Welsh translations. And finally, a huge thank you to Anita B. Carroll (race-point.com), Maria Waite (mlwproofreading.co.uk) and TJ INK (tjink.co.uk), for their help! I would not have been able to publish my book without them.

  And last, but never least, thank you reader, for picking up this book and letting me take you on an adventure of a lifetime.