“I don’t work for him, Ara. I workwithhim. I came to form my own opinions about him and I stayed because he is not his father. This throne was thrust upon him rather quickly and after a lifetime with Adrastus, he needed a helpful hand, a friend.”
I stared at him for a moment, taken aback by his sincerity, before glancing back at the sketch and noting the similarities.
Uneasiness formed in my gut as I studied them both like something was staring me in the face, but I couldn’t quite see it. Alden tapped his finger on the page then and I noticed the note scribbled at the bottom. It was newer than the rest of the writing, scribbled in black ink.
Had a human lover who was with child at the time of his death. Neither she, nor the child, was ever found or identified.
“Oh…”
It was understandable why they would go into hiding, but I don’t understand how they could’ve stayed hidden for so long. Surely, the child, being half-Fae and half-human, would’ve shown attributes of both.
“How could they hide in either Auryna or Ravaryn? The human mother would have to remain in Auryna for her safety, but what about the child? They would have Fae characteristics. She couldn’t hide them there forever,” I thought aloud.
I looked up to find Alden gazing down at me, his eyes full of sympathy, but he said nothing.
“What?”
“Look at him. Really look at him… Does he not look familiar?” he urged gently, the crease between my eyebrows deepening.
“Yes, he looks like you,” I replied flatly.
“He looks likeyou, Ara.”
I gaped at him, blinking rapidly, trying to process what he was saying.
“What are you talking about, Alden? That’s not even possible,” I said weakly. “That’s not…”
“The child went missing twenty-six years ago. You are twenty-six, are you not?”
My eyes widened as I stared at him, looking but not seeing.
Twenty-six. The same age as me. With a human mother.
Gray eyes… My eyes. The ones that matched no one else in the family. The ones my mother adored.
No. I am no one.
No one.
My mind flashed to the conversation with my mother. She said she wasn’t in love with Evander…Had she been in love with another?
A cold sweat broke out along my spine as my heart thundered in my ears.
“We look similar, have the same eyes, because Vaelor was my son… And you are his daughter.”
No. Evander is my father. Why would I believe him? I don’t know this man.
My eyes darted to Alden’s face. To his eyes. My eyes.
The room spun and I grabbed the table to steady myself.
“How do you know this? Why would I believe you? You don’t even know me.”
“Your mother is Elora.”
It wasn’t a question. He wasn’t asking. He already knew.
I couldn’t think straight as he pulled out a small journal from his robes.