Part 31 (1/2)
”What are you going to do?” Ruby asked when we went back to my quarters.
I stopped pacing and stared at them. ”Nothing. If Bran comes back, let me know.”
”We can ask around the city-”
”No.” That would only alert someone of his presence. I was going to wait for him to come to me. He always did. ”I'll know when he's back.”
”Would you like to know when Lord Gavyn comes back?”
Katia had that covered, but it didn't hurt to have more eyes and ears. ”Sure, thanks.”
Instead of staying in my quarters, I headed to the library and spent the next couple of hours scouring books and CCs on articles about my father, Prisoner Zero, and the Specials. If the prisoner in the dungeon had betrayed him, I figured there must be a record. As for the Specials, I had to know more about their instability. It was like learning you had a debilitating disease. I had to know just how bad it was before asking anyone about it.
I didn't leave the library until dinnertime and I still had no answers. There should have been a whole shelf of books on unstable Specials. There wasn't anything except praises for Queen Coronis's interbreeding program. And there wasn't anything on Father and Prisoner Zero, either. Strange.
-17-.
”Your father and sister are not on the island this evening,” Lady Nemea told me when I went upstairs to change for dinner.
”Eat with me,” I heard myself say.
She was more than happy to join me, but I didn't know where to start with my questions, so I went with ”How long have you known my father?”
She smiled. ”Since he was a child. When he was born, the queen herself placed him in my arms. I was only seventeen at the time. She believed he was the one, the red-headed child from her family who would have the powers of Princ.i.p.ality Azazel. The Chosen One.”
I frowned. ”What happened to his mother...my grandmother?”
”She was around, but the queen decided they were not equipped to raise him. She took him from her, brought him to the castle, and asked me to be one of his nannies. He never wanted for anything. She watched him grow and watched him train.” Lady Nemea smiled. ”He was special and she never let him or anyone forget it. Then he turned sixteen and his abilities appeared.”
”He didn't have powers early like the Specials?”
She chuckled. ”No, dear. That only happened with the last batch of children. First to appear was your father's energy power, then solid, and finally psi. She waited for the rest to appear. Waited and waited.” Lady Nemea went silent and I felt her anger. ”When they didn't, she cast him aside, exiled him to the human world to watch over the other Specials. He was only eighteen.”
Poor Father. ”Was he happy? As a child, that is?” I asked.
A pensive expression settled on Lady Nemea's face. ”As happy as a child who knew the fate of an entire race was resting on his shoulders could be. I tried to love him as a mother would, but I was a child, too. It wasn't enough. He needed her love, but got her approval when he ran faster than everyone, outfought boys his age and older, and was at the top of his cla.s.s academically. He knew she loved seeing him excel at various things, and he worked hard to impress her, but deep inside he would have preferred a hug or a kiss instead of a nod. It was heartbreaking watching him wait patiently as she read his report, then patted his head before sending him away. Yet he never complained, acted up, or cried. He worked harder, grew distant, and shunned everyone who tried to show him kindness or love.”
My heart ached for him. ”Even you?”
She shrugged. ”We had our moments when he was younger. Leaving home was hard. It was the only time I ever saw him show emotions. He was devastated. He knew what she was saying by sending him away. He wasn't the Chosen One and therefore he was no longer worthy of her time. For years, he worked hard, hoping she'd call him home. She just gave him more and more responsibilities.”
”What about his parents and grandparents? Didn't he have siblings, half-brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, anyone?”
”He did, but he didn't know them, and Queen Coronis made sure he didn't have anything to do with them when he was growing up. Like most Specials, he wasn't really close to his family.”
His family meant my family. Excitement coursed through me. ”So, are they here on the island?”
She sighed and shook her head. ”Maybe third or fourth cousins. No close relatives. Like most of us, you lost them when the Guardians attacked Coronis Isle.”
Great! Not only had I killed my people, I had killed my relatives. Talk about dysfunctional. ”Did he ever go back to Coronis Isle?”
”Oh, yes, for meetings. She refused to find him a mate. Decade after decade, he waited while she approved mates for his cousins and other young men around his age. He met Solange's mother and went to ask the queen's permission to marry her, but she said no.”
”She was punis.h.i.+ng him,” I said, fighting tears.
”Yes. It is a good thing he didn't tell her the woman was already pregnant with his child. There's no knowing what she would have done. He was afraid she'd take Solange and raise her the way he was raised. He made sure Solange and her mother were cared for, but he kept away from them. He visited whenever he could, but he couldn't be in her life. Sometimes...” She sighed and blinked as though fighting tears, too. ”I try to explain things to Solange, but she doesn't understand that he was protecting her.”
No wonder Solange was always competing for his attention. I gripped Lady Nemea's hand to console her. It was obvious all this distressed her. The smile she gave me was wobbly.
”So, when he met your mother, he made sure no one knew about her. He panicked when you were born and you had his hair. Anyone who saw you would know you were a descendant of Azazel. We had enough redheads on the island being treated like they could be the Chosen One, but none had hair like his, except you.” She reached up and touched my hair. My hair was various shades of red, totally weird, and everyone was always staring at it. ”He worried that Queen Coronis would find out about you. Just like Solange, he didn't want you raised like he was. Unloved. Every movement scrutinized. Every mistake treated like it was the end of the world. He was thinking of leaving everything behind, finding a place like this”-she waved to indicate the island-”and disappearing with you and your mother.”
Lady Nemea went silent, but I knew what was coming. ”Someone betrayed him,” I said.
She blinked and stared at me for a moment without saying a word, then nodded. ”Yes, someone close to him betrayed him, and Queen Coronis sent her guards to Seattle to get him and you. The orders were to kill your mother. I hid you and your mother in a secret room under the floor. When they started the search, I used my energy to hide hers and yours.” She cupped my face and wiped my cheeks with her thumbs. ”Don't cry, sweetheart. We triumphed. You and your father are back together now, and that's all that matters.”
”He's been through so much,” I murmured.
She shrugged. ”He's a tough man.”
”Even tough guys need love,” I said.
”He's loved. By you. By your sister. By everyone on this island.”
I studied her. She was young for someone who used to babysit him. ”Do you?”
She c.o.c.ked her brow. ”What?”
”Do you love him, too?”
She smiled, her eyes twinkling. ”I've known him since he was a baby. I changed his diapers. Of course I love him.” She stood. ”We need this food warmed. We've been talking and completely forgot to eat.”
She was running. ”Telepath the kitchen and they'll warm it for us.”
”Oh, I need to oversee this.”
I grabbed her hand to stop her from teleporting and telepathed Bilal, the head chef. ”It's okay, you know. To love Father.”
Lady Nemea studied my upturned face, a weird look in her eyes. A spasm crossed her face and I thought she was going to cry, but then she took a deep breath and smiled.
”You've seen him at his best and his worst, been there for him through the good and the bad. You must love him.”
”I do,” she said, her voice sounding sad, ”but it's complicated. And you have a lot to deal with without worrying about me and your father. Now, can I go warm the food or not?”
I smiled and indicated the servants standing behind her. ”They'll take care of it.” I waited for them to leave and for Lady Nemea to sit down again. ”So, what's complicating things?”
”Now, this is cozy,” Solange said from the doorway of her bedroom, her voice sounding funny. She was dressed in black, which seemed to be her standard uniform whenever she left the island. ”Did I miss dinner?”