Whatever this truth that
Matthias was about to reveal, his father knew about it.
No, not just knew. His father was
involved.
“Long ago, there was a servant in the castle,
a young, unmarried woman. She died in childbirth the same night my
queen gave birth to the princess. No one claimed the babe.”
Rosamund’s arms wound around her waist, the
already pale skin ghost white.
“I knew there was a possibility of something
happening during my daughter’s naming – I knew enough of the Elf
King’s pride to make plans against it. I decided to present that
child instead of my daughter to the kingdom.”
His voice was as flat as anyone else
discussing the weather. Seth’s head spun. Rosamund was cursed
during the naming. But the baby at the naming was not the king’s
daughter, which meant Rosamund…
Rosamund.
I’m so sorry .
Betrayal etched itself deep into Rosamund’s
features, her body bowed in pain. She was a small, broken thing, a
little bird left alone in the highest branches of the tallest tree
and no idea how to fly. “Are you saying,” she said, her voice a
whispery bloodletting, “me? I’m not your daughter? I’m a
sacrifice?”
“I never expected this curse,” Matthias said,
a defense against the indefensible. “I never thought it would end
like this.”
Rosamund didn’t speak. He saw her again as
she was when they were children, the longing in her to see a tree
and feel grass under her feet, the emptiness she fought from
consuming her.
She had no words, so Seth spoke them for her.
“No, you didn’t expect this,” he snapped, and any empathy he felt
for the king was forever ended. “You expected her to die that day.
At the time, all you worried about was how to reintroduce your
daughter later without gaining the Elf King’s attention.”
Matthias’s color was high, his jaw clenched,
and he said nothing further. Seth rounded on his own father. “What
did you know of this?”
His father denied nothing. “It was best for
the kingdom.”
Of course that would be his father’s
response. Everything for the kingdom. His life, his marriage…wait.
Wait. Why the frenzy about the marriage contracts? They never would
have said anything if they were planning for Rosamund to remain the
princess. That they told meant he was never going to marry
Rosamund, and now with the curse over, they were going to
reintroduce the real princess. “Where is the real princess
now?”
Both rulers answered not with voice, but as
one as their gazes locked on Kira.
Kira’s eyes flicked between the two men, and
with every pass they grew wider. Shock was not immediate, but when
it hit finally, Kira’s legs buckled. Only luck that a chair stood
nearby saved her from falling on the ground.
“Me?”
Of course it was her. The obviousness of it
had traces of embarrassment coloring his mind. Why else would his
father have demanded she always be around him? His father, for all
his faults, was not a stupid man. He had observed Seth’s feelings
for Kira. Where Seth had assumed anything from indifference to
outright cruelty in his father’s machinations to keep him and Kira
always together, it was instead merely a way to ensure a smooth
merger of the kingdoms.
Matthias looked at Kira then, a hesitant hope
on his face. “You were safe with Thomas. It was the best I could do
at the time.”
Kira turned to him, and the truths of this
day were writ large on haunted eyes and unsmiling mouth. Truths
that would take time for all of them to absorb.
Rosamund had been still and silent through
the exchange. Seth looked at her. Her eyes were shuttered, but he
saw the connections being made behind them nonetheless.
Her strength awed him again, only the latest
incident in a long line. She survived the crush of the curse, and
she would survive this betrayal.
With a straight back and pride in every line
of her body, Rosamund walked toward Matthias. The king had the gall
to look impatient, as if he wanted this discussion done
Matthias was about to reveal, his father knew about it.
No, not just knew. His father was
involved.
“Long ago, there was a servant in the castle,
a young, unmarried woman. She died in childbirth the same night my
queen gave birth to the princess. No one claimed the babe.”
Rosamund’s arms wound around her waist, the
already pale skin ghost white.
“I knew there was a possibility of something
happening during my daughter’s naming – I knew enough of the Elf
King’s pride to make plans against it. I decided to present that
child instead of my daughter to the kingdom.”
His voice was as flat as anyone else
discussing the weather. Seth’s head spun. Rosamund was cursed
during the naming. But the baby at the naming was not the king’s
daughter, which meant Rosamund…
Rosamund.
I’m so sorry .
Betrayal etched itself deep into Rosamund’s
features, her body bowed in pain. She was a small, broken thing, a
little bird left alone in the highest branches of the tallest tree
and no idea how to fly. “Are you saying,” she said, her voice a
whispery bloodletting, “me? I’m not your daughter? I’m a
sacrifice?”
“I never expected this curse,” Matthias said,
a defense against the indefensible. “I never thought it would end
like this.”
Rosamund didn’t speak. He saw her again as
she was when they were children, the longing in her to see a tree
and feel grass under her feet, the emptiness she fought from
consuming her.
She had no words, so Seth spoke them for her.
“No, you didn’t expect this,” he snapped, and any empathy he felt
for the king was forever ended. “You expected her to die that day.
At the time, all you worried about was how to reintroduce your
daughter later without gaining the Elf King’s attention.”
Matthias’s color was high, his jaw clenched,
and he said nothing further. Seth rounded on his own father. “What
did you know of this?”
His father denied nothing. “It was best for
the kingdom.”
Of course that would be his father’s
response. Everything for the kingdom. His life, his marriage…wait.
Wait. Why the frenzy about the marriage contracts? They never would
have said anything if they were planning for Rosamund to remain the
princess. That they told meant he was never going to marry
Rosamund, and now with the curse over, they were going to
reintroduce the real princess. “Where is the real princess
now?”
Both rulers answered not with voice, but as
one as their gazes locked on Kira.
Kira’s eyes flicked between the two men, and
with every pass they grew wider. Shock was not immediate, but when
it hit finally, Kira’s legs buckled. Only luck that a chair stood
nearby saved her from falling on the ground.
“Me?”
Of course it was her. The obviousness of it
had traces of embarrassment coloring his mind. Why else would his
father have demanded she always be around him? His father, for all
his faults, was not a stupid man. He had observed Seth’s feelings
for Kira. Where Seth had assumed anything from indifference to
outright cruelty in his father’s machinations to keep him and Kira
always together, it was instead merely a way to ensure a smooth
merger of the kingdoms.
Matthias looked at Kira then, a hesitant hope
on his face. “You were safe with Thomas. It was the best I could do
at the time.”
Kira turned to him, and the truths of this
day were writ large on haunted eyes and unsmiling mouth. Truths
that would take time for all of them to absorb.
Rosamund had been still and silent through
the exchange. Seth looked at her. Her eyes were shuttered, but he
saw the connections being made behind them nonetheless.
Her strength awed him again, only the latest
incident in a long line. She survived the crush of the curse, and
she would survive this betrayal.
With a straight back and pride in every line
of her body, Rosamund walked toward Matthias. The king had the gall
to look impatient, as if he wanted this discussion done
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