Chapter 218

Fiona

Two men stand in front of me- one familiar and the other a stranger. Ethan greets them calmly and thanks them for coming, but I can’t move. I don’t want to.

“You alright?” Aaron asks, looking at me when the stranger sits in a chair off to the side. I turn my eyes up at Aaron and shake my head. How would I be okay after learning my parents might have lied to me my whole life?

He glances back at Ethan who just shakes his head with a frown. I can only guess that Ethan asked Aaron here because he’s part of the noble family. Could he be my family?

I want to ask, but I don’t. I don’t know how or if I should, so I stay quiet as the stranger pulls out a laptop and begins tapping away at the keys. Ethan provides him with information about me, some of which I told him and some that I didn’t, but I don’t mind him taking charge. I don’t think I could say anything even if I wanted to.

Instead, I say curled up in Ethan’s nicely smelling sweatshirt and sip my tea. His scent and the calming tea provides a respite from my anxious thoughts, until the stranger with the computer jumps to his feet.

My mug jostles in my hand when I startle at his sudden movements.

“What is it, Jason?” Ethan and Aaron ask at the same time.

“Do you recognize her?” the stranger, Jason, questions and turns the computer to face the three of us. A picture of my mother, beautiful and lively and smiling stares back at me. I’ve never seen her so happy as she is in that picture.

Her smile is wide and shining, radiant.

“That’s my mother.”

“She’s my mom.”

My mug slips out of my hand, crashing to the floor and shattering. Ethan lurches forward, his hands cupping my cheeks, but I keep my eyes on Aaron. He’d said… I glance at the picture of my mother then at the man staring wide eyed at me.

“Y-Your mother?” I stutter, looking at Aaron. There’s no way.

“Yes,” he murmurs. “She is… we thought she was dead.” Aaron moves slowly toward me, his eyes no longer on the picture of my mom. Ethan finally releases me to face his friend, who merely stares with a mixture of sadness and disbelief. “We thought you were both dead.”

“What do you mean?” I ask so quietly that I don’t think he hears me. He just stares, and I stare.

The entire room goes completely silent, our breathing being the only sounds in the room. I can’t move. I can’t ask questions. I can’t look away from this man who says we have the same mother. Is it true?

From what I’ve seen, he likes to joke, but Aaron doesn’t seem like someone who would joke with such a serious matter.

“Elizabeth Alexander, sister of former King Arthur,” Aaron whispers, moving to the side of my bed. I curl my legs to my chest, unable to do anything else as he reaches out and gently touches my cheek. “She was the best mother anyone could ask for, and you were the cutest little sister.”

Something in my chest flutters, and my eyes begin to sting with fresh tears. I don’t know why I lean into his touch, but my body moves before my mind, letting his warmth sooth the anxiety skittering up my spine.

“Y-you’re my—”

“Brother,” he whispers, smiling sorrowfully as a tear rolls down his cheek. Something in me pushes me to reach up and brush the lone tear away, which makes his sad smile seem even heavier.

I never knew. I had no idea. Had my mother stayed with my father for so long because they were mates? But then, what about Aaron’s father… my father?

So many questions dart through my mind, giving me a headache. Is this why she never talked about her parents or her family? Had she left them for her mate? But that wouldn’t make sense because she had me, and if Aaron recognizes me, that means he knew me long ago.

My head spins.

“Holy shit,” I hear Ethan mutter just before he sits next to me. “How did this happen, Aaron?”

Aaron takes a deep breath and looks between me and Ethan, stabilizing himself and letting his hand drop to his lap.

“You know my Uncle lost his mate in an attack years ago,” Aaron states, and Ethan nods while I shake my head. “There were a few factions who believe having a King only from the noble family is an outdated and archaic tradition that needs to be changed. Well, years ago, they thought that if they got rid of the King’s mate, he would bend to their will and give up his crown.”

“And they killed her,” Ethan says softly.

Aaron nods, “I was too young to understand at the time, but my aunt died because of their selfish desires to become King. That day, my mother and baby sister,” he looks at me, his jaw ticking in anger. “They went to gather herbs in the forest outside the Kingdom Center with my aunt. She was with my aunt at the time of the attack and by the time the guards got there, my aunt was dead. My mother and sister were missing.”

“I-I don’t remember any of this,” I mutter, thinking back. I’ve only ever known the family I grew up with.

Aaron shakes his head, takes a deep breath, and scrubs a hand through his hair then down his face.

“You wouldn’t. You were barely six months old when this happened,” he says, and my heart lurches.

Curiosity gets the better of me because my next words come out without my permission, “How old were you?”

“Five, and I was devastated when Dad told me you were…”

Dead.

He doesn’t need to say it. I understand, and it breaks my heart a bit that I never knew this man. I didn’t get to grow up with him, to feel the brotherly love he so clearly would pour over me. It makes my chest ache. How much did I lose without even knowing I’d lost anything?

“I should’ve known. The moment I saw you, you seemed so familiar. I just didn’t think this was why. I didn’t think I would ever see you again,” he whispers, leaning in and wrapping his arms around me. Instead of feeling strange or nervous, I find myself comfortable, closing my eyes and leaning into his hug.

I give into the warm feeling that fills me at his touch, knowing this is right. Aaron is my family. It must be why I was so comfortable around him when I first met him.

My eyes begin stinging again as images of my childhood flash behind my eyes. I remember my mother loving me, but my father was so hot and cold. I was a lonely kid, with no siblings until Jessica came around, and she only came after I lost the most important person in the world.

The only sibling I ever had made my life miserable. I’d wished for a bother to protect me; from my stepmother, my stepsister, those mean guys in school, from anything that hurt me.

As if he can sense the pain expanding in my chest, Aaron’s arms tighten around me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you, little Fi.”

Those words break me, sending me into a fit of sobs as I hold onto him and wish I’d been able to grow up with him as my brother.