Chapter 173

Third Person POV

Erik stared at his former nanny with dismay. It was Queen Leonora who stopped his father from killing him? After all he had done to her? But why?

“I don’t understand,” Erik said, his eyes narrowed.

“Queen Leonora stopped him,” she explained. “Your mother and I also had a bit of part in it as well. But it was mainly his love for Queen Leonora and the fact that he didn’t want her to walk away from him… that was what truly stopped him.

“He loves her that much?”

A smile tugged at the corner of Iris’s lips.

“Your father might be a lot of things, and I don’t agree with half the things he does… but there was never a doubt in my mind how much he loves the Queen. Despite his affair, she remained his entire world. They are fated mates, and it’s difficult to part ways with a fated mate. When the hit on humans took place and they started to drop dead all around, the tribe had no choice but to go into hiding. But Carla wanted to make one last attempt at reasoning with King Arlan. She thought he loved her after all, and she was so in love with him; not to mention she had his baby. No matter what he had done, her heart still belonged to him long after it stopped beating.”

Erik flinched at his words.

“He killed her, didn’t he…” Erik whispered.

Iris closed her eyes as she replayed the events that happened. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, but she knew she had to be strong until the end of this heart-wrenching tale. Carla was Iris’s best friend growing up.

“Not at first no…” she said, opening her eyes and showing Erik the tears collecting in her eyes. “I think he had some compassion for her despite everything. He was angry with her and angry with the world in general. But there was a part of him that grew to care for her. He told her he would give her a head start before sending the hunters after her. She didn’t want you to have to live your life hiding. She wanted you to have a better life than that… she didn’t want you being hunted. So, she begged for him to take you and protect you. At first, he refused. But Leonora convinced him to do just that. Carla then asked if I could work in the palace and care for you. I thought the king would have turned me away, but he surprisingly didn’t. He thought it would be better if someone else cared for you anyway, so he handed you over to me and left it alone. Your mother left and she never looked back… I wasn’t sure what happened to her and honestly, a part of me thought she was dead. But then a few years later I received my first letter from her.”

Erik nodded, recalling the letters he spent all night reading.

“She told you that they found a good place to hide and even put a spell around their new village, shielding them from danger,” he explained.

She nodded.

“Yes,” she breathed. “She and a woman named Esmeralda found a new place for the few of them that escaped. Their tribe later grew with other refugees seeking shelter and then they named their tribe after the trees that surrounded them. Red Oak. Once they were settled and making a new home for themselves, she started to send me letters. I wrote her back and told her all about you…”

“So, she managed to escape the wrath of my father?” Erik asked, his chest feeling heavy.

“For a long time, yes,” she breathed. “And for a long time, your father sought out that tribe, knowing she was still out there somewhere. He gave her a head start, but he still intended to end her life. Most humans around the world were gone but he knew in his heart that she was still out there and once he found her… he would end her life.”

Erik felt sick to his stomach and his face paled from her words. He nodded as he let her process her words and then he lifted his head to meet her eyes again.

“He found her eventually, right?”

“Yes,” Iris said sadly. “The letters had stopped, and I knew in my heart that she was gone. However, there was one letter that stuck with me… it was her very last letter.”

Erik had to think about it, trying to figure out which one was the very last letter. He had read all of them, but none of them stuck out to him as anything but strange. Iris stood to her feet and strolled over to her bookshelf across the room. She scanned the books briefly before she found the one she was looking for. Plucking it from the shelf, she flipped through it until a piece of paper nearly fell out. She caught it with ease before returning the book to its spot on the shelf and walked back over to the couch.

Taking a seat, she slowly handed Erik the paper.

It was another letter…. From his mother.

He narrowed his eyes.

“You took this with you?”

She nodded.

“I didn’t want to take any chances,” she said sadly. “I carried this with me, even after he discovered the letters and banned me from ever returning, calling me a traitor. He didn’t kill or banish me… but he did fire me. You were a teen at that point and old enough to care for yourself… but I still worried for you, knowing that you would never feel the love and protection of a parent. You’d always be an outcast in their eyes. Leaving was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I didn’t have a choice. He gave me no choice. While I cared for you, I also fell in love with a man who worked in the palace, and we later married. He had a small home in the nearby village so I half lived with him and half lived at the palace so I could continue caring for you. I ended up pregnant with twins… It made caring for you and my job harder, but I made a promise to your mother that I would care for you no matter what. So many times, my husband wanted me to quit, but I refused. When my daughters were born, it was hard caring for them and you at the same time. But I still managed, refusing to give up. Then, your mother sent me that letter and I knew he could never see it. I stored it somewhere different… somewhere personal. I refused to part with it no matter what happened. But he did end up discovering the other letters due to my carelessness in hiding them. I was so focused on keeping this letter from him, that I kind of forgot about the others. When he discovered them, his first instinct was to kill me. But Leonora saved my fate and convinced him otherwise. I swear, that woman could convince him to do anything.”

“Except love and care about me,” Erik scowled.

Iris gave him a sad smile and nodded slowly.

“Indeed,” she agreed, sighing. “That letter contains a secret… something I wanted to keep from the King as long as possible. When he fired me, banishing me from the capital, my husband and I started a new life in this village where we raised our children until his dying breath. That letter was the only thing I brought with me… that letter contained hope for either the downfall or the uprise of our territory. It signified a new future… whether it was good or bad… we didn’t know. But I knew if the King had anything to say about it, it wouldn’t be good or beneficial for any of us.”

Erik stared down at the letter, his hands shaking. He feared what he was about to read, but he knew he needed to know.

He unfolded the page, smoothing out the wrinkles, and stared down at his mother’s neat handwriting.

Dear Iris,

I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while; a lot has happened, and I fear I may not be able to write to you again. I received your last letter, and I’m so happy that my son has you in his life to care for and protect. I hope you can always be there for him, and one day, you can tell him that his real mother is out there somewhere, and not a day goes by when she doesn’t think about him. Tell him how much I love him and how sorry I am that I couldn’t be in his life. I am forever grateful to you, Iris.

I am writing you this letter because there is something I must tell you. This could change the fate of our world. As you know, Esmeralda and I come from Enigma bloodlines. There are a couple of others in this tribe that come from an Enigma as well. One of our seers had a prophecy about our tribe… Esmeralda specifically. Her line will birth another Enigma. They haven’t gone extinct forever; they will live on through Esmeralda!

We aren’t sure what this means, but we know we have to keep her protected at all costs. These letters are becoming risky. If Arlan finds out about them, it could put Esme at risk, and I can’t let that happen. She’s now precious with that prophecy on her shoulders and we have to do whatever it takes to keep her alive so the Enigma’s can live on.

I hope that I can write to you again one day… I hope that I can see both you and Erik. You are my best friend, Iris, and I love you dearly. Never forget that, no matter what happens, and please… make sure Erik knows that I never forgot about him and that I love him with all of my heart.

Good luck, Iris.

Love,

Carla.

Erik put the letter down, his mind clouded. He needed to find out about this Esmeralda lady. Who was she and did she end up birthing an Enigma?

“What happened to Esmeralda?” Erik asked.

Iris shrugged.

“I only know as much as that,” she told me. “I’m not sure. But I felt it in my heart when your mother was killed. I’m not sure how I felt it… but I had a dream that night and I watched her die at the hands of Alpha Burton.”

“Burton?” Erik blurted.

That was Maeve’s father.

Why would Maeve’s father kill Erik’s mother?