Red Princess

62. Forbidden Love

It was definitely not fabricated. It was his.

My mother deceived my father, and then they tried to get him killed, a man who was almost prepared to give up that life for her and me.

"I thought you'd be hungry, so I-" Leander Reed mumbled as he entered the room with a brown bag stuffed with some food items and shut the door behind him. His voice trailed off, and then I heard it again, but this time laced with concern, "Seydon, what's going on in your mind? Speak to me about it."

I didn't even know how to start the conversation. I didn't dare to ask him if he knew this already. He was the father of the woman I loved, and I did not want my anger to get the worst of me because that was what I would feel if I learned that people around me knew and hid it from me.

"When were you planning on telling me about him?" I asked in a soft voice as I tightly clutched the ball between my fingers.

"Sey-"

I jumped up from my chair and flung the ball across the room. "They first sent my mother to deceive him! The one woman he ever loved, and now they sent his own son to assassinate him?!!" I glanced at him with my eyes wide open. The utter lack of emotion in the act made me perplexed to my core. As I let those words out, I could finally feel the weight of the situation build up. It was sick! Worse! I didn't even know how to describe that! I thought I was the only sick one, but apparently, the apple didn't fall far from the family tree!

I scoffed at the thought as all things fell into place. I finally understood everything. "Is-is that why my mother had to die? I always thought she got caught up in the family drama, but in the end, that woman really was just-"

"SEYDON CROSS! Do not spit another word out of your mouth that you might regret later!" He yelled at me, stressing upon every word in the statement. "Your mother... Sharon... she was probably the only good ever born in your family. If they had never tried to look for her, then perhaps... perhaps all this would never have to happen."

"What does that even mean!?"

He noticed the frustration in my voice and poured me a glass of water. He then took a seat at the table opposite me and continued, "Look, your mother and I, we had a... unique relationship..."

I scoffed, "Unique, my ass!"

"You want me talking about your mother like that? Fine! Your mother liked me, okay? I rejected her. And then I got framed by the Order, so I ran away with Alice's mom. It broke her heart. So she quit the Order and went into hiding. That was when..."

"Hold on, what? You are saying she never went undercover to assassinate Gilaan?"

"She didn't even know it was him until the first assassination attempt!"

"Are you kidding me right now? Because if you are, then it's a sick joke!"

"Do you really think your mother would have gone through the pain of carrying and birthing you for the sake of a joke of a mission? Do you really think so little of her?"

I shook my head, covering my eyes with my fingers, tears almost threatening to escape. She was the only person to have truly loved me ever, and even the slightest thought of such a betrayal had started breaking my heart. But then learning that her love really was genuine was all the salve I needed.

He took a long sigh and then kneeled on the ground before me and took hold of my hands as if trying to console me or perhaps trying to control my rage.

"The Order was looking for her. When they found her, she was with Gilaan. It was like killing two birds with a stone. She didn't even realise when she became an asset for the Order again."