REIGN (A REVERSE HAREM)

76. Arabella

I shuffle a little closer to him. How he isn't crying right now is a fucking miracle. I'm crying. He isn't. His eyes are watering but no tears are being shed.

He rubs his lips together, "She could sing. She sang songs to all of us, my older brothers treated her like shit and she still loved them with every single bit of life she had left in her body." He laughs a little, "There was some times she would love them more than she would love me."

I grab his hand and he squeezes mine gently.

"Sometimes she would ignore me, pretend i didn't exist, focus on the other kids... out of love, because she knew what my dad would do to me if i was caught showing emotion." He looks at the grave again. "The night before she left us, she came into my room."

"It was weird enough her being in there, dad didn't like it when anybody would disrupt me. He thought keeping me alone would help me work my demeanour." He runs his thumb across my knuckles. "I had a bad beating after picking up some flowers from the front yard to help the maid. He whipped me with his belt until i had blisters."

"She cleaned them up for me, told me how to take care of them, told me she loved me and that i shouldn't say it back to her because she already knew that i loved her more than all her sons combined. She tucked me into bed and sang to me." His voice cracks but still, no tears.

"I fell asleep like i did whenever she would always sing to me. I went into her room the next morning to see if she wanted to eat breakfast with me and i seen her hanging from her ceiling, her face blue, a white dress on, her eyes open and staring at a picture in the room. The one that Roma showed you three days ago."

"I didn't know what was happening. I just... i stared at her until dad came back and dad saluted me because she thought i did it. Till that day, the day i killed him after he tried to hurt you, love, he still blamed me. He still believed i was the one that wrapped a rope around her neck and dropped her. Everyone does. I was the one to find her, the bastard son took the blame."

We sit in silence for almost five minutes. I didn't know what to say.

He clears his throat again, "She teased me about you."

"About me?"

"Yes. Whenever she managed to take me from my dad and put me on a flight to the states. She would meet up with Juliana, they were good friends. Juliana would bring you. We met when we were kids, you had a spider called Charlotte that you gave to me." He looks at me, his eyes no longer painful.

"I don't remember."

"You were a child, two or three, could barely talk properly. I stood on your ant once and you shouted at me." He smiles again.

Sounds about right.

"And she would tease you?" I ask.

He nods his head, "Oh yes. She always said we'd end up married and i never believed her. You wouldn't show the slightest bit of interest in me, but you gave me my first friend. And i remember her telling me how you make my cheeks red which means i love you." He laughs in disbelief, "I was a boy, i denied as much as i could. But she always said we'd end up married."

"She was right." I rest my head on his shoulder.

He laughs again, "She loved you as a child and she would have adored you now, my love. I remember one time we met and you pushed me into a pool."

I smile, "Is that why you pushed me into a pool on our first date meeting? Payback?"

He laughs again, "I actually didn't remember us meeting until recently. I did therapy with Gwendoline and she helped me remember our meetings."