Contract Bound [Old Draft]

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Belinda glanced at her brother. "What do you mean?"

"Being the child of Jericho automatically makes him the enemy in everyone's eyes."

"This makes no sense—isn't Fane eighteen? How old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

Belinda ran her hands through her hair. "That makes no sense—"

"I left your father while I was pregnant with you...Fane never met you."

"That was almost twenty years ago? Why did you leave Alaric? He was merely two-years old."

"It was a difficult decision—but he was safer with his father."

Belinda narrowed her eyes as she stared at her brother. "Are you responsible for the deaths of the chosen ones?"

His eyes flickered blood-red. "No."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Belinda—"

"Mom, just because he is my brother doesn't mean I will believe that he is innocent." Belinda faced the man she had called father since she was a child, who she loved no matter if she did not have his blood coursing through her veins. "The necklace that protects Fane from the sun isn't made for him only, is it?"

"No," her father answered.

"Then how could anyone be certain that Fane is behind everything, but not Alaric?"

How could her mother expect her to trust Alaric?

Even if they were siblings he was a stranger.

She knew nothing about him.

"I want to know everything...please."

Her mother hesitated for a moment before taking a seat beside her, clasping her hand. "A year before my eighteenth birthday, I slowly realized that I had been falling in love with someone who I knew since small. When I confessed my love to him, I was happy to know that my feelings were returned. We began to date and our love only grew stronger."

The pain in her mother's eyes broke her heart. "Maybe, it's best—"

"No—you should know everything and perhaps, you'll finally understand why I have such great fear of Fane harming you." She paused. "When I turned eighteen, I was forced to marry Jericho. I told my father I loved someone else, but he didn't care—I was of royalty and royals didn't have the privilege of choosing who they married...I tried running away with him, but of course, we were caught and my father almost killed him that day...I had never told him who I fell in love with because he was not royalty and I knew how my father would react."

When her mother paused, clearly trying to hold back her tears, Belinda gave her hand a small squeeze. "For years, I endured so much suffering by Jericho's side. I tried to fall in love—I really did, but how could I when I already loved someone else?"

"Did you ever see him again?"

Her mother nodded and her eyes lit up with joy. "At first Jericho tried to stop me from being with my old friends, but my friends were stubborn and stood up against him....Fane is a lot like his parents." She removed the ring on her finger. "This is from him...to protect me against the compulsion Jericho used against me when I refused to do what he wanted..This gave me hope when I was the verge of madness..." Her voice drifted off. "He gave me hope. We began to see each other in secret but Jericho found out and demanded the King and Queen killed him—but of course, they refused."