Map of Ember and Moonlight

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Yes, you are."

"No, I actually am not."

"Just how do you know this? I've seen how you two are. There is nothing that says you are not father and daughter. Sure, you look more like your mother, but even that..."

Lyv laughed humorlessly. "The man is every bit of my father except one specific detail. He did not make me."

"Lyv, you cannot honestly believe..."

"Amory."

The steel in her voice made him pause, mouth open, before he shut it and listened.

"I am not biologically my father's daughter, but he is the only man who has ever loved me as such. My real father, whoever he may be, more than likely does not realize I am the product of his affair with my mother. If you take into consideration the timing of when she left for Dalcaine and when I was born, I was conceived there. She and my father had no physical relationship before she disappeared either. My father could have been one of the men on the ship, or someone from Dalcaine, or even a guardsman who still works at the palace as we speak. I will probably never know who he is and I do not really care. All I know is Bence is my father and always will be, even if I do meet the man who made me."

As much as it pained her to know this truth, it was a weight lifted from her shoulders to have someone else besides her parents know the true origin of her birth and the few who had suspected years before. And she meant every word she'd just said.

She remembered the day she found out. She was seven. Something had happened between her parents, a fight none of their daughters had witnessed, and the queen had closed herself in her rooms before dinner. Her father ended up tucking all of them into bed. Lyv had been the last, mostly because she'd wanted him to stay with her for a little while and read to her.

She'd been halfway between sleep and awake when he'd finished the book, kissed the top of her head, and said, "You will always be my daughter, no matter what."

Such simple words, but Lyv knew what he meant by them, even for being so young.

"Are you absolutely certain? How do you know?" Amory asked finally.

She laughed humorlessly. "First off, my mother isn't the most faithful of wives, especially during the war when her husband was off. It continues until this very day. You don't know how many times I have witnessed one of the guardsmen leaving her rooms at night. They're her favorites, especially the younger ones."

Amory grimaced. "That's repulsive. And here I thought your mother couldn't get any worse, especially since she's the one who started the war in the first place. No offense."

"None taken. Do you not think I find it repulsive as well? I wish my father would have a wife who was faithful to him, not treat him as she does. But he doesn't even see it, though he chooses not to. He's faithful to his land, his people, and his daughters, including me."

"And he loves you absolutely. A blind man would even be able to see that."

Lyv laughed softly again, looking down at their joined hands as he brushed his thumb across her skin. She shifted closer to him, finally looking up after a few moments of silence to find him staring at her openly and without worry of her catching him.

"Thank you for letting me tell you that," she told him softly. "And thank you for the reassurance."

"Any time," he said with a smile. "That's what friends are for, right?"