THE KING WAS AN only child, supposedly. That was what everyone knew. Queen Regan and King Micheal - King Pheon's parents - only ever had one child, because the former royal couple wasn't able to conceive any others.
But that was different from the story the king told us. And the king was a primary source - his story had to be the truth.
Ansen Gray was born minutes before midnight on September thirtieth. He was so close to everything - the kingdom, the people, the magic. So close, but it was an emergency procedure that his mother had to undergo that made him born three weeks earlier.
Three weeks would've made a great difference.
But in result of whatever the queen went through, Prince Ansen Gray Alderidge was born blind, and King Micheal considered that to be unacceptable. It was announced that the boy was a stillborn, and was hidden in the castle oblivious to the public that he was around.
Five years later, Crown Prince - now King Pheon was born on a stormy night in the middle of October. Joy filled the kingdom at the birth of a new heir. But that was when the rage filled through Ansen's veins, and at that young age, he learned about his family. He learned about the kingdom. He learned about magic.
And despite the technological and medical advances, he teamed up with his best friend and son of the King's right hand man, Damien, in search for magic to heal his eyes.
He found it. Who knows where, but at nine years old, he was finally gifted with the ability of sight. And he saw the world in burning red, rage pumping throughout his system. Whatever magic he discovered then, he wanted more. But he never got it.
At nine years old, Ansen Gray left his home without a trace. And since the king and queen didn't announce his birth public, they couldn't express how important it was to bring him back.
"You don't want to do this? I'm telling you to do this, so you will do this? You think no one's killed their own parents before? Guess what, love, that's exactly what I did."
The eve of Prince Pheon's sixteenth birthday, King Micheal and Queen Regan was found dead in their beds, their throats slit - like the king and queen of Sylvaine decades ago. I spent so many years staring at Ansen and King Pheon, but failed to realise they both had the same sharp jaw, and even without the colour, they had the same shape of eyes. They both had an unhealthy obsession with pacing and if you ever saw the two fight, it was almost identical, but Ansen's were now more fine tuned.
I was told to rest after our conversation, but that was the last thing I've been able to do after hearing the story.
I'm back in my hospital room, Lysander insisting that I needed to spend at least another day in here. I'm probably going to try to convince Tori to let me out before then. But for the last three hours, all I've been doing was staring at the ceiling, thinking about what possibly we could do.
We all agreed that we had to find the other three amulets as soon as possible. The black one couldn't be too far from our some, because I had it in my possession when I was eight. It had to be somewhere in our house.
The other two... we agreed that the ruins of Sylvaine were a good option, since that's where Ansen found the ones for Alynthi and Caelum. There's nothing saying that he already searched and found it, but we had to look and confirm.
And the amulet of Auxillium... I wanted to ask Atticus' mom before we searched anywhere else. She had to know something, I refused to believe she was clueless about her son's heritage.
There was a light knock at the door. I raised my head off the pillow, telling them to come in. Atticus shuffles into the room, dropping his bag onto the ground next to the doorway. "Hey," he said simply, falling into the armchair. "How you feeling?"
I shrugged, not sure what to say. I still found myself picking at the stitches in my stomach. They were in a weird, uncomfortable place. I had to change out of my sweatshirt and back into the hospital gown to find comfort again. The doctors prefered that, too. "I can't stop thinking."
Att bit his lip. "Me either. It's just... everything is so crazy. And then you and the king throw this bomb at us-"
"I didn't mean to-"
"I know you didn't Verre, but now we know we have an enemy, and why we have an enemy, which is probably more terrifying that not knowing who it is and why they're doing this."
I furrowed my brow, not quite following. "Really? That's what you think?"
He nodded. "I mean, a lot of people will probably disagree, but think of it this way. Say you weren't on our side, you were still working with Ansen Gray. Say you were locked up in there and refused to give your siblings another chance. Say you really were our enemy. I wouldn't be able to fight that, Verre, because what I'd do to you would be worse than anything else, and knowing why would make me feel like I didn't do enough to help you."
I paused, collecting his thoughts. "That's probably what the king is going through. I mean, I doubt they were any close."
"It's still blood. Blood of your family is thicker than the water you share with others to keep yourselves alive."
Before all of this, I was sure I could counter it with a valid reason, but now I wasn't so sure. Victoria and Lysander gave me a second chance, and if that's the example the king was going to follow, it wasn't going to end well for us. We needed to end Ansen. I needed to end him. But anyway, my siblings believed that blood was more important than anything else.
And coincidentally, that was when the pancakes I asked for arrived. Tori told me not to hesitate and ask for whatever my stomach could handle. And I had a sudden craving for pancakes that I was most likely going to throw up.
The nurse set the tray of food on my side table just as I tell Atticus: "Blood might be thicker than water, but syrup is thicker than blood. Therefore, my pancakes are more important."
"Vera," Atticus said, but we a chuckle. He grabbed a fork and dug into my food. So what, it was five in the afternoon and we were eating pancakes? It should be an all day food, no one can tell me otherwise. "Okay, but actually, we're in a serious issue."
I take a bite of my stack, then set the fork down. I waited until a chewed and swallowed my food before talking, obviously, since I needed to be respectful. "I want to talk to your mom, if you don't mind. You think she'll be okay with it considering..."
He nodded, answering my question. "She's actually been asking about you since she came back." He paused, thinking. "She knew how close we were. Wanted to know how we were handling things. Even invite you over, actually, if you were feeling any better."
I gave a small smile. That was typical of Ms. Carson, who treated me like her own daughter, like me and my siblings and parents treated Atticus like a member of our family. Even still, I expected her to be concerned with Att hanging out with me.
"Great," I said. "We'll go today."
His eyes widened. "May I remind you that you are in a hospital room right now?"
I raised an eyebrow. "So are you and you're welcomed to leave any time you want."
"But there's a difference," he pointed out. "This is your room."
"And usually people would be concerned that I haven't left my room." I got up, grabbing a spare set of clothing. "Can you tell Vic or Lys or someone that we're going to head out? I'm going to go change.
He groaned, rolling his eyes, but grabbed a pancake from my stack. "Fine, whatever."
Atticus' house looks more or less like it always did.
The outside received a new paint job, I noticed. A new layer of white paint covered the scribbles Atticus drew on when he was just a kid. It was pretty small, one story tall, but had a basement below. Two chairs were left on the porch, where we spent too many afternoons sitting around, admiring the view of the lake. Standing on the porch, ready to greet us, was Ms. Carson, a robe wrapped around her.
And beside her, Mikayla.
She shoots me a dirty look, annoyed by the fact that I was accompanying her boyfriend. I guess, to her, Att wasn't allowed to have any other friends that were of the opposite gender. Or friends that were so close.
Or maybe that just applied to known murderers.
Ms. Carson wrapped her arms around her son, kissing his forehead. Att was never the guy that rejected his mother's love, which was quite common. Other guys would've hated their mothers for showing affection in front of their girlfriends.
Olivia Carson never changed her last name, but let the son she was raising take his father's last name. Now that I connect the dots, if Professor Lorcan knew what he was talking about, then it was on Atticus' father's side that was royal...
... their family never changed their last name? Either somehow the women in his family convinced their husbands to take their last names, or the Auxillium line was just a long line of male heirs.
That wasn't very likely, was it?
"Vera, come here." Ms. Carson let go of her son, which I noticed was sharing a couple small kisses with her girlfriend. "It's so good to see you again, love-" I cringe at what she calls me, but try not to jerk away so much. "Next time, don't give us that big of a heart attack, okay kid?"
"I'll try not to," I assure her, pulling out of the hug. It was easy letting the empty promise out of my mouth. I can't ever confirm that with someone, because I was bound to get hurt. I hesitated before my next words. "I was actually wondering if I could ask you a few things, if you didn't mind."
She gave an inquisitive look. "Sure, of course, Vera." She opens the door. "Come in, come in."
Mikayla steps in first, after Ms. Carson. I shoot Atticus a confused look. I couldn't let Mikayla in on what I was going to ask. Ms Carson was family to Atticus. Mikayla was an outsider. I couldn't tell her anything.
Atticus just shrugged. I'll try to get her out, he mouthed. I nodded, appreciating that.
But Mikayla was already sitting on the couch, her legs crossed, ready to start this conversation. A mug of empty coffee sat in front of her. She looked like she was about to fire me from my non-existent job.
Atticus acted on instinct. "Hey, uh, Mickey, maybe we should head out for a movie or something. It's been a while since we've hung out."
Mikayla shook her head. "I'd actually like to stay, thanks though." Atticus put his hand to his heart, acting offended. I had to bite back my lip, trying not to laugh. "Whatever you want to ask, you can tell me, Vera."
I shook my head. "No. Absolutely not. This is between me and Ms. Carson-"
"Vera, you can call me Olivia."
I give her a small smile, then turn back to Mikayla. "This is between the two of us, and Atticus is welcome to join us because he is her son. You're just a girlfriend. I don't have to tell you anything."
She shoots me a dirty look. "What are you hiding, Vera Carmicheal?"
Olivia stands up. "Alright, I'm going to stop this before it becomes anything big. Mikayla, it was lovely catching up with you but I'm sure your mother is waiting for you. It's almost time for dinner. I would've love to have you over, but I don't think leftovers would be appropriate. There's always tomorrow. And Vera." She turned to me. "The last thing I would appreciate was if on the first day you've entered my house, you break into a fight. So, please calm your nerves, okay?"
I huffed, but nodded, sitting onto the couch just as Mikayla got up. "It was nice talking to you, Ms. Carson." She grabbed her school bag and pecked a kiss on Atticus' cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."
When she closes the door, a click filling the silence of the room, Atticus asks, "What were you talking about? Why was she here? She didn't tell me anything about dropping by."
"What were we talking about? What else do we talk about besides you?" Olivia picked up the coffee mug and hers and took it to the kitchen. "Vera, would you like anything? Coffee? Hot chocolate? We have some leftover pasta."
"We had pancakes, Mom," Atticus said. "Please get over here because Vic said to bring Vera home before sunset."
I give him a surprised look. "I didn't know that."
"Well, now you do."
Olivia comes back with a full cup of coffee. The woman did seem pretty tired, with bags around her eyes. She also looked kind of sick, but I don't mention it. She takes a seat across from me and Atticus.
"She was worried that you were going to break up with her, Att," Olivia explained. "What have you done this time?"
I pursed my lips. "Maybe it's just because we've been spending some time together since I was released."
"She shouldn't be worried. We're just friends."
I rolled my eyes. "Have you met literally any girl in the world?"
"We're a complicated species. We get jealous over the smallest of things," Olivia added on.
We shared a laugh. It felt good.
Atticus looked at us like we were losing out minds. He leaned back into the couch. "Okay, okay, I don't think we should be wasting time right now." He looked to me. "Do you want to start?"
"Uh, sure." I pulled at the collar of my sweater, clearing my throat. "Um, Ms Carson - Olivia - uh, I wanted to ask-" Ugh, why was this so hard? "-what do you know about the six kingdoms?"
The expression on her face wasn't confusion. It was shock. She put her mug of coffee down, looking between me and Atticus. "Vera, I knew you knew. Att... you knew and you kept this from me?"
Atticus gave his mother a nervous look. "I... I didn't realise you knew about it. It was Lyra who told me about it. I just... I just assumed it was part of dad's side of the family and you didn't want to talk about it."
Olivia bit her lip. "It isn't part of your father's side of the family, baby. It's not from my side either."
That... that didn't make sense. The gears in my brain were turning. That was probably the case for Atticus, too. If it wasn't from his mom's or dad's side of the family... then that wouldn't be possible. Atticus couldn't have been able to have the white blood that currently flows through his veins. Unless...
"You aren't my birth mother," Atticus whispered, the words barely leaving his mouth. "You've been lying to me, mom. You..."
Olivia looked as though she was on the brink of tears. I grabbed Att's wrist. "No. She's lying to you. If she did, it's to protect you, Att. Blood isn't everything."
"Then explain, mom." Atticus stood up. "Explain, please. I guess there was never a father in my life then, you just took me from wherever-"
"I didn't take you!" Olivia shouted to explain. "I didn't... I was asked to take care of you, baby. It's just... the story..." She began muttering to herself. "There's part of the history of our kingdom. Parts we like to forget about. And one of those things wasn't that far, actually."
Olivia drew in a deep breath. "Atticus, please sit back down." He did. It didn't take much from his mother - or whoever she was to him - to make him follow orders. "I... there was a small war, more like a battle, during the month the two of you were born.
"The history faded, but the legends remained about the future," Olivia said. "People were aware that a very powerful queen was going to be born that month." She looked to me, not having to explain. "Somehow a battle broke out, a final attempt before you entered the world, for King Pheon to admit if he did anything wrong. It was thought that your family began it, Vera. But Nate always said he wasn't responsible. Anyway, that happened the month the two of you were born. It caused a lot of damage, but after that, not a word was said about it.
"I... I had a boyfriend. From college. We were together for years, but never thought of getting married," Olivia continued. "I wanted to, I really did, but he never wanted to. Then I found out. Then I discovered he was an heir and we couldn't get married because I... I can't have kids."
Damn, this was getting deep.
"Wait, heir?" I repeated, making sure I heard correctly. "Which-"
"Caelum," she clarified. "He told me everything about the kingdoms. His history. And then he told me about you and your family, Atticus."
Olivia pursed her lips. "A week after you were born, love, your parents were murdered."
There's silence in the air. I look to Atticus, who just had his eyes fixated on Olivia. I guess now we both had a pair of murdered parents in common... but maybe it was to soon to say that.
"Okay," was all he said. "Okay. They died. They were murdered. Why?"
She pursed her lips again. "Someone wanted to take you for themselves, I think it was so they could raise you as one of them. They were probably the enemy of all of us."
My brain clicked. It was probably Ansen. Or someone associated with him.
"But my boyfriend... he saved you. And he gave you to me," Olivia explained. "He gave you to me and that was it. He left me, telling me that I wasn't safe if I have both you and him in my life. I took care of you, not knowing if I should tell you about everything. But I guess I couldn't keep that for you, could I?"
He shook his head slowly. "My birth family is dead," he whispered to himself. "And you didn't tell me."
She moved towards her son - because even if they weren't related by blood, he was still her son and forever will be. "It's okay if you're mad, okay?"
"I'm not mad. Just... confused. My whole life kind of just got flipped upside down, you know." Atticus leaned closer into his mother's arms. "Thank you," he whispered. "I love you."
I hated to break the moment, but I just had to. My brain was racing with questions, so I interrupted. "Olivia, if you don't mind asking, was Rockfeller the name of Atticus' birth parents, or did you just-"
"James said that Rockfeller was the name of your original bloodline," she told Atticus. "So I thought I'd use it for you. Maybe I could pass it off as your birth father's last name, because I didn't actually know."
Atticus finally pulled away, wiping his eyes. "Wait, did you say James? Do you know if he's still near town, or what he does for a living."
Olivia raised her eyebrows. "Uh, he was in school for a teaching degree-"
"Professor Lorcan," Att said suddenly, jumping to his feet. "That's how he knows about the history. That's how he knew about you and me and Noatra. That's who he is - Professor James Lorcan, heir to Caelum."