Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27560 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27560 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
“It’s that Nazi bullshit. What does it have to do with me?” I wave a hand, trying to understand his point.
“Well, the belief that a superior race can be bred was your father’s whole world, so he thought—”
Before he can finish, the overwhelming realization hits me, and I feel nauseated. “Are you saying because I—” I gesture to my body, indicating my cerebral palsy.
Roman nods, jaw set firmly. “He wanted you gone, and your mother was unwilling to abandon you. Instead, she ran off with you in secret to the States. He started a smear campaign against her, and the whole kingdom bought into it. They thought your mother was a wicked woman who ran away with his heir and broke his heart.”
“Surely, someone called him out on this…this insanity!” Aurora says, getting to her feet. Her hands are fisted against her thick hips.
“That’s the thing about it,” Roman continues, but he’s not looking at her. It’s me that he’s watching. “You were kept from the public eye. From the first moment it was known that there was a problem, you were hidden away. There was speculation, but the king was careful. He only allowed a handful of trusted photographers to see you, always demanding that they capture the right angle. Nothing of your health was really known.”
I think of those images I have of a dark-haired woman who tenderly cared for me and read bedtime stories. My knees nearly buckle. “Where is my mother? Can I meet her?”
This woman gave me life, and she brought me to another country with the hopes that I would be accepted.
“She passed away not long after your fourth birthday.” He stops there, and I can tell there’s more. Things he’s not saying.
I fall to my knees. “It was a fire, wasn’t it?”
The nightmares suddenly make sense. The orange glow that filled me with a sense of doom. It wasn’t a dream. It happened.
“She didn’t survive,” I gasp out through a throat that’s too tight. There was darkness so thick it was hard to breathe. The man coming toward me wasn’t my father. He was a firefighter, his breathing apparatus was the funny noise I couldn’t place. The man must have gotten me to safety.
There’s pressure on my shoulder. Aurora is beside me, her hand squeezing my skin. She’s grounding me, calling out my name the way you might a wounded animal.
Anger and despair war for control. We never would have been there if it weren’t for him. If my father had accepted me, my mother would still be alive. I need someone to yell at, someone to curse. “Where is my father now?”
“He died a few years ago. But your brother, Mateo, is alive. He’s on the throne. He’s nothing like your father. He’s a good man. One who fights for children’s rights and champions those with disabilities.” From the tone of Roman’s voice, it’s obvious he admires him, and that’s a hard feat to pull off. Few men have ever gained Roman’s admiration.
“How good can he be if he’s never sought me out?” Betrayal lashes at me. Doesn’t he miss me? Didn’t he ever wonder where I went? Why my mother left him?
“They all rejected me. My own people. My family.” Only my mom wanted me, and she’s gone now.
Roman continues, “Upon your mother’s death, your father made it look as if you too had died. There’s a whole kingdom out there that doesn’t even know you exist.”
Aurora tries to put her arm around me, but I shrug away her touch. Pain flickers across her features, but I can’t take in anything else. Every breath is a struggle, and this cabin is too small. “I have to get out of here.”
I push to my feet and stomp out the door, leaving her behind. I don’t know how she’ll get home. But I know Roman will look after her.
She storms after me and yells my name.
I stop and turn to her. Tears are streaming down her face, and it’s a knife to the chest. There’s too much pain competing for my attention.
“Rafael, wait. I want—”
“My name is Rafe,” I grind out.
She reaches out a hand to touch me. I step away, not letting her make contact. I can’t feel her hands on me right now. “Your father was a horrible person, but don’t throw us away.”
The anger consumes me, burning me from the inside out. “I don’t want anything to do with any plan that came from him. Sorry about your kingdom, but you’re on your own, princess.”
With those words, I walk away, leaving her in the middle of the forest.
10
AURORA
I stare after his retreating figure. My heart is breaking in two. I thought I found forever with him. I thought he was meant to be. But now here I stand, rejected again.
Pain lances through my heart, deeper than anything I felt for my mother. Still, I recognize this pain so familiar. It’s grief. Grief for what could have been, for what we lost.