Page 30 of Microburst

Breakfast I took privately with Darren, Fraser, and Maple. Darren looked exhausted but also worried. I understood why when he told me the truth about the Gurren family. How it wasn’t this loving and supportive family. It was old school and “proper,” but all lies.

And my mother was raised to be a mare put up for auction to the highest bidder to benefit the family. That when she’d met my father at an event that she’d fallen madly in love and he was instantly taken with her too, but it wasn’t what my grandfather had wanted, and that was all that mattered to his pride.

So that was why the Gurren family never got involved with the royal family… One man’s pride.

It wasn’t about higher morals or trying not to influence politics. It wasn’t to overstep or—all bullshit.

My mother, who should have been obedient property, disobeyed him and followed her heart and he punished her for it. Punishedusfor it hoping she would drown in the waters she now swam in with the royal family, the capital, and being queen.

Even if his own granddaughter, whom he’d never met, drowned with her.

“Okay, I did not see that coming,” Fraser whispered when Darren was done. “How did you not get disowned by going against his orders?”

Darren sighed and sat back in his seat. “He needed me. He was hemorrhaging money with his gambling and whoring.” He nodded when they both blinked at him. “Yeah, pinnacles of propriety my ass. It’s always all bullshit and not just our family. You know that.”

“Yeah, but…” Maple trailed off and then glanced at Fraser.

He cleared his throat and shot me an apologetic glance before focusing on Darren. “You know Rhys had no clue about this, right?”

Darren opened his mouth but then closed it, trying again and shaking his head. “I don’t know. I… I just don’t know anything anymore. I assumed Amelia told him at some point. I mean—there was no reason not to see Sagan and not be able to stay out of politics, but the way you talk about him ruining Amelia’s happy life—I just don’t fucking know anything anymore.”

And that seemed to be the answer for all of them. How they felt right then and about everything.

I honestly didn’t know how to process any of this. I was just cold inside after what I’d already learned, but I did know how I felt when they asked me not to read any more of my mother’s journals.

“No.”

“Yeah, we figured you’d say that,” Fraser sighed. “Then please justwait. Let Belinda read them and get the information you—we might need on other things. We need—there are so many pieces missing of too much. We need them.”

That I could agree to. Normally, someone might have felt bad about betraying their mother and allowing someone she didn’t even like to read her journals after she’d died.

My mother didn’t deserve those sorts of considerations. Not after all she’d done to me—all of us.

Or more hadn’t done. That seemed more accurate. It really did.

News came in that the first dragons who had traveled to Fiete and Idunn put out a huge section of each of their fires. In Fiete alone, they saved thousands of acres of produce groves that the fires had been fast approaching. I talked to several first responders and even members of Alpha families who had gone to help and they said they were being treated well.

I talked to Princess Killara of Fiete, who was the third child of the queen ruler. I didn’t know her very well and Treena had made the very vague deal of “help for help” basically.

But nothing prepared me for when she told me to hold on and Queen Rani herself came on the line.

“I did not expect this,” I said honestly, forgoing the normal greetings and having the respect to take the phone off speaker.

“No, but you’re already making me feel better in my decision by taking me off of speaker and probably leaving the room where you are with others.”

“Yes.” There was no reason to deny it. I muttered to the guards to turn off the cameras in the room I was about to enter and make it quick. Luckily, Lydia—my favorite guard who was always on my detail when she was on shift—was there and sheacted immediately. It took only moments and she nodded. “This obviously won’t be official after all.”

“Already smarter than your father,” she chuckled darkly. “I don’t say what I do to poke at your grief, but you know warthogs believe respect is about honesty, not cruelty or insults, but never false flattery.”

“It’s actually something I respect as our time is valuable, especially as rulers,” I accepted.

“And we deal with enough bullshit as women,” she added, snickering when I agreed. “Your father was a dismissive asshole. I’m sorry for your pain, but I won’t be the first to say that or pull the curtain back on you that it wasn’t only the fault of your elders for the problems you will find Thovudin has.”

“I appreciate your candor,” I said evenly. “But you didn’t sneak a call to me for that.”

“No, but I wanted you to hear from me that I do not punish the family. My father was a dismissive asshole too.” She let out a slow breath and seemed to struggle with something. “The King of Protesia told me something interesting, and honestly that is why I’m taking this chance as much as your bold move to help us even if you reached out through Princess Treena.”

Immediately, I knew what she meant and switched to the language of the tigers.“I had limited time to make a very important point and I don’t know your daughter as well as Treena. We are working as a team on many projects to help both of our countries—our continent and to secure the power of the royal families where it should be instead of greedy idiots.”