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Her fingers wrap around mine and this time I can’t bring myself to let go. Instead, I refuse to acknowledge what I’m doing and focus solely on Thirteen, despite Nothing’s gaze burning right through me.
Fuck her.
Fuck her.
“The little boy took the baby back into the castle knowing the risk he was taking, and what his father would do to him and the child if he ever found out. Seeking help from his brothers, they made a pact to look after the baby, a little girl with the prettiest hazel eyes and golden hair,” she says, smiling softly at Nala. “And for months they managed to do that until one day the evil warlock heard her crying and stormed into their room. He tried to kill the baby, but the warlock’s servant managed to save her life by telling a story about how the child washisgranddaughter. To everyone’s surprise, the warlock allowed her to live but only if she was kept away from his three sons. So, with heavy hearts, they handed her over to the warlock’s servant and closed their hearts off from her, hoping that one day, when the warlock died, they’d be able to care for her again—”
“And then the warlock died and they all lived happily ever after,” Konrad interrupts, clapping his hands. “Great story, Thirteen. Cheers.”
“Wait, I haven’t finished yet,” Thirteen says, as Nala grips my hand tightly in hers.
“Look, we all know how this story ends,” I say, needing to get the fuck away form them all. I have enough trouble dealing with the memories of my childhood without being reminded of them here in this field where I fed the wildflowers my blood on a regular fucking basis.
“I said I haven’t finished!” she says, her jaw set.
“Speak,” I demand, losing my fucking patience.
“Renard was unable to finish his story because the three of you walked into the parlour and you demanded we play cards,” Thirteen says, looking at Konrad. “Do you remember? You were better than all of us.”
“Yeah, I remember,” Konrad replies with a satisfied smile. “Still am.”
“Anyway, just before it was time to leave and our father’s were saying goodbye, I asked Renard what happened to the little girl’s mother and father. I remember frantically writing the question down in my childish scrawl, worried he wouldn’t have time to tell me. As it happens, he didn’t, but he did say that when the time was right, he’d tell me all about them.”
“And did he ever tell you?” Nala asks, her voice barely audible.
“Yes, two nights before he passed away. He came to find me,” Thirteen explains, glancing at Leon. “You and Christy were asleep at the time.”
“So what did he say?” I ask sharply.
“He said that the little girl he called his granddaughter was in fact thewarlock’schild.”
“What the fuck?” Konrad gasps.
“You’re lying!” I grind out, the fucking ground tipping beneath me as a loud sob escapes Nala’s mouth.
Thirteen shakes her head. “I wish I was, I truly do, but according to Renard, Nala is your half-sister from one of the servants your father had arelationshipwith.”
Raped. She means raped, but is refusing to use that word in order to protect Nala from any more pain. “This is bullshit!”
“Renard asked me to wait to tell you until I thought the time was right…” Her voice trails off as she looks at our joined hands.
“Why didn’thetell me this? He had so many opportunities to do so over the years. He could’ve told me this on his fucking deathbed. Instead all he talked about was her,” I say, glaring at Nothing as though all of this is her fault.
“He couldn’t tell you whilst your father was alive, and once he was dead he still wasn’t certain how you would take the news. The boy he knew, the one who saved a baby from dying in the forest, had grown up to be a very different man. He wanted to make sure you wouldn’t hurt her. He was hoping he’d live to see the day when you’d finally become the man he’d always hoped you’d be and that he’d be able to tell you this himself.”
“And by telling me this now, you think Iwon’thurt her?”
Nala gasps, but I refuse to look at her.
“You’renotyour father, Jakub,” Thirteen insists, looking from my face to our joined hands. “No matter how hard you try to be. Nala is your sister, she’s family, just like she’s always been.”
With great effort, I untangle my fingers from Nala’s and take a step away from her. No one can know how close I am to giving up and letting that boy who held his baby sister in his arms come back to life.
No one.
“How did Nala end up in the forest?” I ask, forcing coldness into my voice, willing emptiness into my heart, accepting the darkness that touches my soul.
“When Renard found out Nala’s mother was pregnant, he gave her money to start a new life somewhere far away from here. He knew she couldn’t stay at the castle. Only she returned with Nala a few weeks after she was born in the hope your father would take responsibility for her.”
