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“You will. Try to remember.”
“None of this is real. I’m not fae. I’m a mortalhumangirl with no family. My name is Serra. . .” I whispered to myself, my head spinning. I didn’t want to believe him, I didn’t want to believe any of this. It had been simpler before, my life had been simpler. Sad yes, with those who had turned on me. Even sadder with the passing of everyone I loved. This was not what I had expected when I had agreed to his deal, this was not what I thought I was after.
This was not what I had asked for, hadwishedfor.
It was not what I wanted.
His eyes trace every delicate feature on my face, his thumb caressing my cheek. A tear escapes but he brushes it away before it could fall. “Astraea, you were never just human.” He conveys, brushing my hair back and tucking it behind my ear. My soft rounded ear with the lightest touch of his fingers, sends a shiver through me. “You are the heir to the Lost Fae. Your people, they need you. The land needs you.”
“No, that’s not possible. You’re wrong.”
His expression softened then, letting me go as I step back from him. “You are. You are the Crowned Princess. YouareAstraea Irene Linnea Darthordian.”
“No!”
My feet faltered as the ground began to quake beneath me, causing a shiver to run down my spine. I surveyed my surroundings, my eyes scanning the throne room. The once stately walls were now scarred with deep cracks, rubble threatening to fall from above at any moment. The sudden realization hit me, and I could no longer hold back the tears. My heart felt heavy, like it was about to crumble along with the castle walls. How could I have been so foolish? How could I not have seen through Nona's stories and the Goblin King's tricks? With a quivering voice, I confronted him, a mix of anger and hurt laced in my words.
“You're lying,” I accuse him.
He sighs heavily, acknowledging my words. “For over eighteen years, Inirea has been decaying. It's dying. It needs you.”
My fury builds, fueled by his admission. “If it is decaying and dying, it is by your own hand,” I seethe, the words spilling out in a torrent of hurt and betrayal. He'd turned against my family and me, betraying us all. My heart aches, and I feel like he's stolen my life and family from me.
“There are greater forces at work here, forces that would harm you. Fae who want you for themselves.” He says, “Astraea, please.”
But he was a liar- a master at deception and deceit. A crafter of lies and manipulation. It was his specialty, his forte. He could make you believe anything he wanted you to believe, even if it was the furthest thing from the truth. And I fell for it- completely, fully and wholly fell for it. I trusted him with my heart and soul, never once questioning his motives or his true intentions. But now, as the truth slowly reveals itself, I can see him for what he truly is.
And it hurts. All of it hurts so much.
I struggle to process the enormity of his betrayal, a burning light ignites within me, threatening to consume me with its intensity. The memories that had been hidden from me for so long come flooding back, leaving me reeling. I turn on the Goblin King, my anger now in control.
“Why are all these memories coming now? Why did Luna not tell me? Why keep me in the dark?” I spat out my questions, each word infused with anger and frustration.
“It had to be done. When you were taken from Inirea to Rothnia, your memories were blocked. It was to keep you safe. It was to protect you from Ezra,” Eirsen repeats, his voice heavy with regret.
The name of the person he's trying to protect me from hits me with a powerful force. Ezra. The thought of him fills me with fear and dread. I try to push the memories of him away, but they come rushing back, unbidden.
I feel like I'm suffocating.
“Stop. Please, stop,” I plead, my voice barely above a whisper.
Despite his explanation, doubts nag at me, and I struggle to believe that everything he's telling me is true. My mind races, trying to make sense of the chaos and confusion. The ground continues to tremble beneath my feet, and I realize that everything I thought I knew was a lie. It's too much to bear.
Even with the final truth hanging over my head, I was desperate not to believe it. Everything seemed plausible. It could not have been him, could it? I wanted to believe he hadn’t done it. He hadn’t played a part in it. It felt like I was shattering. Every part of me splintered into pieces. I could take his confession in the ballroom. I could take his lies, I could take the whispers of the villagers of Rothnia. I could take the perfidy of Kaston. I could believe parts of the lies he had told. I could believe the truths I had learned.
But not this.
My thoughts spiral out of control, and I can feel myself breaking apart. I try to cling to the little truths I've learned along the way, but they're too few and far between. I can't believe that the male who stands before me, the one who has robbed me of everything, could be capable of such betrayal. My heart feels like it's splintering into a million pieces, and I'm powerless to stop it.
I was Fae.
This was my home, my world. But it's all been taken away from me. The one who stands before me, the Goblin King, was the source of all my pain and loss. I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of emotions, unable to escape the devastation that surrounds me.
“Astraea-Serra. . .” Eirsen’s hand reached out to me, worry etched on his face, but it was the panic in his eyes that caused me to pause. The ground rumbled again as I felt the last pieces of me break. The last pieces of whom I thought I was, who I knew to be, splintered and scattered inside me. The walls around me trembled as another rumble shook them. The cracks in the stones causing more to fall around us.
“Please. . .” Eirsen pleaded.
“Take me home,” I demanded, glancing back at the throne he had been lounging in- My father’s throne. My eyes lingered on the crumbling walls around us, at the charred and broken beams. The once magnificent room, ravaged. Only a distant spark of what I remembered them to be, of what remained of this place.
