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I wish I could just be angry about him sneaking onto our land again. Or that I could savor the ridiculous sight of him rolling through the dirt. Instead, I replay our close encounter by the tree over and over again.
I try to picture his eyes staring into mine, to feel the heat radiating from his skin as he looms closer. Close enough to breathe each other in.
I tried to sleep it off, but it was no use. My thoughts were causing my legs to squirm too much to lay still.
So I sit in the kitchen, staring out the window while I refill my water. I hope that the choir of night bugs outside eventually drowns out the sound of Alex's voice ringing in my ear. It doesn't. I turn off the tap with a sigh and sit down at the table.
Taking a tentative sip from my glass, I resign myself to a sleepless night. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of something strange. At the end of the dark hallway, a soft pool of light spills from under Aunt Lily's door.
Lily has always followed the mindset of ‘Early to bed, early to rise.’ Her light being on at this ungodly hour is peculiar, to say the least. I put down my glass and rise from the chair. With each slow step toward the hallway, my heart seems to beat louder.
I lift my hand to knock on Lily's door. Then I hear a sound on the other side. It's muffled but still unmistakable. She's crying. For a moment, I just stand there, torn between my desire to help Lily and my respect for her privacy.
"Aunt Lily?" I call out. There's no reply, only the continued sound of sobbing. I look down at the doorknob. Lily didn't leave me alone all those years ago, and I can't leave her alone now. I reach down and open the door.
"Lily? Is everything alright?" I ask gently.
She quickly tries to stifle the noise and pass it off as a cough. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she says as she wipes the tears away from her eyes.
Looking down on her bed, I can see a photo album sporting fresh new stain marks.
"What about you?" she asks back, but her voice is haunted and distant. "What are you doing awake? Are you okay?"
I kneel down on the floor by her bed. She looks like the entire weight of the world is on her shoulders. I take her hand in mine. "Just can't get to sleep. I am fine. You are not. And it's okay to not be fine. You don't have to lie to me."
I try to give my most comforting smile.
"We've had a hell of a week, right? We got thrown off the horse. But we always get back up, you and me. We always have, and we always will."
Lily places her other hand on my cheek and tries to smile back, but her face can only twist into a look of pure sorrow. Her eyes begin to well up, and she struggles to get out words.
"Bella, I… I have to tell you," she finally says. "I've been holding it in, so you wouldn't have to carry the burden I do. But I can't keep this to myself any longer. My heart can't take it."
I climb off the floor and sit next to her on the bed. "You can tell me anything," I say, patting her on the knee. She takes a long breath and steals her nerves.
With a quivering voice, Aunt Lily begins her confession. "Bella, I… I was in love with King Francis. That was exactly as Alex said. But Alex doesn't know the whole truth. Alex, he's… he's not the King's nephew."
She swallows, her eyes deep pools of sadness and regret.
"He is his son. Our son, Bella. Prince Alexis is the son of the King. And me."
My mind reels for a moment. "What? Just… What?”
I take a moment to let it sink in. There are so many words I want to say all at the same time. Lily shakes her head.
I go from shock to anger. “You had a son? With a king? And you've never told me?"
"We never told anyone. Alex truly believes that his uncle is his father."
"How?" I ask. "How did this happen?"
Lily's eyes glaze over as she becomes lost in her memory. "I met Francis when I was a student. He was charming, ruggedly handsome, and prone to turning in his assignments late. I was tutoring to try and make ends meet, and he was assigned to me. At that time, I didn't know he was royalty. Francis and I hit it off immediately. Our tutoring sessions became long discussions. Eventually, we were dating.”
“Wow.” I’m picturing her young, free, happy, and in love. And my heart breaks knowing that love ended. Or the relationship did, at least.
“One day, out of the blue, he suggested I join him in Solvaria. ‘They have a student exchange program,' he said. 'We could read Shakespeare in the mountains while sipping Solvarian coffee.' They love their coffee."
A small smile starts to break through the sadness.
