Chapter 122: Chapter 6

ADELIE

I found myself back at King’s castle, softly rapping on Elias’s door. I peeked in to find him awake, engrossed in a book. He was a night owl, always the last one to turn in.

I stepped into the room and his gaze lifted to meet mine, a warm smile spreading across his face. I perched on the edge of the bed, and he tossed his book aside.

Elias moved to sit beside me, and I draped my arm around him, leaning back. “What’s on your mind, little devil?” I asked, grinning down at him.

“Is that my father?” He asked. His question caught me off guard, my arm slackening around him, my mouth falling open. “You’ve told me about everyone you know, but you never mentioned him or my father.”

His sharp mind would be the death of me one day. But he didn’t look upset. He seemed composed, collected.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see him again,” I confessed.

His young eyes darted up to mine, and a wave of guilt washed over me. It was wrong to keep a child from his father. I rose to my feet. “Let me introduce you two,” I offered, waiting for him to take my hand. But he just watched me.

“You don’t want to,” he said.

I knelt down in front of him. “You deserve a father, Elias, and I should have given you that. I’m sorry…but he’s here. And you can get to know him,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure what to tell him about Kairos’s lost memory.

He paused for a long moment. “I don’t think fathers who abandon their children deserve to have kids.”

I shook my head, squinting at him. “He never knew…” The fault was mine. I could have tried to find him.

“But he knew you. He left you.”

“You’re just a child, Elias, you shouldn’t worry about this.”

“I love you, Mom. I don’t want you to suffer. Even if you say you don’t, I know,” he said, placing his hands in mine. “I always know when you do.”

I tilted my head at him. He had a knack for reading people. He always seemed to know what they were feeling, even what they were thinking. But he wasn’t a people person, he didn’t study human behavior…he just knew.

And maybe it was more than that. Maybe he saw more in people than the rest of us. “How do you know?” I asked. “How do you know what hurts me?” Could he hear my thoughts? Should I ask? What if he freaked out? Could he hear me now?

Do you want me to ask you, Elias?

He shook his head at me. But I hadn’t asked that question out loud. It was in my mind, and he’d heard it.

He slowly pulled his hand from mine. He had the sight with touch.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I managed a small smile. I stood up and paced around the room. He didn’t want me to question it. That was okay. He knew that I knew. I turned back to him. “Elias, darling. You do know that you can talk to me about anything, right? You do know that you’re not alone, right?”

He nodded. “I know.”

I smiled at him, nodding back and trying to refocus my thoughts. His father. “He is your father. You should get to know him.”

“I don’t want him in our family.”

A flurry of thoughts swirled in my head. “What if something happens to me?”

“I’m good on my own.”

I gave him a quizzical look.

He rolled his eyes. “There’s always Maeve or Esty.”

“What if he finds out?” I asked him.

“Tell everyone what you told the king. Besides, I’m much better as an eight-year-old,” I managed to laugh it off.

“I don’t need him, Mama. I’ve never known him. And I don’t need him now,” he picked up his book again and settled into his bed. This was his way of escaping a conversation or signaling that he wanted to be left alone. He tried to appear distracted.

I returned to my room and prepared for bed. I washed off my makeup and slipped into a silky nightgown. I was ready to sleep, but a knock on my door disrupted my peace.

I glanced at the clock. It was already two in the morning. The knock was too forceful to be Elias.

I opened the door to find…Kairos. “What are you doing here?” I asked him. He looked at me, for too long to be casual, for too long to not make me uncomfortable.

He swayed slightly, looking around. “I figured you wouldn’t be sleeping,” he said.

“I’m about to,” I said. I didn’t want him here. But he walked in uninvited, heading straight for the open window. “You’re not welcome here,” I told him, but he ignored me, resting his hands on the windowsill.

“Kairos!” I tried to get his attention. “It’s the middle of the night. And you’re in my room.”

He turned around, smirking at me. “Does that bother you?” he asked. “That I’m here?”

I let out a heavy sigh, exasperated. “I want you gone.”

His eyes dropped, and his smile faded. “Why do you hate me?” he asked.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m here for a reason. To find out what’s happening with those nymphs. I’m here only for that. Once I do, I’ll be gone. Why do you care so much about what I do?”

“Why do you hate me?” he asked again.

He was looking nowhere but into my eyes.

There were so many things I could tell him. How much it hurt to know he’d been in the king’s pack all this time. That he didn’t remember me. That he had no idea what we once shared.

“You remind me of someone,” I said, because he did. He reminded me of the man I once would have died for. Now he was just another stranger.

“Who?” he asked. “Someone you loved?”

I forced a smile onto my face. “Someone who wasn’t worth my time or effort,” I said, my tone bitter.

“Then why waste your energy hating him?” He asked. “I’m not even him, and yet you hate me. If you didn’t care, it wouldn’t bother you. If it bothers you, it means it still hurts.” His voice echoed in the room. “Does it?”

His words only made me angrier. “Leave, or I’ll call the guards!”

He laughed and looked down. “You should forget if you don’t care. I don’t understand why you keep holding onto it.”

I wasn’t! “Leave!”

He slowly made his way to the door, pausing to glance back at me. “You look very beautiful without…” he gestured vaguely at me. “All that stuff.”

He closed the door behind him, and I looked at my reflection. I never went out bare-faced anymore. I didn’t like it. The more I wore, the more I could hide.

Kairos was strange. Why was he interested in me? He didn’t know me. He knew I was powerful. So why was he taking the risk?

What if he knew? What if he knew who I was? How terrible would it be if he was just playing me?

Or what if he remembered one day while I was here? Would all hell break loose? And what would he say in his defense? Why did he want to forget his past? What was so terrible that he wanted to forget me?

The next morning, I arrived fashionably late for breakfast. It was just me, Maeve, and Elias. The seating arrangement was the same, except Collin was now opposite me, and Kairos was opposite Maeve. Maeve and Elias were on either side of me. We didn’t greet each other verbally, just exchanged nods.

“We weren’t sure what to serve,” Lucy said, while her children bickered among themselves. Four children. Three of them were always arguing. Only one quiet girl. She didn’t talk much, but even at her young age, she had a certain charm.

“I’m sure it will be fine. Thank you,” I said, earning a sweet smile.

Maeve was beside me. I noticed she seemed different today. Angrier. She always looked angry, but today it seemed to have a specific cause. “Is everything all right?” I asked her.

When I looked at her, I noticed her eyes shooting daggers at Collin. “It’s great,” she muttered angrily.

My gaze shifted to Collin. As soon as he felt my eyes on him, he returned my gaze with a simple smile.

“If there’s something you don’t like, we can certainly get something else,” Lucy offered kindly. Leonard didn’t say anything. I guess yesterday’s party had taken a toll on him. He looked a little worse for wear, tired and weak.

Maeve dropped her fork with a clatter. “Like what?” she snapped, not at Lucy, but at Collin, who was already staring at her. “Maybe a big bucket of blood?”

Collin rubbed his face angrily, then turned to her. “I suppose you’d like them fresh, wouldn’t you? Let me just go round up a few of our newest recruits,” he retorted, his tone biting. They’d been fine yesterday, not exactly chatty, but they hadn’t been at each other’s throats like this.

Lucy’s face was a picture of confusion, her eyes wide with panic. She didn’t know whether to be worried or not. I hid a smirk behind my cup, finding the whole situation amusing. Elias seemed to be enjoying it too. Maeve, on the other hand, was a ticking time bomb, her temper always on a short fuse.

“I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you by making you walk all the way over here. Plus, I’m not sure I can control my thirst. Then again, self-restraint isn’t exactly my strong suit. Why don’t you come over here and let me have a taste?” Maeve suggested, leaning on the table with her elbows.

The situation was becoming increasingly entertaining. I let my gaze wander lazily over the group, finally landing on Kairos, who was smirking. I quickly averted my eyes when he caught me looking.

“I suppose I should start locking my bedroom door. I’d hate to not wake up one day,” Collin grumbled, his brow furrowed and his jaw clenching intermittently.

Maeve placed a hand over her heart dramatically. “If I’d known your doors were unlocked, I would’ve done it already.”

I set my cup down on the table with a loud clink. “This is all very entertaining, but let’s not let it escalate into a fight.”

Maeve smirked, her eyes filled with bitterness. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a fight.”

Now it was Kairos’s turn to join in. “Collin is a formidable fighter.”

I fixed him with a steady gaze. “Maeve is stronger,” I countered.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s not about strength, it’s about strategy, speed, dedication.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “The fact remains that she is stronger. Just like it’s a fact that I could beat you without even breaking a sweat.”

He just smiled at me, as if I was joking. “That’s not a fact. You’re not invincible. No one is. I could definitely find a way to beat you.”

I stood up and leaned on the table. “Prove it. Right now!” His smug face was begging for a punch.

“I won’t fight a woman,” he smirked.

I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t about gender, Kairos. Fight me and prove you can beat me!”

“I could try, but I won’t.”

“Scared?” I challenged.

“I think you’re just looking for an excuse to kill me,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Maybe I am.”

He chuckled. “I won’t fight you,” he repeated. Meanwhile, Maeve and Collin had both gotten up and left, their footsteps echoing in the silence.

I glanced over at Lucy, who was rolling her eyes. “They’re about to fight.”

I looked back at Kairos, and this time our thoughts were in sync. We both rushed after them.