“Koarthandris, Your Highness. Most people call me Koar.”
That was simple enough.
I shifted my pointing hand to the old man. “What’s your name and who are you?”
“Safir, Your Majesty,” he said with a deep bow. “I am atiger shifter, who served your parents and have been working for some time to bring you to the throne.”
There was a lot packed into that sentence.
My parents? He knew my parents! That was huge!
And he’d been workingfor some timeto bring me to the throne? Like… how long? As much as my curiosity clawed at me to ask more about my parents, I had to know…
“How long…?” I asked, jaw tight, voice strained. “How long have you known all this? How long have you kept me in the dark about who I am?” It came out as a growl. To say I was upset was a vast understatement. Had this man known who I was my whole life and never bothered to find me and tell me?
“Told you she’d be pissed,” Myel muttered under his breath.
Oh, I was, and at Myel too. He’d known who I was as well. But for now, my wrath was focused on the old man: Safir.
“Your whole life,” he said, voice soft, breathy. He knelt, head bowed. “I am sorry, Your Majesty. I… I failed you in so many ways. I should have protected you as a child, should have raised you… but I… lost you.”
Lost me?
What the fuck?
How do you lose a child?
I mean, I’d heard of parents losing their kids in crowded places, but still…!
“It’s a long story,’ Safir hedged, perhaps sensing my mounting fury.
“I think we have a few minutes!” I growled.
Safir sighed. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And stop calling me that!” I snapped. “My name isIzzy!” Okay, fine, actually my name was Isolde, but I wasn’t ready to accept that yet.
Myel helped me up and got me to a chair. I sat heavily as Myel and Vyns hovered nearby. Koar and Rook leaned on the walls. The dragon seemed wary, glancing about, worried. The incubus looked bored, head back against the wall, looking at the ceiling.
Safir sat on his bed.
“Should I start at the beginning?” he asked.
“That’s usually the best place,” I fumed, still worked up.
He nodded.
“I served your father,” he said, voice even, looking away, gaze distant. “Well, my father served your father first, but I took on my father’s duties when he passed.”
Again… everyone in this world seemed to have a master, working for someone. It irked me to no end. If Iwasa princess, I’d do my damnedest to make sure everyone in this world was free and didn’t have to serve anyone!
“By then, we were all in the human realm. Your parents had been banished from our realm because of your parents’ love. An elf and a nymph… together… Your grandmother did all she could to shelter them, but when they insisted on getting married, she had to exile them.”
Had to?
Wouldn’t my grandmother have been the queen? Women ruled this world, not men — which was nice — but if so, why couldn’tthe queenhave changed the laws if she didn’t like them?
Fuck, this world was messed up! Exiled because of love? Sheesh!
