“Wait,” I said firmly before he could sit. “I need you to tell me something right now.”
His brow crinkled in confusion. “Anything, Raynella.”
I stifled the bitter laugh that threatened to escape at that response and steadied my voice. “I need you to tell me what abilities you have.”
He blinked at me as if it was the last thing he’d expected me to ask. “Why do you wish to know?”
“Just tell me!” I demanded, the calming effects of Klonopin bowing to my frayed nerves.
“All right. I am an amplissario so I have three abilities,” he began cautiously, as if afraid I might snap again. “Like many Vitaeans, I have my healing power, though it is not as strong as most. Beyond that, I am an aquiservian and my mental gift is telekinesis.”
His words were everything I wanted to hear, and if he was telling the truth, then he couldn’t have messed with Corym’s mind. But I wouldn’t just take his word for it. Not anymore.
“Prove it,” I demanded.
“Raynella, what is this all about?”
“Prove. It,” I said again, my jaw aching with tension.
His eyes flickered around the room, then he sighed heavily and gestured toward the table with his right hand. The water I’d been drinking swirled up and out of the cup, shaped itself into a perfect flower, then dropped smoothly back into the glass.
“And the other?” I prodded.
He faced the wall of windows and squinted his eyes slightly. I turned to watch, and all the tension I’d been holding melted away as the curtains opened and closed.
He was telling the truth.
“Thank you,” I said weakly, slumping back in my chair.
He took his seat, regarding me with concerned eyes. “Will you tell me now why that was so important to you?”
I sipped my water to buy some time to think. I couldn’t exactly tell him that I went to go have Corym do the mind transfer after he specifically told me to wait.
“I realized last night that I didn’t know anything about you. We've barely spent any time together because you’re always off doing king stuff, and I was starting to feel like maybe you were keeping something from me. It was stupid, I know, but I’ve never had a father before.”
I forced myself to meet his eyes, and the amount of sympathy and pain in them had me rethinking every negative thought I’d ever had. Sure, he bullied me into doing what he wanted for the supposed good of his court, but that didn’t mean he had some deeper nefarious plan. This was not my world, and maybe my father's actions would be considered justified here. For all I knew, refusing to show up to his dinners might be the same as someone in my world refusing to accept a medal of honor from the president—insulting and unheard of.
My stomach twisted as a wave of nausea and embarrassment swept over me. What if I had been so scared about finally having a family that I was subconsciously doing everything I could to sabotage it?
“Raynella,” he said softly. “I am so sorry that I gave you cause to doubt me. I know I handled the situation with Camden and Ramset poorly, but I just found you. I had to witness each of my children succumb to the plague, and that day in the city I was so afraid that I had lost you as well. This King’s Councilhas occupied so much of my time that should have been spent getting to know you better, and for that I am truly sorry. It will all be over in a few days. Everything will be better afterward. Trust me.”
I pulled my braid around and chewed on the end for a second. Everything he said was what I wanted to hear except…
“What about my purse?” I asked.
He blinked. “Your purse?”
“Yeah, I found my purse in your office. I was looking for you and saw my phone on your desk. I just don’t know why you’ve kept it from me.”
“Raynella,” he said calmly, “half of this court has access to my study. If someone placed your purse on my desk, I was not informed of it. That is the truth.”
Something inside me broke then. Maybe having some kind of relationship with my father wasn’t totally a lost cause.
“I’m sorry,” I said meekly. “I should have talked to you.”
His hand reached out to pat mine. “It will be all right. I can only imagine how strange this world is for you. How much our way of life differs from your own. I could never take offense at your concerns. I do hope you know you can speak with me in the future.”
“I know,” I said, swallowing hard.
