Adalia watched the colour drain from Hadassah’s face and it dawned on her that this woman knew who Matthias was.
And then it hit her . . . she knew whothiswoman was.
It was her turn for colour to drain from her face. She swallowed quietly as her pulse raced.
This was Matthias’s mother.
Hadassah paced around in a circle, shifting from foot to foot. “I . . . I came to see you, but I was too late. You’d already left.”
“What do you mean, you came to see me? Should I know who you are?” Matthias said, looking confused.
“No . . . you wouldn’t know who I am, but I know who you are . . . My son,” Hadassah whispered. “The King told me you were here. He said he’d spoken with Adalia and I’d find you together. I came by, but no one was home. That’s when I heard you’d already left.”
Time stood still.
Adalia felt the atmosphere shift. The air became static with electricity. Nikolas froze, and Matthias moved away from them all, as if he was falling into a dark hole. She reached for him in slow motion, but couldn’t quite grasp him.
“You knew about this?” Matthias hissed between clenched teeth.
There was no point in lying about it. Adalia knew he would see right through it all, but she was so afraid of losing him to the truth. “Matthias . . .”
“Tell me! Did you know about this?” He demanded.
Adalia held back the tears that threatened to spill over. “I knew she was here, yes . . . but I didn’t know who she was, or that she came to find you . . . I swear.”
Matthias ran a hand over his face and let it rest on his mouth as he stared at the three faces before him.
“I’m sorry Matthias—” Adalia reached for him again, but he pulled away.
“This is too much. I can’t be here,” He said, voice too even.
Turning, he walked away.
Adalia looked at Hadassah sadly. “I’m so sorry, Hadassah. Let me talk to him.”
As she turned to look for Matthias, he shot into the sky, heading toward the Veil, and Adalia knew if she didn’t catch up to him, it was likely he would return to Oscuro.
Pushing off the ground, Adalia took to the skies after the dark prince.
She reached him just as he flew over the town by the sea. “Matthias, please stop.”
He ignored her cries and flew on, descending as he neared the Veil.
Adalias’ heart rate quickened as she scrambled for the right words to say. She followed him to the ground and grabbed his arm just before he reached the Gates of District Seven.
“Please wait,” she cried.
The dark prince stopped, but didn’t face her.
“I’m sorry, okay. I didn’t know she knew you were here.” Adalia pulled on his arm so Matthias would face her.
“How long?” Matthias questioned with an icy gaze. “How long have you known about her?” he hissed as he shrugged out of her grasp.
Adalia let her arms fall loosely to her side. “Since you first came to Lucius,” she whispered.
The prince took another step from her, pain seething in his eyes. “So, you let me talk about my mother and didn’t tell me you knew her. How are you any different from the people in my kingdom? . . how dare you keep something like this from me!”
“Matthias . . . I’m sorry. I was afraid.” Adalia took a step towards him.
