She scoffed. “Come again? Because it sounded like you insinuated that someone cut off part of my ears as a baby.”
This wasn’t going well and he’d only said two things. Amos raked a hand through his blond hair, wishing he had Clover at his side. “When our mother was pregnant with us?—”
“Us?” she echoed.
Amos nodded. “We’re twins.” She searched his face, and he saw the exact moment she believed him. “Our father wasn’t a good man,” Amos continued. “I could go on for hours about the horrors he inflicted on his family and people, but that’s a conversation for another day.”
Or never.
Amelia looked like she’d seen a ghost, and Rennick reached for her hand.
“He believed women shouldn’t hold positions of power.” Amos watched her to see if he needed to stop. She waited expectantly. “There were no female warriors like there are in other kingdoms, no female council members, and, more importantly, no female heirs.”
Amelia looked like she might argue, but said nothing.
“Our grandfather was the same way, and when his wife bore him twins, the firstborn of which was a girl, he changed the baby’s name and sent her away the day after she was born, but later in life, she found out her heritage and tried to overthrow our father not long after he took the throne.”
Amos cleared his throat and leaned his elbows on his knees. “He killed her and vowed that if he had a daughter, he would kill her immediately to prevent history from repeating itself. That’s what he told our mother.”
Amelia held up a hand. “Royals only have one child.” She looked at her mate. “Unless you lied.”
Rennick sat forward. “I wouldn’t lie to you, love. Usually, they only have one. No one knew your father had a twin or that Amos does.”
“I wouldn’t have known if not for our mother,” Amos added.
Amelia wavered, and Rennick laid a steadying hand on her back.
“Our mother didn’t know it yet, but she was already pregnant with us when our father told her about his sister. When the midwife told her there were two heartbeats, she begged the woman not to tell anyone until she had a plan for what to do if one or both of the babies were girls.”
It felt wrong referring to Alice as just the midwife, but it would take too long to dive deeper. She’d meet Alice one day.
“The midwife agreed without hesitation. The staff adored our mother and would have done whatever she asked.” Amos’ lips tilted into a half smile. “You’re a lot like her.”
“How do you know what I’m like?” Amelia cut in. “We’ve never met, and I grew up in an orphanage with no family.”
He heard the hurt in her voice. She had a family but had been left to believe otherwise.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, sat back, and motioned to Roland at his feet. “I checked in on you periodically through Roland.”
“His name is Eddy,” Amelia snapped, taking him by surprise. “You sent him to me when I was fifteen. That’s when you get yourfamiliar, no?”
Amos pressed his lips into a grim line. “It is.”
“Then he is more mine than yours.” She lifted her chin. “He has lived with me for almost ten years. His fucking name is Eddy.”
He could argue with her and point out that he could speak with Roland whenever he wanted. It wasn’t like he’d had no contact with his ownfamiliarfor a decade.
Roland whined and leapt into her lap.“You’re upsetting her.”
“And she’s belittling our bond,”Amos shot back.“Or have you forgotten we have one?”
He felt Roland’s guilt, but cut the connection.
The lynx had apparently followed them inside, unnoticed by Amos, and moved closer to Amelia.
“He is myfamiliar, Amelia. I’m sorry, but he belongs with me.”
She leveled him with a glare that would have made him proud if he wasn’t on the receiving end. “I didn’t say otherwise, but his name is Eddy. You wouldn’t call a child by one name most of their lives and change it ten years later, would you?”
