Again, he decided not to point out that he’d been calling hisfamiliarby Roland through their bond for just as long.
Amos hung his head, suddenly tired of fighting. “Fine. Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?”
“Watch your tone,” Rennick warned, and Amos told him to fuck off with his eyes.
Amelia motioned for Amos to continue.
“Our mother met Charlotte, the Human Queen, at a diplomatic meeting, and they kept in touch over the years. Mom would visit the Human Kingdom often, and when she found out she was pregnant, Charlotte agreed to help her. Because Mom carried twins, the midwife said she’d likely deliver early. Our father didn’t know there were two babies, and thought she had at least two more months to go when our mother asked if she could visit Charlotte one last time before giving birth. He said yes.
“She stayed with Charlotte, and when she went into labor, she gave birth to me.” Amos swallowed. “And then you.”
Amelia looked away. “How disappointed she must have been.”
He understood his sister was hurt and confused, but he refused to let her diminish the sacrifice their mother made. “She was, but not because she didn’t want a girl, but because she knewshe’d never see you again until I took the throne. She gave Father an excuse to stay another month with Charlotte to give herself time with you.”
Tears streaked down Amelia’s cheeks, and Amos took a moment to collect himself. “She left you in the Human Kingdom with Charlotte and crossed back into the Desert Kingdom with me. She told Father she’d only just had me so that our births were recorded a few weeks apart.” He chuckled humorlessly. “I never understood why she decided to change my birthday and not yours, but it worked out in my favor in the end.”
“Heirs can’t cross the barrier,” Amelia argued, looking to Rennick for confirmation.
“They can’t leave their kingdom,” Amos corrected. “But I wasn’t leaving, I was entering. There is no magic in the human lands to tie an heir there.”
“If she left me with the Human Queen, how did I end up in an orphanage?”
“They couldn’t chance anyone knowing who you were. They hid you until your ears healed, then left you where they knew you’d be safe. The queen monitored who ran the orphanage and had extra patrols stationed in your village.”
“Why couldn’t I leave with Rennick?” she asked. “We could have married when we turned twenty-two.” She turned to Rennick then. “Why didn’t you send for me sooner? I had no one. I thought I had no family, and the entire time you knew.”
Amos hated that she’d felt alone, but he prayed she’d understand it was the only way to keep her safe.
“We tried, love, I swear it,” Rennick said, shooting Amos a death glare. “The human queen wouldn’t let you leave until I took the throne.”
“Why?”
“Because until you became queen, you were considered an heir to the Desert Kingdom,” Amos said softly. “One look at you,and our father would have known you were his.” He gestured between them. “We look just like him. If you married another king and took the throne, you’d no longer be in line for the throne because you’d already rule another kingdom.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “How do you know that sitting on one throne prevents you from taking another?”
Amos felt exhaustion set in. “A treaty signed between the five kingdoms over a thousand years ago states that no one person can rule two kingdoms.”
“Rennick would’ve kept me safe,” she argued weakly, her shoulders slumping with defeat.
Amos shook his head. “It wasn’t worth the risk.”
“Where are our parents now?” Her voice sounded as tired as his. “Did our mother not want to meet me?”
Amos’s eyes burned, reliving the night he’d lost their mother. “She fell ill when we were twelve. She’d been so full of life one minute, and the next she puked for hours, and her mouth filled with sores as if burned.” He stared at his feet for a moment. “I think she was poisoned, possibly by mistake, but there’s no way to know for sure. There were many people in our kingdom who wanted our father dead.” He sniffed. “When she realized she was dying, she told me everything and begged me to make sure our father never knew of your existence.
“I was a child, but I swore to her I would take care of you. The following year, the Mountain King came looking for his son’s mate—a girl named Amelia born on my real birthday. I knew in my gut it was you, and I thought Callum could protect you. I managed to get him alone before he left and told him everything.”
Silence sat heavy between them.
Amelia shuddered out a sob, and Amos stood and rounded the desk to kneel beside her chair, but the lynx wouldn’t let him.
Amos stared at the lynx. Was he Amelia’sfamiliar? He’d wondered if she’d get one. He glanced at Rennick, who subtly shook his head.
Amos awkwardly rested a hand on Amelia’s shoulder, unsure how to comfort her. “You were always loved, and I came for you as soon as I could.”
Face in her hands, she nodded, unable to speak through her cries. Roland whined and pushed his body into hers.
