“Well, I should go before…” Solana said, and Avis dipped her chin in agreement.
“It was good to see you, Sol.” She handed her the box of tinctures and Solana took them with a faint smile. Taking one last wistful look around the shop, she left, the bell announcing her exit.
Avis walked over to the bookcase then and pulled it open.
I stumbled backward, hoping it wouldn’t look like I was snooping. I just now realized that wasn’t very kind and I should have maybe gone deeper into her house and waited so that they could speak in private.
“Reveal,” Avis said and waved her hand over my face. The film that felt like it was over my eyes dissipated and I stood before Avis awkwardly.
“I heard everything. I’m so sorry,” I blurted out, unable to keep the secret.
She smiled at my honesty, looking at me with her kind hazel eyes. “Let me close the shop early. Care for a cup of hot chocolate?”
I nodded and after she locked the door and flipped the sign to “Closed”, I followed her deeper into her house. I’d never been in here, the hallway led to a staircase that went up above the shop to a beautiful two-story home. She led me into a spacious kitchen with large windows that overlooked the park behind the shop and pulled out a seat at the robin’s-egg-blue table.
I sat down quietly while she hummed to herself, making hot chocolate for me and tea for her. There was such a calmness about her, like that run-in with her sister didn’t bother her, or the fact that I’d heard. Maybe it did bother her, but she didn’t show it. I longed to be like that, unflustered in times of chaos.
When we finally sat across from each other, Avis took a sip of her steaming-hot tea and sighed in contentment. I pulled the hot chocolate to my lips and took a swig.
“Mmm,” I said as warm, chocolaty goodness washed down my parched throat. “Thanks.”
She nodded. “I’m sure you have questions about what you heard.”
I swallowed hard. “It’s your business, we don’t need to ever talk about it again if you don’t want.”
She gave me a wan smile. “You’re such a good kid, Fallon. I trust that you won’t tell anyone what you learned today?”
I put the hot chocolate down. “Never. I promise.” I met her gaze and gave her a serious look.
She nodded. “I know.”
I wasn’t sure what else to say, I didn’t want to pry so I just stayed silent, fully okay with never talking about this again. Having a secret sister who was the queen was probably a huge burden to bear.
“Years before my mother, Penelope Ashbluff, was betrothed to Prince Sargon Madden, she had a teenage love affair with my father, the son of a lowly shopkeeper. AWestie,” she said, and I tried to keep my face calm.
I knew that the famous King Sargon was Ariyon and Ayden’s grandfather. Solana’s father. Which meant they were definitely half-sisters as I thought. Sharing the same mother but different fathers.
“Why didn’t she marry your father instead?” I hoped it wasn’t too much of a prying question.
“It wasn’t allowed. My father was not of royal blood, and she was sixteen when she got pregnant. Her parents sent her away to the Rydale Kingdom where she stayed with cousins, and she carried me to term and birthed me there.”
I gasped. “That must have been scary. In another realm, so young.”
Women in my village gave birth young, but sixteen was pushing it.
She nodded. “When she came back, her parents had made an arrangement with my father’s family. They would raise me and not say a word to anyone about who my mother was and in return they would be handsomely rewarded.”
I frowned. That was really sad, for them to just sell her like that.
She held her tea between cupped palms. “So, I am the secret love child of a queen; we don’t exactly get the fanfare the king’s bastards get, but my mother’s family bought my father this house, and the shop, and paid for my schooling, but she chose Sargon Madden as her husband.”
Solana’s dad. Sad.
“Did she love him? Sargon.” I hoped this wasn’t going too far.
“Eventually.” Avis smiled. “My mother let Solana and I play together as children. We were only a few years apart and Solana had trouble making friends, being that she was the king’s daughter. Everyone was scared of her.”
I could understand that.
