Blue Flames

Chapter 24

Absolute, stunned silence.

Then, "You're what?!" Jesse asked, blatant disbelief in his tone.

The others simply stared with varied degrees of incredulity. Arthur was the only one who didn't display the slightest hint of surprise. Maybe he had already figured it out, maybe nothing surprised him anymore after the ages he's lived and the things he'd seen.

"I thought he only had one child," Irene said.

"With his current mate, yes." I said.

My father had taken a mate five years after my birth and my mother's death, he had a child with her a few years later. A fifteen year old half brother. I only knew about him after I started living with humans and looked up the fae's royal family.

"So the rumors are true," Amanda whispered. "There was a woman."

I nodded, "yes, my late mother."

"Wait a second, are you all just going to believe this?" Jesse looked around the table before his gaze settled on me, "do you realize the implications of what you're saying? This means you're the rightful heir to the fae throne."

"I don't want anything to do with it. Besides, Rion abdicated the throne," I said. This was exactly the kind of complications I wanted to avoid.

"It doesn't work that way," Harvey said, "You're the first born of the first born. The throne is rightfully yours."

"I don't want it." I said, "It doesn't matter anyway. It's not like I'm planning to go anywhere near Ireland." At least, not for the moment.

"Who put the sealing spell on you?" Charles asked.

"My mother," I replied.

Charles' sharp blue eyes didn't budge off me, "Why?"

There it was. The question that would bring it all to the surface. My magic was a torrent I could barely hold in. I opened my mouth to speak, but Arthur beat me to it.

"Was Robert sure about the attempt to open another gate?"

Everyone looked at Arthur. The sudden change of subjects took us all by surprise. My eyes met dark brown ones, and my tense body slackened. I nodded.

"Yes, he's sure. Some fae were working with a number of witches and vampires, gathering resources and making plans to open another gate. They were apprehended and punished, apparently. But it did happen."

"Did he mention when?"

"Around three decades ago, I believe." I replied. It had happened a few years before my birth, according to uncle Robert.

"Interesting," Harvey said, following Arthur's lead, "yet no one said a word."

"If it happened in their territory and the people responsible have been punished, are they still required to share it with everyone else?" Irene asked.

"They're not exactly required," Kat said, "it's just common courtesy to share information of that magnitude."

"But if it is still going on, that's a whole different matter." Jesse said.

"Either way, we won't have the full picture until we go to Europe," Arthur stood up, "you're all dismissed. Elle, stay."

Everyone filed out of the room in silence. As the door closed behind them, Arthur came to take a seat next to me. My chair turned around on its own to face him. We were so close that our knees were almost touching. His impassive mask was in place.