Journey of a Girl

Secrets We Keep: Chapter Ten

"Will you tell me the truth?"

The Queen looked at Credence curiously, surprised by the question.

"The truth about what?"

"Everything. About your son and Ma. About the promise that was made before I was born." Credence's jaw tightened. "He told me I couldn't trust you. But you're the only one I can trust, I think."

The Queen studied Credence for a moment.

"Maybe you can't," she answered mournfully. "But I will tell you what you wish to know. I only hope, in the end, you can forgive my part in it."

A shiver of anticipation rolled over Credence's skin.

"Before the woods feared him, before he was given that horrid name, the Collector...he was a shy, intelligent boy...and I remember when Galeia called him friend and brother.

Galeia was a child full of curiosity and mischief, always searching for trouble to get into. That curiosity lent itself to good, for Galeia learned the language of the woods and met its inhabitants with an open heart. Isolam was her closest confidant, as he had been just a fawn at their meeting, a babe like her. Oh, to see them learning to walk together, tripping over their own feet and chasing each other when they finally found their legs! But as they grew, they began to see the world with more than a child's eye.

Isolam found it first. Galeia caught him in a field next to a doe, acting very strangely. He told Galeia the doe confused him. Isolam wanted to protect her—maybe even kiss her. When Galeia retold the encounter to me, I asked if there was someone she felt the same way about. Someone she may want to kiss.

'No,' she told me, 'but someday I might.'

Her reply made my heart sing.

I had already chosen the perfect match. My son, Ajo."

"Ajo," Credence whispered. The Collector's real name.

She had a vague recollection of it, but it was buried deep in her memories.

"My little Ajo was born under a Mead moon, from the trees and rain, a few years before I found Galeia. He was my heart and soul, the Prince of the Wood, and I intended for him to take my place as ruler one day. But the greatness I thrust upon him was costly, and he spent his childhood pursuing knowledge. This hardened him, molding him into a serious boy with little time for frivolity—but there was love in his heart, wonderful love, and his soul was pure and devoted to protecting life. He would be a stern, but kind, ruler.

He changed when he saw Galeia. When I brought her into my kingdom, the very instant he looked at her, a crack formed in his somber nature.

And I was quick to deepen it.

While Galeia gallivanted in the woods, Ajo clung to his books—but his eye was always following her, and I sensed that deep inside was a heart that cried for her alone.

But she was so wild, and he was so careful. When Ajo came to the edge of a cliff, he stopped to study the length of the fall—while Galeia jumped without looking. They loved each other very much, but they loved differently.

Long before Galeia and I talked of kisses, Ajo had come to me to ask for her hand. I urged his love as I tried to coax her into his arms.

I was certain that one day, Galeia would open her eyes to see him in kind. Ajo would take his place as king, and no evil could thrive that his hand wouldn't perish. And by his side, Galeia would become a queen. They would be the calm and the wild, a perfect balance, like nature itself.