A Queen's Redemption

Chapter 16- Familial Pain

I don't think dumbstruck was the correct word for it. The room was silent as we all tried to process what we were just told.

"I'm sorry honey, this isn't how I wanted you to find out." Sebille said sadly.

"Find out what Mother?" Amir asked.

"It's best we start from the beginning." Mum said sitting and then looking at us. "Your fathers were very good friends 30 years ago, before the both of you were born. In fact we all were." she said gesturing to Sebille.

"At the time there was this faction...a dark agency who was causing trouble in the area where we lived, Mirza, who was the King at the time asked Kassim to help him deal with it. At the same time they also had another friend, Cecil, who used to tag along with them whenever they were called for jobs, however this time he'd disappeared. But according to them, Cecil was accustomed to disappearing and popping back up so they thought nothing of it."

"That was around the same time that I was pregnant with you Amir." Sebilled cut in. "Your father...being that he was a Demon of the Highest Order...he knew you would've inherited one as well. And he knew it was going to be difficult for you. So..." she stopped in hesitation. My mother placed her hand on her shoulder then continued.

"Kassim and Mirza...came up with a way for you to be able to control the demon inside you."

"A feeder."

They nodded.

"Okaaaay....but what does they have to do with anything?" Amir asked with furrowed brows.

"Cecil's wife at the time, she was also pregnant with a daughter. He'd previously had a son," mom looked up. "Lyon."

I gasped. "So that means the daughter..."

Sebille nodded. "Yes. Their daughter, Aurelie, was the one chosen to be my son's feeder. Even though she didn't have the DNA of a feeder, the fact that she was of non-human blood made her qualified enough."

"Oh my god." Hazel gasped.

I glanced at Amir and saw him clenching his teeth. I could see the muscles in his jaws working. My hands itched to touch him but I resisted the urge.

"Okay...so what changed?" Issa asked.

Mom sighed. "We found out that Cecil was the one in charge of that dark agency. Kassim and Mirza shut it down...and Cecil and his family were banished. Needless to say...they didn't appreciate that at all, plus it would also mean that his daughter wouldn't become Amir's feeder, which was also what Cecil was striving for. A place in the Senate. But now...Amir was without a means to control the demon...so..." she glanced at Sebille who turned and smiled sadly at Amir.

"A mate."

Amir froze, and we were all speechless. Sebilled turned to me. "Kassim, your father...when Amir was born, he used an incantation...that would enable Amir to have a mate. However there was one hiccup; she...she wouldn't be his true mate...she would be a stand in. Until he found his true mate. And for that to work...she also couldn't live...forever."

We turned to Amir who had his head lowered.

"Saiya..." he started. "Saiya had cancer...there wasn't a cure for it..." he said softly.

I saw the tears in Sebille's eyes.

"Kassim also had the ability...to see only glimpses of the near future. And he saw Saiya. Who was human, and was born with a fast spreading cancer."

I stood and faced them in disbelief. "You guys didn't. Tell me...you guys didn't. You guys didn't do that to him..."

My mother nodded slightly. "Years later...you had already left for Mayuda and Amir was in his teens...Saiya was...purposely...placed in Amir's sights." she finished, looking at Amir with shame and guilt.