'Till Death We Will Fight

Chapter VI

"I can't believe you're my daughter." He smiles at me as he pulls back from the embrace.

******

"Veronica?"

I hold my hand up stopping him as I continue to pace. It's been an hour since Fratrensten, the elven king, has told me that he is my father. Whenever I was able to get Mother to talk about him she never gave me a name but she told me that he left her when they found out that she was pregnant he left her because he didn't want a child. She also said that when she found him he had had a family before dying.

"Veronica....please talk to me..."

I chew on my lip as I continue to pace in front of Fratrensten, Morthren, and Lastrance. Lastrance places his tail on my shoulder, 'Veronica, please calm down. I know your mother told you lies and you don't want to believe that but this is your father and you are in fact royal.'

"No, no I'm not! I am not supposed to be royal I'm not even supposed to know that all of you exist! I am not supposed to be here! I am supposed to be living in ignorance like every other human!"

Lastrance looks at me, 'Please calm down and listen to what you are saying. You sound as if you're going to leave and not help the people of these countries.'

"No, I'm going to stay and help but that doesn't mean I will accept the throne or Fratrensten as my father."

I see Fratrensten look down at the ground with a pained expression, 'Okay, well you need to rest...'

"Honestly... I would like to speak with Fratrensten alone... please." Lastrance and Morthren nod before leaving me and my father in the room alone. "Did you leave Mother?"

"No, she left me."

"Did you marry and have a family after she left?"

"No, but... I would like to know who the man that wounded you was to her though."

"Her boyfriend, Richard... he killed her before attempting the same with me...."

"You mean she let that man in the house willingly?!?!"

I nod, "He spent the night with her that night... he was her boyfriend..."

"Oh... would you like some tea?" I nod still thinking about the fact that I am his daughter. "You've grown into a beautiful young woman." Fratrensten pours the tea smiling at me and sits down across from me.

"Thank you." I take a small sip, the tea is sweet with a bitter aftertaste.

'Veronica...'

'Don't! I'm not talking to you for a while! I can't believe you didn't tell me who my father was!' I hear him whimper but he doesn't try to speak to me again.

"Veronica, I'm sorry that I didn't contact you but your mother didn't want you to know me."

Sighing I look up from the cup and into his grey ,"I believe it, she was always changing her story about why you weren't around... most ended with you having a new family and you had died."

"Your mother was beautiful and kind but she knew nothing other than what Crastor has been feeding all of the humans... she refused to marry me and left before she had you. She didn't tell me that she was with child.... when I found out that she had you I sent Morthren to watch over you.... every time a human picked on you or teased you because of your height I knew about it. Every time you walked away from a fight I knew.... every time one of your mother's boyfriends hit or yelled at you I knew.... I also knew every time you ran into the woods and found your peace with the animals as you cried.... I was there but I wasn't I knew more than your mother did about what was happening in your life...."

I looked down then at my arms covered in makeup.... I hope he didn't know about that... "So you had him stalk me?" He nods slowly, "Well... I suppose that's what saved me."

He gives me a small smile, "So you aren't angered with me are you?"

"No... you did the best you could and you protected me even when you couldn't be there.... that's more than I can say for others." Fratrensten and I sat there drinking tea and talking for hours just catching up on everything he wasn't there for. I was surprised to find that he knew when my birthday was and that my name wasn't really Veronica....apparently my mother named me Vernoceses Ivorast Retreston Mortalitas. He even showed me my birth certificate proving my name, he asked me to call him some form of dad so I settled for father. We both agreed that I would be called Vernoceses so that my named wouldn't be traced back to the human kingdom and Crastor.

'I like Vernoceses.'

'Still not talking to you.'

'Fine.' I have a feeling that he's going to pout for the remainder of the day because of this but frankly I don't care.

"You should get some rest before dinner."

Standing I stretch a little but it hurts, I can feel my wound breaking open when I do so in mid-stretch I stop, "Thank you Father."

"What for?"

"Everything..."

"No problem." With that I walk to my lodgings and fall asleep for a while.