Misty waters

5.Mislead

"Can I ask you something?" I asked Rex as I turned to face him.

"Yes of course" he said as he reached for a volume from the silver book shelves.

"Why does Rosetta live in this castle?"

"You surprise me Violet" he said looking up from the book he had in his hand.

I walked closer towards him, confused from all the things kept hidden from me. Why doesn't anyone talk to me simply? Why do I have to fish for information on my own life!

"What do you mean?" I asked exasperated.

"What happened to the royal family Violet?" Rex said his expression of pure surprise.

"The king and the queen they disappeared...but what does that have to do with this?"

"What happened to the servants?" he asked holding the book on his side and taking a step towards me.

"Some went with them and some...I think left because they no longer had jobs" I said narrowing my eyes.

"Did they have any children?" he raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know" I sighed "How am I supposed to know I was so young when they were still ruling"

"When were you left to your Aunt?" his voice softened.

"When I was six" I said barely audible.

He turned to sit at the white table and I followed him. My heart pounding frenetically I watched his un-readable face with anticipation, whatever he was about to tell me didn't make sense so far.

"What happened to your parents?" He gazed at me with a troubled expression.

"They just abandoned me. That's what I know...but Rosetta doesn't agree." I frowned balling my hands into tight fists.

"How long...has it been since you think they did?" He asked, his hand tracing the cover of the book he held, absentmindedly.

"W-why are you asking me all this?" I exclaimed.

"In order for you to see, you must consider all perspectives Violet. You won't understand otherwise"

"It's been ten years" I whispered.

"The King and Queen disappeared ten years ago, on a cold December night leaving behind two daughters to be kept safe in their absence. They went to the black isle, searching for a certain object in order to get rid of the reapers once and for all. And you know what happened after this...they never came back, they became a mystery like your past. You were kept by your maternal Aunt because your sister feared she too would disappear on the voyage." He said never breaking eye contact, his grey eyes growing lilac by the second. "This is why she lives here Violet. Because its home, not only to her but to you too"

I stared at him for several minutes, never blinking, never ceasing to think how wrong I had been. His eyes tried reading me before I decided I should speak "I'm the daughter...I am the daughter of the Thornflowers?" I asked placing two fingers on each temple.

"Yes Violet, you are the fabled daughter of the Thornican Royal family and only you can unravel the mystery of the Thornflowers" He said simply, thrusting an elaborately illustrated book towards me.

"Please tell me you are joking with me?" I clutched my hair. "Not even a bit" he replied running a hand through his gold and coffee hair.

"Then why didn't I know about this Rex? Why do you know more about me than me?"

"Your Aunt protected you at the cost of erasing your past. She wanted to raise you normally. But, birds always stray from the cage...whether dead or alive" he rested his chin on his palm "I know this because my grandfather knew Claudia Thornflower; they were the ones who journeyed to the black isle and came back alive."

I hesitated to speak as I digested this piece of information. My head was buzzing with answers I couldn't quite think about, I had never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be related to the mysterious family. I gazed at the colorful book in front of me.

'Thornica' was written in golden letters on the front of the intricately drawn cover of the book.

"You might find something there" he said leaning in his seat.

"Thank you. I feel so..." I spoke with a slight shake in my voice.

"Mislead?" he asked to which I nodded. "We all feel that way sometimes. You just have to move on" he smiled sympathetically before getting up to take out another book.

I flipped open the book and stared at the index. The first chapter was on the royal family and so I decided, I would learn everything I had missed and I would never look back.