Ever So Lightly- Book 1

39

Alive. Her grandfather was alive. Zephyr had thought she was getting used to life throwing the unexpected at her, but apparently that wasn't the case because seeing this man had unraveled her once again. As they made their way through the torchlit tunnels, each turn blurring together, Zephyr couldn't help but steal glances at the old man walking slowly next to her. It was like looking into a new world, seeing a story she had ached for her entire life. Matthew had her eyes, a feature she apparently had shared with her mother.

They approached a wooden door embedded within the stone wall and Matthew hesitated at the threshold.

"We can talk in here, if that's okay with you." The tears had left his voice, but Zephyr still detected a hint of sadness in his lined features. She nodded and followed him into the room.

Lights flickered off the stone walls, illuminating a cozy room. A large desk in the corner was piled with books and loose papers. The bed at the far end was neatly made, a pair of slippers peeking out from underneath. Zephyr turned to take in the entire room when her gaze snagged on a painting hanging alone on another wall. Her feet seemed to move of their own accord, drawing her closer to the piece.

"Is that..." her voice caught on the words as she stared into the faces of four people. A father, a mother, and two small children. A boy and a girl, both with hair like starlight.

"It is. Your parents, Jonathon and Adelynne, and your brother Bowen." Matthew had come to stand behind her. Zephyr couldn't pull her gaze away from the painting. Her father's strong jaw, midnight eyes, that same shining steel-colored hair. Zephyr sat in his lap, a grin brightening her childish features that could light the night sky. Bowen sat in their mother's lap, his bored expression the opposite of her own. Adelynne's small frame didn't diminish her strength as she seemed to be holding the small boy still. Their ages... this must have been painted just before...

"I always loved how the artist captured that exact moment rather than a perfect picture of all of you." Matthew rested a hand on her shoulder as Zephyr wiped tears from her cheeks. Seeing her parents was a gift she'd never expected, not once in her life. But seeing Bowen, just a boy. A boy who'd never been allowed to live. She whispered his name but it didn't taste right as it left her lips.

"That's not what I called him, was it?"

Matthew chuckled and turned, making his way across the room toward his desk. "No. Everyone else did, but to you he was always just Bow. That was your first word actually." Squeezing her eyes shut, Zephyr took a deep breath to steady herself. She could do this. As much as it hurt, and stars did it hurt, this was a good thing. She could finally learn something about herself, about her family, about why everything was happening now. Opening her eyes and taking in the sight of her beautiful family one more time, Zephyr braced herself and turned away. Matthew beckoned her over, pulling up an armchair.

"I want you to tell me all about them, all about you," Zephyr said as she sat, her body melding into the soft cushions.

"I will, my little breeze, I will. In time. But right now I think we have more pressing matters to discuss." Zephyr hated that she agreed with him. Oh how she longed to sit in the warmth of this man's room and talk of nothing but the past, of the life she should have had.

"Little breeze?" she asked, a smile flitting across her lips.

"Yes," Matthew said, his eyes lighting up with joy. "I suppose this one story won't take too long. The day you were born, it was sweltering. My Adelynne, she was miserable. She had been in labor through the entire night, and it was well into the day. You were a stubborn one from the start. I had been away from the castle on trade business, but I made it back in time. When I arrived, Adelynne was hollering at the nursemaids to bring her ice, and fans, and to make sure again that every window in the place had been opened." A slight breeze whished through the room past Zephyr.