Enamoured

Original Edition: Chapter 9

"I want to know everything,"

"YOU DIDN'T ANSWER MY QUESTION, HONEY!" There was a warning laced in her voice full of authority that made me wish the floor would crack open and swallow me. I heard a click before the blasted light blinded my vision. Shit.

Opening my eyes slowly, I tried adapting to the now bright room. As soon as I saw Scarlet's face paled, I knew we were doomed. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, we were just-"

Cutting my words, she raised one hand and said, "I'm not asking you, Lady Stavros. I'm asking my daughter." Her tone was sharp and precise that if it were a dagger, it surely cut through the apple when it was thrown. "Well?" She inclined her head to Scarlet.

"Mom, we, uh," Scarlet glanced at me with an anxious look before she continued, "We're just having a sleepover," She paused and gulped nervously. "Yay! So much!" I really wanted to facepalm myself at her horrible performance. And looking at the Queen's bored face I knew she didn't buy her reason.

Seeing that there was no other way than, to tell the truth, I decided to come clean. "We were looking for clues about Lady Isabelle Stavros, Your Majesty." There was a shock as her eyes widened but The Queen hid her feelings well after that as she put her barriers up once more. Scarlet and I looked at each other, waiting for the hammer to be slammed down.

To my dismay, the Queen didn't yell and order the Palace guards to capture me. Instead, she walked to my bed and took a seat between Scarlet and me. "What do you want to know, my child?"

Her eyes showed compassion and I didn't know why but tears started to stream down my face. This was it. I was finally able to learn things about my family although she was born decades ago. But still, I finally knew the truth about my whole existence. The history of my family, which was the one thing that was never explained by my parents. Well, maybe because they were fake parents, and whoever planned the mission didn't hire a screenwriter.

However, my whole life I've been craving to know about my past. All the other kids like Kris and even a bitch like Nikki knew their family history while I didn't and now I got a chance to figure it out.

Someone touched my arm and I glanced up to meet Scarlet's worrying eyes. "Hey, are you okay?" She leaned closer and looked like she was about to give me a hug or maybe a pat on the back considering she was Scarlet after all.

I swallowed back my pain and nodded. "Yeah."

Wearily, I shifted my gaze to Queen Rhea. "Everything," I said in a small voice I didn't recognize. Swallowing my fear as I braced myself for the truth, I added in a more determined tone. "I want to know everything, my Queen."

Queen Rhea looked deeply into my eyes as if she was searching for something when she saw nothing but determination, she heavily sighed. "Lady Isabelle Stavros was one of the last Stavros alive at that time. She was supposed to marry her soulmate, Lord Theo Christoulakis." She paused before adding, "My great-grandfather."

This time, Scarlet was the one who looked surprised as she blurted out loud. "What?! Great grandfather?" The daughter looked up to her mom with questions all over her face. "But I've never heard his name, he wasn't in our family tree."

I didn't know they had a family tree. Gosh, there was so little I knew about my race or the tradition.

Queen Rhea put her hand on Scarlet's and squeezed it. "That's because they removed his name from there," there was a genuine pain when she revealed their family secret that made me feel like I was an intruder. "At that time, everyone was afraid of The Stavros and whoever had the click with a Stavros would be written off from the family. But Theo was so in love with Isabelle that he didn't care if he lost his family, or if he was being abandoned by them."

I was so intrigued by the story that I didn't realize that it was hard to talk about the past. Especially when it involved bad things, one that could embarrass you, one that scarred your family name.

"Everything was good until she met Jonathon Chance. He was the son of one of the maids who worked for The Christoulakis. He went to the Court to see his mom. He met Lady Stavros by accident suddenly there was a connection built up between the two as she figured that she could read his mind too." Queen Rhea shifted in her seat and I could see the next part was probably the worst part of this story.

She looked like she didn't want to continue but I wanted to know more and she couldn't leave me hanging like this when I knew she knew something. Before I could ask her to continue, Scarlet put one hand on her mother's shoulder. "What happened next, Mom?"

"And then she broke Theo's heart by having an affair with Jonathon."

There was a gasp and I didn't realize that it was coming from me until two pairs of identical eyes looked at me expectantly.