Render Me Starless

♛ | Chapter 7 - "who's your daddy?"

I was bored.

After waking up at noon, taking a hot shower and eating, I was bored. I've been holed up in the suite since yesterday after our little 'Preserver' talk. Lunch was brought up for me, giving me no need to actually go downstairs.
I didn't want to anyway.

Go down and talk to nutcases? I don't think so.

I sat outside on the balcony. It was a cute little area with greenery hanging on the railings and comfy chairs. The sun was setting and I wrap the plush robe around me tighter, fighting off the oncoming chill. It was so much warmer than home and I couldn't help but relish in the flitting sun.

Sighing, I get up and stretch, feeling like a house cat who lazed around all day. I lock the glass doors behind me, moping over to the bedroom. I spot the bedside table and decide to look through it.
Boredom really does suck.

A shock of delight washes through me as I find my phone in the first draw. I had almost forgotten about it. What kind of millennial was I? Instantly snatching it up, I plop onto my bed. I was surprised it still had battery. I had no notifications which wasn't a surprise.
After graduating high school, I didn't bother keeping in touch with my friends and they didn't bother to either.

With an easy touch of a button, I was ringing mum. Gosh, I was yearning to hear her voice. It seems like forever before she picks up on the third ring.  "Hello?"
"Hey," I murmur.
"I was wondering when you'd call."

I smile at her words but don't bother beating around in the bush. "Orion told me everything."
The line goes silent for a couple seconds. "Everything?"

"Everything."

This time when my mother pauses, I have to check if she is still on the call. She was. "Just know that you will always be a daughter to me." I blink. What?

"You weren't just a mission to me, Maria. You alwa-"
"Wait, what are you talking about?" I ask, my voice coming out slightly in garbles. My heart beats erratically and the curtains twirl as cold wind blows in from the open windows, thawing at my bones. It was almost like it was preparing me for what was to come next, for the cold deception that I hadn't known I lived in.

"Orion told you, didn't he? That I'm not your mother..."

The phone slips out of my hand, my mind trying to comprehend what in the fuck is going on.
Orion told you, didn't he? That I'm not your mother.
Goosebumps reign my body. They weren't from the cold though.
That I'm not your mother.
My head tilts to the side as my mouth opens in a silent cry.
Not your mother.

I just couldn't make sense of any of it. The woman had raised me and yet she claims that she isn't my mother, that she did not give birth to me. No, it couldn't be true. It was a sick joke. 

No.

The words keep echoing in the chambers of my mind. I'm not your mother.
Everything I've known for years, flushed down the toilet. I refuse to believe it.

My eyes burn, the familiar sting of salty tears greeting me. The tears flow before I can stop them, flooding my body with racked sobs.
I hate this. I hate the words plaguing me. I hate crying. I hate it.

It just wasn't fair. Why couldn't I live a normal life? Why did my mum have to- no. She was my mother. She was. I sob harder, clutching the silk sheets around me. I was cold, oh so cold.
Almost as if someone heard me, arms encircle me. My head shoots up, startled, meeting Gray's shadowed eyes. My cries don't quieten and only becomes worse as I clutch onto my best friend.

He had wronged me. Kept so many secrets. But I understood why. It was to keep me safe, wasn't it?
Maybe I was being selfish, using him to comfort me when I needed it. But I didn't care.
He was my best friend. He was supposed to comfort me.

He silently holds me tight and I bury my face into his chest, all forgiven. "Why are you crying?" He asks in a soft whisper.
I take in a shuddered breath, trying to regain my bearings. "My uh-" I clear my throat. "My mum told me that she's not actually my mum," I get out the slightly mumbled words.
With lightening speed, Gray pulls back to look at me, eyes wide. "She did what?"

Five minutes later, I'm sat with Orion and Gray in some sort of plushy lounge room.

"My father and your parents agreed that it would be safer if you were kept away from them because Taylem wouldn't know where to find you. He knew who your parents were so you had to be separated. No use in having a Preserver if you're in the wrong Throne," Orion starts.

"Who's Taylem again?" I ask, scrubbing at my dried tears.
"The king of The Day Throne."
"Now he needs to retire," Gray scowls.
I ignore his remark. "So my parents let me be taken away to keep me safe?"

"Yes."

"So why stay with my mo-" I pause with a frown. "So why stay with Seraphina and not just stay here?" The name felt foreign and wrong on my tongue. It had always been mum or mother, never her name.

"Here was also another easy guess at where you could be. My father didn't want The Throne to be attacked."

I nod, that makes sense. Suddenly, a thought occurs to me. "Are my parents still alive?" I hold my breath as I wait for the answer. Orion meets my eyes and nods. I breath out a sigh in relief. I knew I didn't know them but- well they were my parents. I still didn't know how to feel about this.

Even though I tried to deny it, it made sense. Seraphina looked nothing like me. Where I had dark brown hair and even darker eyes, she had bright green eyes and blonde hair. She was naturally tanned, and I naturally pale.
We were opposites.
I had always chalked it up to me just looking like my father.

All the unanswered questions pop up. I was a curious child, asking about my missing father. Mother, well Seraphina, always avoided the question. I just thought it was a touchy subject to a woman grieving over her partner that left her. Turns out, there was no partner.

"You have a twin brother," Gray chirps after a second of silence. The man really didn't do well with anything to do with being quiet.
"Very funny, Gray," I scowl.
"I'm not joking, babe."

"His name is Ashton," Orion says before I can throw a pillow at Gray.
My attention turns back to him. "Who's name is Ashton?"
He looks at me dully. "Your twin brother's."
My eyes slightly widen. "Wait, Gray wasn't kidding?"
Orion shakes his head no. "You really should take me more seriously, Maria. It hurts my feelings that you don't," Gray pouts.

I don't pay attention to him though. I had a twin brother. I actually have a dad. Seraphina wasn't my mum.
My face draws on an ugly frown at the thought.

"My father has scheduled that your parents and brother are to come on your birthday. It would be easy to change that," Orion says, capturing my eyes.
I understand what he was trying to say to me. I didn't have to see them if I didn't want to.

But did I want to?

Before I can delve too deep into the endless pit of sorrow, a voice has us all looking at the double doors.

"Well well, if it isn't our Lady of Starlight."

♚♔

Poor Maria.

-riona