Protectors

Chapter 21: Always In My Heart

In one of many guest chambers in the castle, Amber sat cross-legged on the bed, waiting for Rory to answer her call.

She gazed around at the beauty of the room, still quite believing that she was sitting in a castle, in which her real father and brothers lived. Suddenly, her laptop made a sound and Rory's face appeared on her screen.

"Rory!" She exclaimed, the sight of his face almost bringing her to tears after an emotional day.

He beamed, "Hey, Amber! What's up? How is Cordovia, is it as amazing as it sounds?"

She nodded, smiling. "It's amazing here. Everyone's been so welcoming to us, and we had an amazing dinner last night. The king and queen are wonderful."

"And?" Rory asked. "Did you find out anything about your biological parents?"

Amber thought back to the conversation the night before, as she had done all night. She slowly nodded. "The king is my real father." She said, quietly. Her mind was torn between happiness at finding her real father and sadness due to the pain that her presence caused the queen.

"That's amazing, Amber." Rory said, smiling.

"Yeah, I suppose so. It's nice to finally know after all of these years wondering." She explained, though her voice became quieter with each word.

"Is there something else?" Rory asked, sensing Amber's hesitation.

Amber sighed, trying to keep herself from crying. The dam that she had started slowly building up had come crashing back down when she met her father. "The queen found out that I'm her husband's daughter...she didn't know about the affair." She explained, and Rory nodded in understanding. "I don't know, I mean it's nice to know about my family, but was it really worth it? I never meant to hurt anyone..." She stopped talking, as the tears threatened to spill out.

"Hey, you didn't hurt anyone. You had a right to know, and so did the queen." Rory reassured her, as Amber nodded.

"Thanks, Rory. I needed to hear that."

"That is what I'm here for, right?" He asked, leaning back with his hands behind his head as Amber chuckled.

"How are things going back home? How are your classes?"

"Well, I have 'Professor Crazy' again, as you know." He said, as Amber giggled and nodded. "Today he knocked over the podium by accident, in a very passionate lecture. It was quite an entertaining class." Rory explained.

"Wow, that sounds about right!" Amber responded, her mood slowly improving as the smile came back to her face.

She noticed someone shuffling in the background of the video, a dark-haired figure that she recognized as Dominic.

"Where are you?" She asked.

Rory glanced behind him and sighed. "I'm at the headquarters. Helping Dominic with surveillance, nothing to worry about." He assured her, as he tilted the computer so that Dominic was out of Amber's view. "Anyways, tell me more about Cordovia! What's it like being in a castle?"

Amber knew that Rory was only trying to distract her from his previous comment, but she gladly gave into the change of subject. "It's amazing! Very green, there are trees and bushes everywhere, as well as all kinds of flowers. And the architecture is absolutely stunning. As for the castle... just as gorgeous. I feel a weird sense of belonging here, it's hard to describe. I just wish you could be here to see this with me."

A corner of Rory's mouth turned up into a half-smile as he nodded, "maybe in time. But for now, you should be with your family. I'll be here when you get back." He reassured.