"Rowan, have you ever had a secret?" Daddy asked me.
I nodded.
"Have you ever felt that of you kept it a secret, you'd be more loved? More appreciated?"
I nodded again.
"That's why I was gone, Rowan. I love you, but once you see my secret, you won't love me."
I looked up at my Dad. He looked absolutely frightened. His face was pale, and his hands were cold and clammy. "How can you be sure?" I asked softly.
He smiled slightly, shaking his head at my antics. "Rowan, there are things that are unforgivable, there are monsters, beasts, things you should never be a part of. But I have now dragged you into them."
I stared at him, confused. I knew he was called silver-tongue for a reason, but I had never known him to speak such riddles.
"My past, Rowan, is not what you think. I wasn't a son of Odin, and I doubt that I ever was. He...adopted me, I suppose, as a baby, made me normal, though I am not. He should have left me..." Dad's voice cracked and faded.
I sat up straighter. "If he had left you, then I wouldn't have you now."
There was a small chuckle.
"You might be better off without me."
I lost it.
"What," I cried, throwing up my arms, "is so bad that of be better off on an orphanage than with you, the King of Asgurd?"
One simple word.
"This."
Them my father turned blue.
