Not My Fairytale

Chapter 38

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An Extension

    I half expected to be dragged from my bed in the dead of night and thrown before the council to decide my fate, then and there. But the empty silence of my bedroom was never broken. Even so, rest evaded me until the early morning sun had already peeked through the curtains.

    When Ava arrived to prepare me for my day, she brought with her an invitation to tea with my parents. I didn't miss the fact that it would take place during the hours we would normally meet with the council. Training was canceled.

    I found my parents in the newly refurnished nursery that had once been my fathers office. My mother was propped up on the settee before the fire. The cradle Angelo had helped to pick out all those months ago had been set beside her. My father stood on its other side, staring down at the wriggling, blanket covered form within. Neither looked up at my entrance.

    "Good morning," I greeted, unsure of what else to say. In the quiet of the room, even my soft tone felt jarring. My father looked up at me then, a broad mile on his lips, but my mother continued staring, as if she was unable to tear her gaze from the little life she had created.

    I hadn't asked any questions about my new sibling that morning as I ate and dressed, and Ava hadn't said a word about it either, but standing there in that room that suddenly felt too hot, I wished that I had. I wished that I had not chosen to go into this situation blind. Was it a boy or a girl? Were all of my worries for naught, or would my greatest fears come to life before my eyes? Had the vote already taken place while I tossed and turned through the night? I'd had months to prepare, but it wasn't nearly enough time.

    My legs felt leaden, but I forced them to take me forward anyway. As I neared the cradle, my mother finally looked up with a beaming smile of her own, happy tears gathered unshed in her grey eyes, "Isn't he beautiful?" I swallowed hard at that, feeling my heart plummet to my toes.

    He truly was beautiful. Big eyes, a mop of dark hair atop his head, and the kind of angelic features all expectant mothers pray for. The blanket he was swaddled in was violet and silver.

    I couldn't tear my eyes off of him. "What is his name?" They'd been debating a few, Gaio or Giove being two of the favorites.

    "Gianni," my mother answered, and my heart sank even more. It was the only name I had hoped they wouldn't choose, so similar to my fathers. So fitting for his heir.

    I forced a smile, and reached out to stroke his tiny fingers with my own. "Hello little brother," I said in a tone that I hoped didn't sound bitter. It wasn't his fault, after all, that his very existence was a threat to everything I had worked for.

And he was awfully cute.

He caught my hand in his grasp and held tight. I glanced up at my parents in surprise. My father chuckled. I felt my smile turn genuine, if only for a moment.

"There's something we wanted to talk to you about," my mother said, still gazing adoringly down at the little prince wrapped up in his family colors. As if the words out of her mouth hadn't stopped my pulse cold in my veins.

My father must have seen the fear in my eyes that I wasn't quite able to conceal. He answered the question I had been too afraid to ask, "The council has decided to postpone their vote, they need more time to decide."

So they had met in secret during the night, just as I'd feared. But the outcome could have been worse, I would have to be happy with that for the time being. I gave him a single nod, then turned my attention to my mother, "What would you like to talk about?"