Page 30 of Where We Belong

“Daddy?”

“Do I resemble him that much?” He lets out a booming laugh that bounces around the whole room, “That bastard always thought he was the better-looking twin.”

“Twin?” I whisper, barely finishing the word.

“You are looking well. We are all so glad you are home safe. We have been working tirelessly to rescue both you and the Captain.” My heart almost bursts as I glance behind me.

“He is not here. He is still recovering. His efforts to protect this court, and you, were valiant and brave. I owe him everything.”

My skin prickles when my mind involuntarily darts back to the key left in my cell door.

“My dear Agni, you look so much like your father. He always did say he would name his daughter after our mother.” I greedily take in his familiar face, a face I haven’t seen for too long. Only in old photos and memories. But to see his perfect smile, his soft eyes, living and breathing, moving. Magic jumps in my chest but jams somewhere in my lungs. It practically growls, pissed off at whatever cage it’s been forced into again. This is the part where it usually shoots out of me. Or I take a swig from a bottle to forget. But I don’t have one. And so, I remember. I remember him and mum, me as a little girl. So happy. I had everything, and now all I have is my name.

“Ashley,” I whisper.

Someone behind him rolls his shoulders. The same curly-haired male from my room earlier.

“Well, Ashley,” the King says gently, beckoning him forward with the look of a proud father, my proud father. He places a hand on his back.

“I am your uncle, Aeron, and this is your brother. Aiden.”

My head spins, and pieces of my past slam into me as I look at these strangers. One with my father’s face, who speaks about him like he’s a part of himself, and my brother. I have a brother. He’s standing in front of me with features that, now, looking properly, are far too much like mine. And they have both been here. In Sheyole. And judging by the thread count on Aiden’s shirt under that blue embroidered waistcoat, I’m guessing struggle isn’t exactly part of their life story. But more than that, they had each other.

“But where were you all this time? Why didn’t you come and get me after the—” My throat closes around the rest of the words.

My uncle’s eyebrows bunch together. “We thought you had died alongside your parents, after your accident.”

My gut churns knowing that my childish rage had not only removed my dad from my life, but from his brother, his son.

“We sent the Volker to find you. There was nothing but ash. They overheard your land’s officials say there were no survivors. If I had known…” He struggles through his sentences. “But you are alive. And this is your home. We had been trying to bring you back here, and I cannot tell you how deeply sorry I am that your rescue was hijacked. We’ve been searching for Kaed this past year and failed him too.”

He was down there a whole year? My magic rattles its cage, and I squirm when my shoulder blades prickle with heat as if it’s trying to find another way to escape.

“I’m sure you have many questions, which I will indulge, of course,” my uncle says gently. He reaches for my hands, but I pull away from him. Those hands. They’re not supposed to belong to anyone but my dad. His shoulders sag, “Let an old man explain, make things right. I have bought us time with the territories. Our council has been working overtime to reveal more of the conditions of our freedom, but one particular territory is being a tad difficult.”

I had let myself think, just for a second, that these people in front of me, my so-called rescuers, had tried to save me to simply save me. Keep me. But was this the whole point of me being here anyway? Kidnapped, tortured, then saved. And now what? Die anyway. I’m just about to follow through with a very stupid idea to turn and run, but his voice stops me before my first step. “I’m afraid that once you are in Sheyole, returning to the surface isn’t something you are allowed to do. Not for long anyway. And not without risking countless lives. But this is your kingdom.” He throws his hands out. “Your people. Where your father was raised. Wouldn’t you like to see it all?”

“I guess, I don’t have a choice.” I say, my plan to climb the tallest thing I see and jump up, into the bottom of the sea, and, I guess, swim upwards for about five hours, fizzles down to nothing. I note Aiden’s scoff. The King, either unaware or choosing to ignore it, absently toys with the crystal pendant at the end of his necklace.

“You owe us nothing, Ashley. But perhaps you owe it to yourself to finally belong somewhere. We need not jump to assumptions about the ritual and the rumors surrounding it until we are absolutely sure. We will then deal with it accordingly. But until such a time, I am certain you will find comfort here, much more than you had. Your quarters have already been prepared.”

My brother’s blazing eyes meet mine with something I can only interpret as complete and utter hatred. I want to ask him what the fuck his problem is, but the doors burst open. Two ladies with kind faces, golden skin, and matching simple brown dresses almost skip through the doors and curtsey to the room. I don’t know how he knows I lived in squalor, but I didn’t always. I don’t really remember them all properly, but my parents had staff. Gardeners, a nanny, cleaners. I guess my dad was a spoilt brat of a royal growing up, and that’s what he was trying to replicate at home. I have so many questions. I open my mouth to ask the first one, but he says, “Let us meet together for breakfast. Nykholas, Lili, please do join us. Aiden, of course, will be there.” No mention of the Captain. The disappointment catches me off guard. But I can’t help being curious about this guy my uncle seems to think the world of. Why isn’t he here? Is he hurt… or just avoiding me because of how I reacted? What is Kaed really like? Because all I’ve seen is the monster.

“Leander and Lili will now escort you to your room. Should you need anything, Thea and Fawn will assist you.”

I swear flames are burning in Aiden’s eyes, even though his face stays eerily cool. He’d be brilliant at poker. Something about him seems dangerous, maybe even more so than Theron. It’s kind of pissing me off, actually.

“Get some rest and feel free to explore wherever you wish. Perhaps your brother can keep you company.”

Aiden jolts and flexes his jaw when the King slaps his back playfully.

I look into my uncle’s eyes one more time and give him a small smile. I throw a dirty look at Aiden, who throws it right back, and follow the party out.

*

Thea and Fawn burst into the room at the crack of dawn. I jump upright when the door slams against the wall. I’d fallen asleep in the desk chair and hadn’t so much as glanced at the bed or, to the horror of the kind ladies, the bathroom. Somehow, I’d managed to convince them I’d shower and change once they left. With no intention of following through. The night had been unbearable. So fucking hot. I felt like I was suffocating at one point. Strange voices just outside the door woke me up constantly. I kept thinking it was Vale or Theron, but it must have been the guards that are stuck to the doorway. They whispered comments about me that they thought I couldn’t hear, until a sharp, deep voice sounded, maybe signaling a shift swap. I drifted back into my dreams, reveling in the comfort the silence brought and the cold breeze that came with it.

Thea, the younger of the two, rips open the curtains, light spilling over the room and Fawn potters around the bathroom. My boots squelch with God knows what fluids when I shuffle towards the window, recognising the view immediately. The battlefield where I was strapped to Kaed. The day he brought me here. I’m immediately drawn to something like an ancient bird bath at the centre of an arena. To the right is a military base with rows of bungalows and a big training ring where soldiers are sparring. Shouts, jeers, and red blades, jets of flame, ash, and steam shoot through the air. The sky, or sea, ripples in a way that changes everything I thought I knew about gravity. I crane my neck to get a better look, and my forehead knocks softly against the glass with a gentle thud. Thea giggles from the corner, where she is preparing the vanity table.