Chapter 20
What was happening?
How was she here?
Was I being deceived from the start?
Did everything was planned since the moment I met her in restaurant?
“Saraaahhh!” Joyful voice of Alexa brought me out of haze. Her small frame ran towards me and hugged my legs. I couldn’t move, my mind was refusing to process anything. Everything was blank.
It was absurd.
“I missed you soooooo much! I didn’t know you would be here!” She said hugging my legs tightly. Her voice held so much sweetness, one could easily melt.
But here I was looking dumbfounded. My eyes were looking at her, I couldn’t believe that Alexa was here. After getting no response from me, she pulled away and looked up at me, looking slightly hurt.
“Ar-Are you m-mad at me?” Her voice cracked with every word, she sounded like she was choking on her tears. Her blue sapphire eyes started getting filled with transparent liquid. Her cheeks flushed.
Looking at her like this was difficult for me. Outside, I must be looking calm but from inside there was chaos going on.
What was I doing? I was making a child cry! It was not her fault!
I snapped out of my inner battle and crouched down to her level.
“I.. umm…. Why would I be mad at you?” I said wiping the tears that were falling out of her orbs. Watching her like this was making my heart ache.
“Y-you were not talking to me.” She said lowly as she stopped crying. I smiled at her absurd assumption and hugged her close to my heart.
“I-I was not expecting you to be here,” I said holding her close to my heart. I rubbed her back and felt her calm down against me.
It was true, I literally was not expecting them to be here. This thought never came in my mind.
“Alexa, honey, can you go find your father for me? Me and Sarah need to…. talk.” My eyes darted towards the voice. Angie stood there, near her chair, hands closed on front and looking at us.
Alexa pulled away and looked at her mother with a pout on her lips.
“Can I play with Sarah later?” she questioned her mom. Her words were clearly indicating that how much she liked me. Her mother nodded. Alexa smiled and ran out of room.
Well, feelings were mutual.
I was in same position, crouched down. I stood up and looked at Angie. She was looking calm like she knew, I would be here.
Like she knew why I was here.
“So, umm… It’s nice to see you here.” she said looking at me. Her voice was smooth, coated with honey.
Why was I even surprised? Betrayal wasn’t new for me.
“I wouldn’t say the same.” I couldn’t recognise my voice, I never talked with so much venom with anyone.
She was unfazed by my tone. It was like she has expected this from me.
She sighed.
“Look, Sarah. I know it’s slightly shocking for you to see me here but—”
“Slightly. Oh! Believe me, it’s so much more than slightly!” I snarled at her.
“Yeah! Whatever. But please listen to me for once. I can explain everything.” She said as she looked at me, hopefully.
What made her think, her explanation can make me feel better. She knew this was going to happen to me and yet she didn’t find it important to warn me about this.
Maybe she wanted this to happen.
And maybe she knew why I was here.
“Why am I here?” Without thinking twice, I blurted. She closed her eyes and sighed.
“Well, I will tell you everything you need to know but first please take a seat.” She said hopefully, I moved towards the table and sit on chair opposite of her. I didn’t had any good memories with this table and this chair and that wall and well, let’s say, I didn’t had good memories with any of this.
I shrugged off the bad thoughts. And focused on lady sitting in front of me. I motioned her to start explaining.
“Okay, let’s start from basics. Okay? So, I’m Angelina Rose Valentine, wife of Rafael Valentine, mother of Alexa Valentine, and umm… sister of… FALCON FINN CELESTE,”
Falcon as in FALCON FIENNES.
Falcon who I thought to be my friend? Was she talking about that that Falcon?
“Yes, you are right. I am talking about Falcon Fiennes, whose real name is Falcon Finn Celeste. He is my younger brother and you must have met Nancy, she is also a member of this family. Her parents are serving Royals since a long time.”
Oh god!
Royals!
What was she saying?
Everything was going over my brain. This much of information was lot to take in. I was being? deceived since my childhood. If Falcon was her brother then why I never came to know about her.
“Falcon was child when he was sent away from here. He, along with the second in command with his wife, were meant to protect Falcon. They were told to act like his parents, so that his identity was not revealed. So that no one knows that he is a royal.”
Now everything made sense. I still remembered asking Falcon that from where he came from but he never said anything, infact he would skillfully changed the topic. I still remembered the day, he and his fake parents, came to live in town. He was ten at that time, and I was probably seven.
But still, I was confused.
But does all of this has to do with me?
WHY THE HELL I WAS HERE?
“And you, about your parents,” she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply,” they are not your real parents.” She said.
My eyes widened as I tried to sink in her words.
My parents!
N-not real.
Th-they weren’t my real pare—parents!!
“What y—you mean?” I whispered as her words were hard to register. Her eyes held so much worry. She was wondering what she should say. My mind couldn’t believe it. My body couldn’t believe it. Something warm trailed down my face.
I was feeling lost, hurt, shocked.
“They are not your real parents, they never was. They are head of security of this castle. They were appointed to protect you but things didn’t worked as initially planned, like they were supposed to. That’s why Nancy’s parents were send there to look after you.” She passed plate of pancakes to me, but my appetite was long gone. Realising, I was not going to touch it, she continued, “When you were four, Mrs. Lemkova, whom you call mother, was killed. It was a threat for you, it was dangerous for you, so Mr. and Mrs. Collins, along with Nancy, were sent to your town, to guard you. But there security wasn’t enough, so Falcon volunteered to protect you—”
“You mean to say, the one I considered as my parents, are not my parents.” I gulped as I tried to repeat what she had just said. I was being lied my whole life. The friends who I considered as friends were never my friends, they were just protecting me. My voice was broken, defeated.
Why were they supposed to protect you?
If they were not your real parents, then who were your real parents?
And again,
Why was I here?
So many questions, yet no one was giving me answers.
“This was supposed to happen. You we—”
This was supposed to happen?
I was supposed to be betrayed?
I was supposed to be lied?
I was supposed to be here?
“No,” I whispered stopping her in middle of sentence. She looked up at me with dumbfounded.
“Wha—”
“THIS WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! I WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE HERE! YOUR BROTHER BETRAYED ME!” I screamed, as I stood up from chair, making chair fell down on floor, I let everything out. Warm tears shed down my eyes. Uncontrollable sobs echoed around room. I was not myself anymore. It was too much for me to take in.
My knees weakened as I hit ground. My tears blurred my vision. I was broken, betrayed.
“I WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE BETRAYED!” I whispered hoarsely. More tears descended down. Nothing hurts more than being told that whatever you thought was true, in reality it is a illusion, a scary illusion.
I heard Angie gasped as she quickly stood up, rounded the table and crouched down next to me.
“Calm down, Sarah! Please! Everything’s going to be okay!”
Okay?
Nothing was going to be okay!
NOTHING!!
Reel of Words started playing in my head.
Your parents were not your real parents.
You were in danger.
Falcon was a royal.
Angie was Falcon’s sister.
And—
Your highness is asking for you.
I’m not a human.
I am Falcon’s sister.
Falcon is a royal.
Reality hit me. Hard, very hard. Falcon was his brother, she was his sister, he was not human and—
I backed away when horror struck me.
“Y-you are not human?” I gasped. Look on her face confirmed my doubt.
Oh my! She was not human eitger. Falcon was not human. I had inhumane creature surrounded me my whole life.
More tears started flowing. My breathing quickened, my hands trembled, my heart stopped, as everything began to clarify. I could feel myself panicking. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t process.
“Lucifer will kill me. It was not supposed to happen like this!” Angie’s panicked voice rang in my ears. Her words were far away, somewhere buried. My ears refused to hear anything, my lungs refused to breathe. The blood pounded in my ears. My heart thudded in my chest. My hands shook.?
My mind stopped as my eyes rolled back. My body shutt down. And for once in my life I was waiting for darkness to consume me. Before drifting off to darkness, warm, huge pair of hands enveloped around me.
But one thought still lingered.
Why was I here?