(Alnilam)

I knew Headmaster Fallon had been hiding something. The drastic measures he took after we hid Rigel had revealed I couldn’t trust him. He wasn’t under any curse or spell but was a forced participant in my mother’s schemes.

To even call her a mother leaves a horrible taste in my mouth. I am accustomed to my father’s indifference, which has shaped me to absorb painful truths. What our mother did to me, to my brothers has left me broken too but the way it has affected Alnitak and Mintaka is beyond something they have ever dealt with before.

I have to act as their shield now that Amaia is also incapacitated. She is the one who handles them when they are low, but not this time.

I embrace Min, trying to calm him down when the sentinel comes and announces the arrival of Hathial Kane. He had been impatient for Queen Adrnia’s rescue and I wonder if he is here to take Rigel along or to formulate a plan.

"Permission granted," my father says with a sigh.

"I should check on the eastern border and ensure that there are no breaches. Keep me updated," General Bakshi says before bowing and leaving with others in attendance.

The door closes behind them. I calm Min down, giving him some water. Alnitak stays beside him.

"Why do you think he is here?" Beta Diez asks, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb.

"I discussed that earlier with my father...." My sentence is incomplete when the door is pushed open and the sentinel enters followed by Hathial. But he is not alone, there is a woman with him. He has his arm protectively around her. She has a shawl on her shoulders and even though she appears bony and malnourished, her skin is spotless—a curse of being a vampire.

The woman from the portrait. She is here. He rescued her.

My father gasps and leaves his throne, abruptly standing up. Beta Diez has his eyes widened.

"Orion," she calmly says, not making any advances towards my father. She remains by Hathial’s side, clutching the shawl to her shoulders.

"Is she?" Alnitak asks from near me, his voice merely a quiver.

"Yes!" I quietly answer, not believing my eyes.

I anticipate my father rushing towards her, gathering her in his arms but he doesn’t.

"You are here..." he says in a trailing voice. "I didn’t even know you were alive until the day before yesterday. I..."

"Yes, Hathial came to my rescue." Her emotional eyes waver to Hathial.

"I would have come before if I had any idea and hadn’t blindly believed people. I failed you as a mate."

Mate??? Did he call her his mate? My gaze goes to my father and he stands quietly, defeated.

"How were you able to rescue the queen?"

I cannot help but question.

"Once you people left, I felt something creep into my heart. Like a wave of light and energy and I felt Adrnia. I knew exactly where she was and recognised her as my mate. Whatever spell we were under was broken. Instantly I planned a rescue mission with my General and a few other high-ranking vampires. Seriously, it was in and out. I had anticipated more fight from them but they seemed preoccupied elsewhere."

"She escaped, they must have been busy safeguarding her and anticipating an attack from us," I say through gritted teeth.

"Makes sense."

Queen Adrnia is not my father’s real mate. The mate bond it seems is also fake.

"She is my mate not your father’s just like I had always known and I am going to take her back with me once she has met her son," he explains, which I have already deduced.

But how were we going to tell her that she had another son and he was killed by my mother? This thought makes an unbearable pain erupt in my heart.

Her kind eyes find us. "All of you have grown up into fine young men."

"Welcome back," I whisper. My brothers respectfully nod at her. I know they are lost for words.

She is the epitome of what a mother should be like not, the one we had.

Our stepmother’s gaze returns to my father. "Rigel is alive," she says in a tremulous voice.

He gives a weak nod, making her drag in a painful breath.

"We will speak later. You should meet Rigel first. He doesn’t even look at me." Our father’s pain is so evident in his voice. "I will have a conversation with Hathial."

Even our father doesn’t have the heart to tell her about their son. The one she never knew she had and now he has been taken away.

"We will take you to Rigel," I kindly say. She agrees with tears shimmering in her eyes.

"Go, I will be here. If you need me, let me know." Hathial places a tender kiss on her forehead and she turns towards us.

Alnitak steps forward like the gentleman he is and offers his arm.

"Thank you! Are you Alnitak or Mintaka?" She questions him, interlinking her arm with his.

"I am Alnitak, he is Mintaka." Alnitak points towards his twin as we leave the room.

"I can’t believe so much time has elapsed. I still think of both of you as toddlers." She painfully smiles.

"You saved my life and yet I could do nothing for you," Mintaka beseeches from beside me.

She turns her head a notch. "Your mother finally showed her true colours? You guys know her reality?"

"We do," Mintaka says in a hateful tone.

"I am sorry but it was she who hurt you as a baby and blamed the Faes so the genocide against them can begin. I had to do everything in my power to save you. I hope my necklace still helps."

Mintaka takes it out from under his clothes and shows her.

"Yes, I never take it off. Once I tried and my body hurt."

"It’s the spell keeping your body intact and painless. Keep it on you always," she says with a small smile.

"I will," Mintaka says.

I have to tell her. She can’t walk in there with Saiph in such a state.

"Before we enter the room, there is something you need to know." My painful words have her halting and expectantly stare at me and I don’t know how to utter the harsh truth.