(Orion)

To say there would be a bigger fool than me will be wrong. The way that woman manipulated me my whole life, controlled me like a ventriloquist’s dummy, ridiculing me, shaming me, making me hurt my sons. I didn’t even know Saiph was my firstborn, being raised right under my nose like a servant.

He is gone now. I couldn’t even apologise to him. Couldn’t even embrace him. I ridiculed him and Amaia when I learned both of them were mated.

If only I could turn back time and rewrite my mistakes.

While Rigel was imprisoned for 19 years, I had not even the slightest clue.

How naive I had been. Believing every word she said.

She even made me have a fake mate bond and not only destroyed my life but also Adrnia’s too. Playing with the sacred mate bond is considered the greatest sin and she has made a mockery of it.

The realisations are making me hate myself, more and more with every passing second.

How will I face my sons?

How am I going to apologise to Adrnia?

I didn’t even know she and Rigel were alive.

I have to step up now. Rewrite my wrongs. Protect my children, my state, my people. I have to act as the king they have always put trust in.

I can’t fail them again.

My invitation was accepted by everyone. It’s a try on my part to sit with them, apologise and plan the way forward. We need to build trust.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me," I painfully start."I would like to begin this dinner with an apology to every single soul I wronged and couldn’t protect."

My eyes roam over every face present. Some hold empathy for me. While others disgust, especially Rigel. I don’t think he is going to forgive me any time soon.

"As the king and father, I should have done more, should have fought and seen through the illusions." I hang my head low and shake it. "I am ashamed."

"You have Fae blood running through your veins. You shouldn’t be ashamed but accept what happened. None of us could fight against her illusions." It’s Amaia of all people who speaks. Sitting confidently with an air of surety about her.

Our family had guarded this secret that we belong to a Fae bloodline. My mother was half-fae hence the silver in our hair but we always presented ourselves as a warlock family.

"How do you know?" I ask and she points towards Alnilam.

"Your son is half-fae. Born with wings which were..." she draws in a painful breath and doesn’t complete her sentence.

Alnilam’s face hardens and he levels his gaze with me.

"She cut off my wings when I was born." A gasp leaves my parted lips. Tears prick the back of my eyes. "She framed and hung them in that room."

The combined horror of everyone present and the grief of my four sons weigh heavily in the room. Alnitak reaches over to his brother and embraces him sideways, softly crying on his shoulder.

To think one could do this to her son is the vilest deed possible. Disgust rolls over me, followed by an overwhelming feeling to protect my son.

Getting up I approach Alnilam. I have been so harsh with him. Blatantly punishing him for the smallest of acts. She had sown the seeds of hatred in me and now I understand why. He is the one who resembles me the most.

Placing my hand on his shoulder I squeeze. A hint of vulnerability passes in his eyes. He has always tried to step into the shoes of the eldest child because I pushed him. The thought that he had to sit on the throne someday and the hatred she had cursed me with, never let me see him as a child I was hurting. He had begun to hide his feelings and emotions but now I see them reflected openly in his eyes.

"Forgive me, Alnilam. I should have been there for you. I wasn’t." He gets up and embraces me like a madman. I don’t even remember when we embraced each other like that.

Together we cry and heal. I know every eye in the dining hall is wet. Slowly, we pull apart.

"It means a lot to me that you finally see me as your son and not a puppet you need to train," he wistfully says and I squeeze his shoulders.

"You are my son and I truly apologise for my actions. Not again." With that, I return to my place.

Healer TJ clears his throat. "I apologise for the intrusion but my memory seems to have been jogged recently and I remember a few things."

"Speak freely," I tell the old man.

He has been with us for as long as I can remember. He is the one who delivered me and performed the C-section on Adrnia too.

With an apologetic nod, he starts. "The queen didn’t give birth here."

She insisted on giving birth in her parents’ house in Istrale and like a naive husband I had let her go. Now I know that she did it so if her child was born with wings she would cut them off.

"When she returned and I examined the baby, I saw the cuts which left me horrified. But she told me that it was safely done to keep him safe. If the king of Istrale knew her son was part-fae they would come for him. I was told to keep it quiet and never reveal this secret to anyone." His tormented eyes wavered to Alnilam. "I thought she was protecting her son but I was wrong. She had already put me under a curse because I forgot that I had delivered two healthy babies for Queen Adrnia. I thought one of the babies died. Until a few days ago, I remembered that both babies were alive and well." His pained gaze found Queen Adrnia. "Forgive me, my queen. I couldn’t tell you or anyone because I forgot."

"The other baby was Saiph. She kept him as a slave, only to punish and humiliate us all," Adrnia laments and Hathial wraps his arm around her, giving her comfort.

TJ nods in horror while Amaia says.

"There is a reason she went to Istrale for her delivery while she was carrying Alnilam."