The King's Obsession ✔️

THIRTY NINE

Word Count: 1648

~Akara

I freeze, staring at him as the information sinks in.

"Where is she?" I question breathlessly.

Tai's mother survived, or at least that is what I've been believing since I read Tai's journal, and now, this confirms it. I must have figured it out prior to reading the journal, meaning my distrust of Tai during that time was impossibly high.

"She's staying in the room next door," Grey tells me. "I found out where she was and wrote to her regarding you. Thankfully she came here to speak to you."

I breathe out slowly, processing that. This is just what I need, to talk to someone who has a deeper insight about who Tai is.

"Take me to talk to her," I demand, closing the gap between Grey and I. Maria...I know her name only because Tai uttered it once.

He grabs my arm, stopping me from barging past him and out the door. "Woah...hold on. Can't we talk first?"

"Grey, you need to understand that you and I will never happen, okay?" I tell him firmly. There is no point hiding it from him, that there is no chance he and I will ever be lovers. I wish I could take back what I did and said to him before I lost my memory, but I can't. My heart belongs to Marek, and many kind gestures from someone who is basically a stranger isn't going to change that.

The pain in his eyes makes my heart ache. Regardless of what I think about him, he deserves none of this, and somehow, I'm going to find a way to pay him back for everything, even after how he brought me here.

"But I've done all this for you." He extends his arms, as if to physically encompass everything.

"You also hit me over the head," I remind him.

"I made you a Summoner, and I got the King's mother for you," he exclaims. His hand slips down my arm to hold my hand, grip tightening around it. I watch the movement, noting the feel of his skin against mine.

"Okay..." I breathe out slowly. "Thank you. I mean it."

Grabbing him, I tug him close to me, enveloping him in a hug. He freezes, unmoving for a moment, before he eventually hugs me back. Right now, it's the only gesture I can think of as a way of saying both thank you, and sorry.

When I pull away, Grey appears far less tense, as he regards me. "Come see her now."

Nodding, I follow him from one hotel room to the next, knocking on the door. My heart is pounding, threatening to explode through my ribs as I envisage the woman behind the door. I've always wanted to meet her, even when I thought she wasn't alive. How Tai could lie about the state of his mother only cements how truly evil he is, and likely always has been.

The door opens a crack, a tentative pair of pale green eyes looking back at me through it. I know immediately who I am looking at.

"Wow. You're Tai's mother," I breathe. She is even more beautiful in person, as she props the door open slightly more, looking over me with a sceptical eye.

"I am."

"Can I come in and speak to you?" I ask gently, looking back at Grey, who watches on from behind me. I can imagine he is trying to figure out what is truly going on. He too would have thought Tai's mother was dead, and yet here she is, clearly hiding herself from the public eye.

She nods, motioning for me to come inside the room. "That's why I'm here."

I stride in, steeling myself. It feels strange, to be in the presence of someone who birthed my two greatest enemies. She turns, a grace about her that can only belong to a fallen Queen. It is clear, just by looking at her, that she should have ruled over Kailor, over Tai.