Stigmata

I am not a Rabbit

The King's black eyes widened slightly as he looked at me. This was his first time seeing me since the day I was born, if he'd even looked at me then. I imagine the resemblance was as startling for him as it was for me.

Good.

Uncomfortable though it was, the fact that no one would ever be able to deny my place in the palace did ease some of my anxiety. Anyone who looked at us would instantly know we were father and child. Anyone with even the basest understanding of my situation would also know that this father had abandoned his child. In a nation like Acan, where the rights of even a commoner's bastard were protected by law—provided parentage could be proven—my father's negligence had given me quite the political advantage.

I didn't have much time to savor that knowledge.

"You dare raise your head before your king!"

I tore my eyes away from my father's and looked at a squirrelly little man standing on the other side of the large desk in the office. He was...if nondescript were a person, it would look like him. There was not a single defining feature I could use to describe him. Was this the fate of side characters? No, that didn't make sense. Freddy and his parents were also side characters, and even they, who were purposely described as unremarkable by the author, stood out next to this man.

Aiyah~, I almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

I raised an eyebrow in an expression meant to mirror the one my uncle used on Freddy whenever my cousin said or did something stupid. "Saintesses don't have kings."

It was a short phrase, every word of it true, but it had an immediate and tangible effect on the people in the room. Even the servants who stood along the wall with their heads lowered stiffened in anticipation. Of what, I wasn't quite sure, but I could feel the way everyone was looking at me. My kingly father was standing right there, but I held the power in this room.

It was not a welcome feeling.

In fact, it was entirely too overwhelming. I could feel my hands going numb at my sides and my vision grew cloudy. No! This was no place for panic!

I turned away from the furious little man and looked at my father again. Aiyah~, what was that expression? Was it hatred? Disgust? The way he curled his lip at me was eerily familiar. Had I ever made that face at myself, in the mirror? I must have, to recognize it so easily.

For some reason, his reaction calmed me down. Right. This was how it was supposed to be.

That didn't make it any easier to look at, though.

I forced myself to smile at the King whose authority I had just denied. I could only hope it didn't look as false as it felt. "Besides," I took a step forward, putting distance between me and my mother's family. "Such formality is hardly necessary between us, don't you agree, Your Majesty?"

I refused to call this man father. Resemblance be damned. There was more to fatherhood than just shared genetics.

King Theodore looked at me like I was some new kind of venomous insect—intrigued by the discovery, but repelled by the subject matter. Likewise, old man.

I smiled vapidly at him, waiting for his reply. He seemed to come back to himself with a lurch and he turned away from me, hiding his face behind a fist as he cleared his throat.

"Yes, of course, welcome...." Did he not even know my name? "I trust you've found the palace to your liking?"

"I have not." Once again, the whole room seemed to be holding its breath. "You have never cared for my comfort, Your Majesty. Please, don't pretend otherwise. It's burdensome."