The Other Side of the Door

Chapter 17

AN: Apparently there was a problem uploading all of the chapter 16, but it's been fixed, so make sure you read all of 16 before continuing!

Elliot and I went on a walk after eating. It was very cold outside,  but he held my hands to keep them warm. 

"Alayna, how is your father?" 

"Well, you saw him at dinner. He is... better. I think he really needs to see a doctor, though," I replied. 

Elliot smiled down at me. "We'll make sure he sees one as soon as possible." 

I smiled back. I didn't want his and the servant's happiness to be bogged down by my father's sickness. "How are you?" I asked. 

He gave a small chuckle. "I've never been better, all thanks to you." 

His words made me blush. "It's not entirely my fault," I laughed. 

Elliot pulled me into his side, wrapping his arms entirely around me. "I beg to differ." 

"Elliot?" 

"Yes, Mon cœur?"

I thought about how to phrase my question. I had so many questions and things I needed to learn about him. "Will you tell me about your family?" 

I could feel Elliot tense up a bit. "Of course. Let's go inside by the fire." 

Once we arrived by the fire, Mrs. Potts and some of her children brought tea and snacks for us to enjoy. We graciously thanked them, and I almost wanted to cry at seeing them as human beings. 

"How much do you know?" Elliot asked, slipping my fingers through his. 

"It doesn't matter. I want to hear it all from you." 

I could tell Elliot was nervous, but that meant that it was something important to talk about. He gave a large sigh, then began to tell me. 

"My family was on the throne for two hundred years before my father was born. They were good rulers, I believe. My father was especially kind and understanding to the people. Many believed he would be the best king France had ever seen. He met my mother at a ball. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and she was. Most people said she was the most beautiful woman in all of France. Unfortunately, they had a really hard time having kids. 

Eventually, they managed to have me. Everyone was very glad that I was a son, because I could be the heir to the throne. My mother didn't survive my birth, but she managed to see me before she died. My father told me that her last words were 'I love you' to me. I don't know how true that is, though."

I gasped. That would be traumatic for anyone for their mother to die birthing them. "It's not your fault she died, Elliot." 

He sighed. "I know it's not my fault, but I still feel a little bit guilty. Maybe she would have lived for a long time if I hadn't been born. 

Anyway, my father and I lived here after her death. Before, they had lived in a castle in the south. I think being in the same place as she had died haunted my father. We were happy, but it always felt as if there was something missing, you know?" 

I nodded in response. My mother had been absent for much of my life, as well. 

Elliot continued. "We lived alright for a few years. He mostly just gave e lessons on how to be royal. I think he secretly resented me. He got incredibly sick, and by the time I was 11, he died. I think I was supposed to feel distraught over his death, but I had assumed it was coming, and I almost didn't feel sad.