The Daughter of Time (Ace of Queens #6)

Ch.25 You're home....

Chapter 25

Exton sat in his office going over the progress reports of all the new Queen's guards when he heard the door open. He looked up and found Maya entering with red eyes and a deep frown. At once, Exton's heart shrank with concern and worry. He jumped out of his seat and matched the frown on Maya's face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Maya opened her mouth just as her eyes watered. The action made all the hair on Exton's body stand on their fine points. His daughter never cried. She was the one to make others cry.

Maya's mouth opened and closed without a single word. Tears ran down her face as she let go of the door and bit down on her bottom trembling lip.

"It....." she started. "It hurts."

Exton jumped forward and pulled Maya into his arms. She released a heartbreaking sob and threw her arms around her father. Breathing became difficult for Exton. He opened his link and called Gemma.

"What happened?" he asked Maya as he held her head against his chest.

"He....he," Maya hiccuped. "He broke my heart! He shattered it, dad."

Around her back, Exton's hands balled into fists. His frown changed from worried to anger as Maya sobbed in his arms. He heard Gemma rush down the hall and run into the room just as he was about to call her again.

"Maya!" Gemma gasped, breathlessly.

Maya lifted her head and started at her mother for a second. In that moment, she forgot everything and jumped into her Gemma's embrace.

"He doesn't love me," she said as Gemma pressed her to her body. "He will never love me."

I'm going to kill him, Exton mind-linked Gemma as he stood across from her as Maya's cries filled the large office.

"Baby," Gemma lifted Maya's face. "What happened? What did he do?"

Gemma felt her own heart ache as Maya let out a shaking breath. The girl was a mess of tears as she whipped her face with the back of her hands. The tips of her nose matched the red dress she wore. Her make had smudged long ago and only the memory of black liner remained as the tears continued to wash it out.

"It was always her," Maya looked at her mother. "I never stood a chance. I feel so stupid!"

"You're not stupid," Exton pulled her into his arms once more. He guided her head to his chest and let Maya cry.

"Sweetheart, come," Gemma said after a pause as she tugged Maya's arm. "Let's clean up and then we can all talk."

Maya didn't protest. She let her mother guide her to her room at the palace as her dad followed behind silently. The staff hurried around and drew the bath as Gemma helped Maya take off her dress in the bathroom. Maya quickly slipped into the bath and her mother sat down on the little stool. Exton waited outside in the bedroom, pacing the floor.

"Did you two have a fight?" Gemma asked gently. She picked up the sponge and soaked it in the bath water.

Maya shivered as her mother ran it down her back. The tender touch made her feel so vulnerable. She felt her chest shake as another sob rocked through her. Having her mother and father made her feel as if he was once again safe. She didn't even know how frightened she was the whole time until Exton had pulled her into his warm embrace and held her as if nothing in the world would ever hurt her.

But she did hurt. She hurt a lot.

The ach in Maya's chest was impossible to ignore. Every breath took too long and it was never enough to fill her lungs. The parts of her heart tried to keep up for dear life as every few seconds it shuttered, shivered, trembled, shrank, and cried.