Although I had been happily eating my cake I suddenly lost my appetite as guilt and sorrow washed over me.
"And your parents agreed to let you both go?" Surely her mother and father would have protested. I mean how could a king suddenly take to children with him back to his kingdom without any resistance.
"They did try and stop us from going, but what could they really do against a King with the small army who had accompanied him?"
Hmm, even if they were the guardian family of Lucresia Peak, what could they do about the most powerful man on the continent, the King of Azlantean was much more powerful.
"Besides I was so foolish and childish back then that although the prospect of leaving my family was scary, I wanted so much to see the outside world and see that great Kingdom I had heard so many about. So when the King announced his plans I didn't put that much effort into refusing. My smart brother, however, foresaw how tough life would get for us and tried to get me to realize the consequences. I was too silly to listen to his words though."
As if he was able to pick up on my bad mood, Sirith suddenly catapulted into my lap from
The floor and purred like the mushy cat he was trying to distract me from my distress.
I was glad to hear a delighted laugh come from my mother when she saw Sirith rub his neck against my stomach.
"What a splendid companion you have found yourself." She beamed with true happiness which immediately made me relax.
"But what happened next mother?" I asked urgently, wanting to hear the rest of the story.
"Well, to make a long story short, as soon as my brother and I arrived in Azlantean we given were tutors and instructors to make up for our lack of a formal education. We were taught proper etiquette and new strange rules and we learn to assimilate to the new culture. I didn't realize it then but they were grooming us to become part of the royal family because before I knew it I was engaged to the prospective crowned prince of the kingdom at the time, His highness Irathmus Rosenheim."
My gut churned violently at the thought of my mother being engaged to my former uncle Duke Irathmus. The thought was revolting but more importantly, it must have been terrifying for a fifteen-year-old to be whisked away to a foreign kingdom and then be betrothed to an awful person like Irathmus.
"After learning of our engagement, I was so distraught. The thought of marrying Irathmus was truly terrifying for me. Although I had my brothers support, I didn't get to see him very often as the tutors had realized my brother was extremely intelligent and had scheduled extra classes for him. For the most part, I was alone to deal with what felt like a prison sentence. I was so distraught that I even tried to escape by sneaking out the sky garden..."
"You tried to run away?!" This shocked me to hear. My mother had to be much feistier than she looked if she had actually tried to escape from this castle. This silver and stone fortress that had guards around every corner.
She nodded sheepishly in reply and fluttered her fan in front of her grinning smile.
"Little did I know that the generally deserted sky garden was your father's favourite hideout. His little sanctuary was he spent his time thinking and reading." My mother giggled brightly as she recalled this memory.
"Just as I was about to make my great escape and head back to Lucresia. Your father, who I hadn't met yet because he had spent a two years training in dungeons, held his sword to my throat and asked me who I was to be trespassing on his private garden..."
I could just imagine my scary father holding up his sword to my mother's throat. Cold and quiet as usual, little did he know that trespasser was his future wife.
It was great to see how my mom's face lit up when she talked about my dad. She looked like she was still very much in love with him, which was a huge relief since I really wanted to be reincarnated into a happy family.
"That was how your father and I met. I was quite taken with him actually. His pitch-black hair and startling amber eyes. Even though I saw the same traits in the King and Irathmus, they just somehow took my breath away when I saw your father. He eventually talked me into staying and escorted me back to my quarters. From then on we got closer and closer and began to care about each other more and more. Of course, I knew I was engaged to his older brother, and that having feelings for him would land me in a lot of trouble, but I just couldn't care less about what anyone said. I just wanted to be with Alistair."
It made me happy and grossed me out at the same time that my mother was still so in love with father.
"Fate must have been on our side because Irathmus was dethroned and your father was announced as the crown prince and my engagement to Irathmus was transferred to your father..."
My grandfather must have been desperate to have my mother as a daughter in law to transfer the engagement instead of cancelling it. He must really have wanted to pass down my mother's healing magic into the royal bloodline.
"And the rest is history I suppose." She was all smiles as she picked up her plate of cake again and forked herself a nice bite.
"I'm happy to hear that my mom loves my dad." I grinned. "But just to confirm, the reason grandfather was so eager to marry you to one of his sons was because of your healing magic capabilities, right?"
"Yes." She nodded confidently. "At first I think it was to make sure no other nation got their hands on our healing powers before Azlantean. Only later on did he think that I could pass down my traits through the royal bloodline, and hence he decided to marry me to one of this sons."
"So there is a possibility that I will inherit your healing power?" I reasoned suddenly.
"There is a very big possibility, especially since you were born with my hair which means you have inherited some of your life force from me. But it might not happen since you haven't been able to use your healing powers yet. You are still quite young so it could still happen." She looked hopeful that I would inherit that power from her.
If I thought about it practically, perfect healing powers would be a great asset for a future ruler of this kingdom. It would be great if I could get such power but since I was already quite gifted for my age, it wouldn't be a tragedy if I wasn't able to use it.
Suddenly tired from the day I had been having and satisfied with my talk with my mother, I slowly felt my eyelids begin to droop. At first, it happened slowly, with me trying my best to stay awake, but then all of a sudden without me realizing it, I had fallen asleep on the sofa. Mother must have let me sleep for quite a while because when I was woken up by Nanny Zelda the sun had already set.