Chapter 81: 82: Secrets, Secrets

ARIEL

The cries of “heal me, heal me” only grow louder as Vivian tries to carve a path for me through the crowd.

People are closing in on me now from all sides.

I need to get out of here.

I can barely breathe.

“Ariel!”

I hear Alex’s voice calling out to me, and then moments later, I feel his hand grabbing hold of my arm.

“Everybody move,” he shouts. “NOW!”

At their king’s command, the crowd recedes like the tide.

But that doesn’t stop the flashing of cameras or the prayers for salvation, which follow me until I enter the palace foyer.

When the doors slam shut behind me, Alex and I stare at each other in horror and disbelief.

“What the ~hell~ was that?” Vivian asks me.

“You’re not the only one with secrets,” I muster. “Although I guess mine’s not a secret anymore.”

“I’m so sorry Ariel,” she says. “I’ll give you two some time alone.”

She disappears down the hall, and Alex pulls me into his arms.

I punch at his chest in frustration. “I can’t fucking believe her.”

“Who? Vivian?” he asks me.

“Natalia!” I say. “I heal her child, and then the next day she goes and tells the whole world about it!”

“You think she did this?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Alex rubs my cheek with his thumb.

It looks like he’s searching for the right words.

“See?” he says after a moment. “That stripper photo doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore, does it?”

I can’t help but let out a small laugh.

“I guess not,” I say. “But what am I supposed to tell everybody? I barely understand my own power as it is. So how am I supposed to explain it to all of them.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Ariel,” he says.

It’s a nice thing to hear. But my whole life has been proof that those words are far from true.

“We’ll figure out how to handle it together,” he says. “Just know that you don’t have to deal with this alone.”

“I know that,” I touch my forehead to his. “If you need me, I’m going to be hiding in bed for the next…year or so,” I say and walk out of his embrace.

Alex is trying his best to make me feel better, but the truth of the matter is, right now I just really want to be alone.

ALEX

~Fuck, fuck, FUCK.~

~I don’t know what to do anymore.~

I can try to comfort Ariel.

To make her laugh.

To alleviate some of the pressure.

But I can’t do the one thing I really want to do: I can’t make her problems go away.

I walk through the palace halls, only turning when I reach my mother’s quarters.

I knock three times at the door and wait for her permission.

“Come in,” she says.

I open the door and find her seated in her usual spot on her velvet couch, drinking a cup of tea.

“Mom—”

“I know,” she says. “I can hear their cries from my window. They’ve discovered her powers, haven’t they?”

I nod and take a seat next to her.

“I’m worried about Ariel,” I say.

“Of course you are.”

“Just this week, her ex-destined mate escaped, she stepped down from the warriors, and now…this! I don’t know how much more pain she can take.”

“Never underestimate Ariel’s strength,” my mother says. “That girl has been through more torture than any of us could ever imagine.”

~Of course, she’s right.~

“But I hate seeing her like this,” I say. “She’s all broken up, and I’m running out of ways to make her feel better.”

“Goddess willing, Ariel will be queen for many, many years to come. There will be amazing times, and there will be terrible times. It is all part of the job.”

“~I~ was born into this life. But she wasn’t,” I sigh. “What if one day she decides that she can’t take it anymore and leaves me?”

“That will not happen, my son. Ariel loves you more than anything in the world.”

She places a hand on my shoulder.

“She just needs time to find her footing.”

“Are the lessons with you and Dianne helping?”

“I’m starting to think that it was foolish to try to teach her anything at all,” she says, taking another sip from her steaming cup.

“Anyone can speak, act, or dress like a queen. But not everyone has a royal heart. Ariel does.”

ARIEL

I pull the covers over my head, trying to drown out my spinning thoughts with darkness.

But it’s hopeless.

I can hear the cheers and pleas from the crowd outside through my closed window.

They’re not leaving, and honestly, I don’t blame them.

If I heard about someone with Goddess-given healing capabilities, I would want to see it for myself too.

That’s why I was so intent on keeping it a secret.

And that’s why I’m so devastated that the secret is out.

Everyone is going to want a piece of me.

But I barely know how to use them. And every time I do, it completely drains every ounce of energy from my body.

I barely had it in me to heal Xavi.

~How can I heal a whole kingdom’s worth of injuries?~

I climb out of bed feeling restless and uneasy, and start pacing around my room.

I thought that I wanted to be alone, but now I have no idea what to do with myself.

I hear footsteps coming down the hall, and pray to the Goddess that it’s Alex coming to check on me.

I open the door and peek outside.

But it’s not Alex.

~It’s Natalia.~

Stumbling down the hall, barefoot, wearing pajamas, a glass dangling in her hand.

“Hey,” I call out to her, anger brimming up inside of me. “Why the hell did you talk to the press?”

She stops and trips over her feet as she turns toward me.

Her face is pale.

Her eyes are glazed over.

“Are you drunk?” I ask her.

“Want some?” she reaches the glass toward me. “It’s moonshine.”

I pull it out of her hand, but I have no intention of drinking from it.

“Where is your son, Natalia?” I ask her.

“Why does it matter?” she asks. “Whoever he’s with, it’s safer than being with me.”

“Are you proud of that?”

“Nobody is proud of me anymore, Ariel. Most especially myself.”

“I know exactly what your problem is,” I spit. “You can’t bear to see me get attention from Mom. From my mate. Even from ~your~ mate.”

As I look at her face, flashes of red start to seep into my vision. Words keep pouring out of my mouth like hot lava:

“The tables have turned and you just can’t take it. You can’t stand to be in my shadow for five seconds, when I stood in your shadow for my entire life!”

Natalia grabs the glass out of my hand and takes another big swig, moonshine spilling out of her mouth and onto her chin.

“That’s why you freed Xavier, isn’t it? And that’s why you leaked my healing abilities to the press! You’ll do anything to sabotage me because you are so goddess-damned spiteful!”

“You’re right,” Natalia says, throwing her hands in the air in surrender.

The glass slips out of her grasp and crashes onto the floor, throwing shards of glass in every direction.

“You’re absolutely right,” she continues, unfazed. “You have everything and I have nothing. Nothing. And now my son will grow up with an escaped convict for a father and a spiteful bitch for a mother.”

“You know, Natalia,” I say, “I felt really bad for you after everything Xavier did. I took you into this pack, even though I knew you wouldn’t have done the same for me if the roles were reversed.”

~Of course she wouldn’t.~

~She didn’t.~

She didn’t even try to save me when Xavier exiled me from the Crescent Moon Pack. She encouraged him.

“Don’t you feel any remorse for how you’ve treated me? And for how you’ve betrayed the Royal Pack? Don’t you want to say you’re sorry?”

“I never learned how to say sorry,” she sneers.

She takes a step away from me and immediately lets out a piercing shriek.

“Oh, Natalia!”

I look down and see that she’s stepped on a shard of glass. Blood gushes from the bottom of her foot.

I wrap her arm around my shoulder and help her limp away from the rest of the glass debris.

I lean her up against the wall, and she slides down it until she’s sitting on the floor.

I crouch to her level and she wails as I pull the shard out of her foot.

“You–you’re dangerous,” I say. “You’re a danger to yourself.”

“Thank the Goddess my sister is gifted,” she mocks. “Heal me!”

I place my hand on the bleeding wound.

And I try…

I try my best to summon a happy memory of her that could help me form a connection to the Moon Goddess.

But each one is clouded over by spite and a deep sense of betrayal.

It’s not working.

“I can’t do it. I’m sorry,” I say.

“Fine,” she spits. “If you can’t heal me, then throw me in the dungeon! Execute me! I have nothing to live for anymore.”

“I’m not going to kill you, Natalia.”

“Why not? You hate me. Everybody does.”

“Because you’re my sister.”

I take a deep breath.

“But I can’t let you stay here. You need help. And I don’t think I can help you anymore.”

“What does that mean?”

“You need to pack up your stuff and leave the Royal Pack,” I say resolutely. “Tonight.”