I stood frozen, not glancing at my friends, whose heads had snapped my way. I hadn’t told them that little tidbit, nor had I wanted them finding out. And now, they had. Quickly, I pursed my lips to keep from babbling and put my hands in my pockets, no fidgeting.
“I didn’t know Angela Springs was Lily’s mother,” King Fergus muttered incredulously. “I only knew Elder Farrar helped raise her.” He paused. “Oh Jesus, Venclaire. How the hell can you stand to be in the same room as the man if you loved her so much?”
“He wasn’t with her that way,” King Venclaire muttered harshly. “Right?” He sounded like he wanted clarification…and didn’t want it at the same time.
I closed my eyes, praying Antonio didn’t say he had been more than friends with my mom. I didn’t think so, but still, it wasn’t something I really wanted to know if they had been.
Antonio cleared his throat and asked softly, “Would it really matter if we had been together? She had already left you.”
My head fell. Not really the answer I wanted to hear. It wasn’t a yes or a no.
“I helped a good friend raise her daughter. That’s all that matters in the end. She’s passed on, and now, her daughter’s here, alive and strong,” Antonio stated into the silence.
“Christ, I had no clue this was so fucking complicated,” King Nelson muttered. “Yeah. I’m sorry, Venclaire. But, if you ever touch me again, I’ll blast you to the middle of the damn ocean.”
My friends were still staring at me.
I kept my focus on the slightly ajar door.
“Back to the matter at hand,” King Fergus murmured quickly. “Do we separate them?”
“I’ll be the deciding vote since I’m an Elder, and you know what I’ll say,” Antonio’s voice was underlined with coolness. “This means you don’t need to vote, since both King Kincaid and King Venclaire have said they want them to stay together.”
King Fergus and King Nelson grumbled a bit, but the decision was clear.
We weren’t going to be pulled apart.
With the way my best friends were looking at me right now, I wished we were.
Pearl grabbed my hand out of my pocket and yanked me down the hallway, then up the stairs, Jack and Ezra following directly on our heels, where she continued hauling me — silently — all the way to my bedroom, where she unceremoniously pushed me on my bed.
Jack slammed the door, rubbing at his palm, antsy again with his shuffling feet, but his expression told me he wasn’t going anywhere.
I didn’t even bother glancing at Ezra, knowing he would be scowling.
They stood directly in front of me, arms crossed, a solid wall of ticked off besties.
Pearl broke the silence, asking, “You knew, didn’t you?”
My lips thinned, but there was no point in lying about this part. “Yes. The first day of school, he thought I looked familiar.” I smiled weakly. “Only a few hours later, it must have clicked. He said I looked just like her. Said they were,” I used finger quotes, “friends.”
“Did you know that he loved her?” Jack asked. “Still does from the sound of it.”
I nodded. “Antonio knew them when they were together. He happened to mention it.”
Ezra exploded, “And you didn’t bother to tell us? A King falling in love with someone from a different Mys faction is huge!” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s just not done.”
Pearl added, “Don’t forget, it sounded like Elder Farrar was with her mother for a time.”
I cringed, and gave the only excuse I could. “She was my mom.” I shrugged. That should be enough said. Nobody likes to gossip about their mom. “And Antonio didn’t actually say they were together.” I shook my head. “I never thought they were, anyway.”
Still rubbing his hand, Jack squatted to look me in the eyes, since I wasn’t meeting any of theirs. “You should have told us, even if she was your mom.”
Ezra bent next to him, directly in front of me, glaring. “If anyone had made a crack at my King on this subject, I would have been left high and dry, feeling like a fool for not knowing the truth.”
Pearl dipped next. “We have to know these sorts of situations in advance. Be prepared for any snide remarks that would, and probably still will, come out once he’s no longer King. That’s when they really hit. When you’re no longer their Ruler.”
My lips pinched even more, and I reiterated, “She was my mom.”
“We’re not saying anything bad about her, Lily. It wasn’t illegal, it’s just not done, so if others know about it, there could be talk,” Jack stated slowly and softly. “We need to have the correct information to know how to deal with situations like this in the future. You could have put Ezra in a really bad situation when he became King.”
Their love affair may not have been illegal, just a horrendous taboo, but I sure was. The old fear came back to me, even as I nodded, saying, “Fine. I understand.”
Jack nodded and stood, rubbing his palm.