Page 56 of Unmoored

“Yes…” I answered hesitantly.How does he know my mother?

What sounded like a choked sob escaped from his throat, and he immediately covered his face with bandaged hands.

The Queen bent down to say something in Talassi, buthe waved her away, and I wondered if a half-Talassi could die of a heart attack underwater. I was so utterly confused I thought I might burst.

“I know your mother,” Inaki said, shaking his head as he removed his hands. “Years ago, we had… we were friends. When were you born, Hazel?”

“The twenty-seventh of October, 1853.”

He turned his head to the side, covering his mouth with a hand as what looked like silver tears rimmed his eyes. “Fuck,” he whispered. “Is she well?”

His words were sharp, cutting into my heart. It was obvious he’d cared for her, and it pained me to tell him she was no longer with us. Tears welled behind my eyes, and I shook my head slowly, trying to gather my emotions and thoughts.

“Is she alive?” He asked, his voice strained.

“No,” Draya answered softly, his thumb moving back and forth against my back. “She passed away a little over two years ago, Sir.”

I looked down, hoping the water would conceal the gutwrenching emotions twisting face, but Inaki held out an iridescent, silvery hand.

“This pains me to learn,” he said softly as I placed my palm in his. “I loved Margaret, more than I could ever put into words, but I was captured before I could make arrangements to help her escape that wretched husband of hers. I’m sorry.”

I mulled over his words for a moment, eyes widening as I put the pieces together. The depth of their relationship, the timeline of their affair in relation to my birth, and the look of anguish that flitted over his face when he learnedmy mother had passed. My body went rigid, heartbeat pounding in my chest, and the entire room felt as if it were closing in on me when Prince Inaki’s next words left his mouth.

“Hazel, I believe you are my daughter.”

39

DRAYA

Time seemed to stop for a moment as I took in Prince Inaki’s words. Hazel was… his daughter?

The more I thought about it, the more damning the evidence became. It would explain her Talassi blood, but that would mean she wasn’t an Emerson at all! And if Lord Emerson had been aware, or even suspected it, that would explain why he treated her like complete shit for so long.

Rage exploded inside me, my muscles tensing as I realized she had been subjected to his abuses for so long when they weren’t even blood relatives. Not that it would have been justified under any circumstances, but the cruelty of keeping her under his roof wasn’t lost on me.

I kept my hand pressed against her back, moving just a bit closer. I needed her to know I was there, that I supported her as she navigated whatever came next.

“How?” Hazel asked, her voice shaky, failing to hide the emotions roiling inside her. “How is this possible?”

Inaki looked down at his lap, clearly battling with whatever he wanted to say next. I imagined the story ahead was painful, but Hazel deserved the truth. And she deserved to be angry, no matter what he told her, no matter how painful the truth may be.

“I met Margaret years ago,” he said, his eyes lifting to meet Hazel’s once again. “I was stationed at an outpost close to Whitethorn Bay, and I came across her one night sitting on the beach. Hair blowing in the wind, the radiant moonlight illuminated her like a goddess, and I couldn’t help but draw closer.”

Familiar,I thought.

“The image burned into my mind, and I returned to that same spot many times over the next year or so, watching and waiting for her nightly visits to the water. In a way, I think we called to each other, but I don't believe we knew it at the time.”

Hazel leaned into my touch, blinking away the subtle tears rimming her eyes.

“One night,” Prince Inaki began again, “I found her crying. It wasn’t unusual for her to weep, I’d seen it before, but this was different. She was sobbing, guttural sounds that wracked through her entire body, and I couldn’t bear to leave her alone in her insurmountable grief.”

I absent-mindedly moved closer to Hazel once again, wrapping my arm around her waist as she tried so hard to hold herself together. Prince Inaki had no knowledge of how we met, no idea how difficult it might be for her to hear this.

“Is everything all right?” He asked, suddenly concerned.

“Yes, sir,” Hazel replied. “It’s just… heartbreaking. But please continue, I want to know.”

“I called to her with my song, trying my hardest to soothe her unbridled emotions as I approached. She was the most beautiful, alluring woman I’d ever seen in my life, but she was clearly distraught, and the last thing I wanted to do was scare her. Thankfully, she didn’t startle when she saw me, instead she approached with wide, glassy eyes and an outstretched hand.