Page 91 of The Concubine King
He rested a hand on Mikel’s arm to stop him taking more wine, knowing it wouldn’t help him in the way he hoped it would.“Can you explain now?How people were acting weird?”
Mikel sighed and leaned back on his palm.“It’s not how, it’s why.Our parents,” in village speak that meant anyone of their parents’ generation, “started whispering to each other.Tebhen and Dei seemed angry at them for it.But when I asked, everyone was suddenly tongue-tied and close-lipped.It took a lot of nagging before my mother finally told me.”
“Told you what?”Ethyr asked impatiently.
Mikel met his exasperation with sorrow.Then he turned his eyes down, unable to meet Ethyr’s gaze as he spoke.“Tebhen and Deian are not your aunt and uncle.No one knows who your parents are, or where you come from.”
“What?”Ethyr mumbled.Then louder, “What are you talking about?That’s impossible!I had to come from somewhere!”
“You came from the forest.”
Ethyr opened his mouth, then snapped it shut.“Wh—” He closed his eyes out of sheer bewilderment.
“That’s what Ma told me.Old Jamyr—you remember him?—he heard crying near the forest and when he went to see, he found an infant on the other side of the stone.No one knew what to make of it, or what to do.But Dei took to you immediately, as soon as Jamyr brought you back she held on to you and refused to let go.Since Tebhen and Deian hadn’t had any luck with children of their own, it was decided they should raise you.But with all the stories and horror about the forest, Ma said the village agreed to never tell anyone where you came from.From that moment on, you were blood and kin and that’s what they’d tell everyone, including you.”
“I…” Ethyr shook his head.He leaned an elbow on the table and pressed his forehead into his palm.
“I know it’s… shocking.I didn’t want to believe it either, but when I asked Tebhen and Deian, they said it was true.I know they wouldn’t lie about that.You know they wouldn’t.”
“But it doesn’t make sense,” Ethyr muttered.“How did I get there?Where did I come from?”
“I told you, no one knows.And I suppose they all kind of… chose to forget it had happened at all.Until that man showed up and said the gods chose you to be king.And now no one knows what to make of you.”
“But why would they lie?”Ethyr dragged his hand over his face.“Why would they lie to me?My whole life, about who I am?”
“They wanted to protect you,” Mikel said gently.
“Protect me?”Ethyr exclaimed.“Oh, they did a great job of that!Letting some stranger come and take me away!I’ve been here, alone, desperate to go home, and all this time it wasn’t even my home!”
“That’s not true,” Mikel said, harsher.“It’s still your home.”
Ethyr stood and paced the room, clenching his fists.Too many emotions were tugging too many thoughts in too many directions for him to make use of any of them.“I—I was—this whole time—” He stopped walking to grip his head, feeling a headache coming.He had enough to deal with, he didn’t need family betrayal and an identity crisis added to the pot.He turned on his heel to face Mikel.“And that’s what you came all this way for?Just to tell me my whole life is a lie?”
“No!”Mikel stood as well.“Though… it was part of it.I thought you had a right to know.But… I came because I needed to see you.I needed proof you were okay.”
The words cut through the pandemonium in his brain with a clarity that nothing else offered.Grief.Gratitude.He couldn’t stop the tears, sinking to his knees under their weight and staring listlessly forward as the world blurred.Mikel’s shape moved to kneel in front of him and rough fingers wiped his cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” Mikel murmured.“I should have come sooner.It was almost unbearable.But I couldn’t abandon my family either, I had to make sure they would get through the winter.You understand.”
Ethyr nodded, biting his lip to stop it quivering.He leaned into Mikel and was met with an embrace as warm as the summer days they’d spent together.
“How did you get here?”Ethyr asked, lifting the neck of his tunic to dry his face.“You walked this whole way?”
“I hitched a ride on a passing wagon sometimes.”
Ethyr sat up, looking at Mikel with disbelief.“You really walked here?How did you… how long did it take?”
“I have no idea.A few weeks, maybe?The further I went the warmer it got, so I couldn’t judge time by the weather.”
“Yeah, it’s… strange weather here.”Ethyr sniffed the last of his tears away and sank into his heels, staring at his hands in his lap.“How did you manage to get all the way here without food?”
“I sold a few things in town, it was enough for meals along the way.Then when I was south enough and out of money, I sold my cloak.”
“What?”Ethyr grabbed Mikel’s hand.“You sold your cloak?How are you going to survive going back?!”
Mikel shrugged with the annoyingly cavalier smile Ethyr was used to, and it quickened his heart.“I’ll figure something out.”
Ethyr shook his head.“I’ll have a cloak made for you.And give you enough money for the travel back.I could probably arrange for a carriage to take you a lot of the way—”
