Page 98 of Dark Witch Resurrection

He and Morelle were not alone anymore. They had a family. A big one.

Even though he couldn't remember his life before waking up in this room, Ell-rom knew that he and his sister had been mostly alone. The dreams and tidbits of memories that had surfaced so far indicated that they had lived in profound isolation.

"Do you believe me?" Annani looked into his eyes with hope shining in hers.

He lifted his hand, intending to cup her cheek, but put it over his heart at the last moment.

Annani might be his sister, but they were strangers, and her son would not like Ell-rom touching his mother. The guy was tense and ready to pounce, and his bodyguards loomed dangerously from where they were standing against the wall by the door.

"I felt the connection in here." He tapped his chest. "And your face looked familiar. I thought that maybe you looked like my sister, but now I realize that the resemblance I have noticed is to both Morelle and me. It's subtle, but it is there." He swallowed. "It is so frustrating not to remember my past. If I knew my history, I would probably be able to deduce how we could have the same father."

Annani smiled, a soft, patient curve of her lips that held a world of understanding. "It is a long and complicated story; much of it is speculation." She sat back down, and he had to turn on his side to look down at her face. "My father did not tell me about his past on Anumati. The exiled gods did not share their history with their children; I can only guess the reasons. They might have been ashamed of their home world and its injustices, or maybe they wanted their children and the humans they ruled over to believe that all gods were benevolent and followed the same moral code as the one adopted and enforced by the gods on Earth." She shrugged her slim shoulders. "Or they might have been ashamed of being exiles. Regrettably, all the founders of the colony on Earth are gone, so we cannot ask them."

"What happened to them?" Ell-rom asked.

"Mass assassination—an act of terror. One of the gods did not like being ruled by our father and established his stronghold away from the other gods. Our father was willing to negotiate with him to maintain peace, which was a mistake. That god committed the heinous crime of killing a fellow god and was sentenced to entombment by the council of gods. To avoid that fate, he dropped a bomb over the assembly that killed all the gods. He was caught in the blast and died as well." She sighed. "Mind you, I was not there because I escaped, so the only thing I know for a fact is the aftermath. I can only hypothesize how it happened. The version I told you was the most likely one until recently, but after we found Jade and the Kra-ell people, we learned things that might indicate another party might be responsible for that abominable act of terrorism. Not only the gods died in the nuclear blast. The entire region was devastated, and everything living within a radius of hundreds of miles died. It took decades for the region to recuperate."

Ell-rom had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach when he asked, "Who is the other possible party?"

Annani smiled sadly. "Our grandfather, the Eternal King. But I am getting ahead of myself. You need first to understand why the gods were exiled to Earth. As I mentioned, I did not know their history until I learned about Anumati from Jade and the three gods who came to look for the missing Kra-ell settlers."

His sister paused and turned to the tall redheaded guard standing by the door. "I am getting parched from all the talking. Can you please call the security office and have someone bring us refreshments from the café?"

As the guard asked everyone what they wanted to order, Ell-rom thought about what Annani had said about their father and his and Morelle's mother. Our father was a dreamer, a visionary who dared to dream of a world where everyone was judged and treated based on the merits of their character and nothing else. For a while, your mother shared his dream.

Had his mother been a rebel? But she was the queen? Who had she rebelled against?

"What about you?" Annani asked. "What would you like from the café?"

The question caught Ell-rom by surprise. "I do not know what I am allowed to have. The medic said that I can only have clear liquids."

"Herbal tea, then," Annani told the guard.

The guard did not have a teardrop, and he responded in the language they spoke on Earth, but his tone was friendly and respectful, not fearful or reverent.

Seeing how Annani treated the guy warmed Ell-rom's heart. He might not remember much or have a lot of life experience, but the interaction between Annani and the guard spoke volumes about the kind of person she was.

72

THE PRINCE

Ell-rom wasn't surprised that Annani did not wait for the drinks to be delivered to continue her story.

She seemed eager to share it with him.

"Our father, Ahn, was the Eternal King's only legitimate heir and a rebel. He led a group of young gods who dared to challenge the status quo and fight for the rights of the Kra-ell. Your mother, who was the crown princess at the time, worked closely with the resistance, which was how they met and either fell in love or lust."

Annani laughed, the sound so beautiful that it sent tingles down his arms. "Who knows? Maybe it was just another act of rebellion for them. They are not here to tell us one way or another, and neither left a diary behind. Whatever the nature of their relationship was, you and your sister are the testament that they were together for a brief moment in time."

"It's so romantic," Jasmine murmured, probably unaware that everyone could hear her.

"Indeed." Annani smiled at her. "I bet it would have made a great love story."

Jasmine shook her head. "Love stories need to have happy endings, and theirs didn't."

Annani's face fell. "No, it did not. What Ahn and your mother did was forbidden. Perhaps they dreamt of a future where they could be together openly, and their love would be celebrated rather than condemned, but the resistance was crushed. The rebellion's leaders were exiled to Earth, and others were probably exiled to even less hospitable planets. Your mother became the queen, and Ahn left, not knowing that he had fathered her twin children."

Ell-rom felt a chill run down his spine. "I am glad that the rebels were exiled and not executed. I guess the king did not have the heart to kill his own son."

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