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It’s haunting.

“Thankfully, it didn’t take the sad king long to realize how sick he truly was, nor did it take him long to set off on a magical quest for a cure.” Clark mindlessly fiddles with the fork beside his plate. “That quest led him to buy a small home in a very poor village where he knew he could completely heal. He went to extreme lengths to keep the kingdom from knowing why he had momentarily stepped away from his throne and continued pretending that everything was as perfect as ever. The very sick king knew that he couldn’t defeat the poison in his system all alone and hired help, which included a young, homeless woman who had recently become pregnant.”

“Oh, shit,” escapes without my consent.

“The two quickly built a beautiful friendship,” Lauren exclaims, voice flooded with hope and cheer. “She helped keep him sober and far, far away from the poison that made his bug bite worse, and he helped keep her healthy. He had the local doctor tend to her pregnancy in private as to not start new rumors about her in the village. He kept her fed. Loved. And in return she reminded him of the man he was before he had been bitten by the Golden Bug.”

“Eventually, their relationship turned into something more than just friendship.” My father’s best friend tilts his head pensively to one side. “However, shortly after the village woman gave birth to her beautiful baby girl, the king realized something very important. He longed for his own child. The one who bared his name.”

“The one he had with the queen. His. Queen.”

“The one he had big dreams of ruling the kingdom with passion and purpose.” He leans himself back in his seat. “It was at that moment that he realized it wasn’t the young village woman he was in love with, but the queen. He came to the conclusion that the woman he had spent months caring for, who had spent months helping him get past the sickness from the Golden Bug and other poisons, was nothing more than an angel sent to assist him in finding his way home.”

“So,” Lauren excitedly takes over yet again, “the king left the angel with promises to thank her however he could. Upon his return to the palace and reconciliation with the queen – who had missed him more than words could say – there was a royal decree for the household to never speak about that time or what they knew.”

That’s the legal document Clark signed.

“The king and the queen also came to an agreement to give the young angel – that they both felt indebted to for bringing them back together – all the riches she could ever want or need for her and her child for what remained of her life. Her thanks to them was her life-long silence about the king’s difficult journey back to his queen and keeping them informed of whenever someone went searching for answers that were not theirs to have.”

Monica’s mother didn’t have to stay silent?

She actively chose to be?

To hide their relationship?

To contribute to having that whole town erase the evidence?

“I love that all the women in this story are badass,” Bryn announces on a bite of fish. “That’s my kind of women empowerment shit.”

“After the king and the queen were together again, the entire kingdom changed,” Clark resumes speaking. “The king spent more time with his heir and his queen. He allowed for his riches to continue to grow plentiful yet made it his mission to give back to the towns he reigned over. He became known as a great and kind king, loved and adored by many rather than simply feared. He along with his trusted royal adviser and the queen, went to great lengths to protect the young heir from ever getting bitten by the Golden Bug. The king – in particular – didn’t want him to suffer through the same fate he had endured.” He braces his bent arms on the table. Leans forward. “He wanted more for his son, but not in the financial aspect. The king didn’t want greed or alcohol to lead the heir astray as it had once led him. He wanted the prince to be a better man than he was. He wanted him to keep his eyes on making the kingdom better for all rather than getting wrapped up in keeping it better for just himself.”

“And the young heir did just that,” Lauren lovingly adds, finally dragging over the tray of vegetables. “He created a wonderful kingdom for all those in his realm, fell in love with a strong – albeit mouthy – princess, and lived happily ever after, which is all the king and queen truly wanted for their only child.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a princess speaking her mind,” Bryn sasses at her mom. “We both know that.”

Laughter circles the table alongside the containers of food as the truth of the tale properly settles in.

I am the king’s heir.

I am following in his footsteps.

I am living the life he wanted me to lead in spite of his absence.

No.

He wasn’t perfect.

He made mistakes.

Many of the same mistakes that I’ve now made; however, he pushed on.

For himself.

For my mother.

For me.

I, too, will progress forward.

For me.

For them.

For Bryn.

And for my own heir that I can’t wait to meet.

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