Page 162 of Crown of Slumber

Father’s eyes widened slightly—the only sign of his surprise. After a moment, he said, “That was to clean up your mess. It was the only way to maintain our alliance with them, after you ended the engagement so abruptly.”

“Because heviolatedme,” I growled. “Tyrone was a monster. And I refused to bind myself to a man who would force me into his bed without my consent.”

A hushed silence fell around us. Mother’s face turned ghostly pale, and Gigi looked like she might vomit. Even Father had the good sense to look shocked, his expression stricken with horror.

“Aurelia,” Father said, his voice strained. “I—I did not know. I?—”

I shook my head. “Because I did not tell you.” Perhaps if I had, things would have been different. But I supposed it didn’t matter anymore. With Tyrone dead, the bargain had been nullified. All that remained were my traumatized memories and the betrayal of knowing my father had made such a bargain in the first place.

I swallowed around the lump in my throat and forced myself to ask, “So, what now? Will you send me away?”

Father’s head reared back. “What?”

Mother’s hand went to her chest, and Gigi stepped forward, her eyes full of panic. “Aurie, what are you talking about?”

“With the Dream Mage dead, you all don’t need me anymore,” I said, my voice thick as I struggled to hold back my tears. “My powers are too dangerous.”

Father stared at me, but his expression was stoic, giving away nothing. Mother gripped his arm tightly. “Stefan…” Her voice was pleading.

“But—But Aurie isn’t dangerous anymore!” Gigi sputtered. “Right?” She looked at me beseechingly.

I wrung my hands together, trying to stifle the anxiety coursing through me. When it had just been Mother, Gigi, and me in that tea room, things had seemed so much simpler. But with Father here, knowing he hadn’t abdicated to me yet, things were complicated.

Before I could answer, Sapphire spoke. “Aurelia has unlocked her magic. She did it in the safety of the Dream Realm. We believe that, because of this, her powers are less volatile and explosive. The reason why they were uncontrollable before was because she was trying too hard to quash them.”

“It is different,” I agreed. “I have my memories back, and never in the six hundred years of my existence have I known such… inner peace with my magic. I was always deathly afraid of unleashing too much, of releasing my devastation and hurting people.” I paused, thinking of how Mal had compared my magic to the trust between a dragon and his rider in flight. “But instead of leashing my magic, I let it free. It is no longer bottled up inside me. It is no longer a threat.”

“So you say,” said Father.

“Stefan,” Mother chided.

I shook my head, unable to keep the tears from leaking, tracking down my cheeks and dripping onto the floor. “It’s all right. If you all will feel safer if I leave, I understand. I cannot blame you, not after everything that’s happened. We aren’t truly family, after all.”

“Aurelia, youareour family,” Mother said, stepping toward me, her arm outstretched. Father raised a hand to silence her, but to everyone’s surprise, she shoved his hand away. “No, Stefan. I will not be silenced. Aurelia is our daughter. I don’t care what you say or what her past is. She has proven herself to us again and again. She was theonlyone unaffected by the sleeping curse, and she saved us all. If you send her away, I will go with her.”

“So will I.” Gigi’s chin lifted with her words, her eyes glinting with a fierce determination I had never seen in her before.

My heart swelled and knotted all at once, torn between relief, gratitude, and fear for my family being ripped apart. I cast a frightened look at my father, whose face had paled, his beard twitching with his frown.

“You were planning to abdicate to me before all this,” I said, my voice tentative. “Was that all a ruse? A lie?”

“Of course not!” Mother said hastily. “We love you and trust you to protect our people, Aurelia.”

But my eyes were on Father. I believed Mother loved me. But Father?

After a long moment Father sighed. “When—When my father’s health was failing, he told me the truth about you. I believed you to be an estranged cousin, kept away in our manor in the country. But after he died, leaving the kingdom to me, I didn't want to shut you up in that old house any longer. The witch clans here had successfully bound your magic, so we thought it best to claim you as our daughter. We thought that no kingdom would ever dare to challenge us if we had the Dragon Queen within these very walls. And the witches assured us the binding spell would hold.

“But as more years passed, we started to think of you as more than just a defense tactic. You became a family member. Especiallyafter Gigi was born. All we had to do was pretend there were enough years between you two so that she didn’t notice that you did not age. After that, it was easy for you two to become sisters. You were—You were so good with her. You were the only one who could calm her down when she was upset.”

My heart swelled in my chest, and my eyes suddenly felt hot. Mother sniffed, and I found tears streaming down her face. Gigi’s eyes were wet, too, as she gazed at me with love and affection.

“It—It was hard for me to see past your true identity,” Father admitted, his gaze fixed on the stone floor. “Your mother and Gigi loved you so easily, but it was harder for me. I was scared. And when the witches checked in on you, assuring us that it was unlikely your powers wouldevermanifest… I saw an opportunity. We had a powerful connection to the witches because of you. And a powerful connection to the dragons as well. Not only that, but you loved the Summer Court so much. It was clear the block on your memories wasn’t affecting your life at all. And I thought that, if you became queen of this court, you could keep our people safe. You were loyal to us. You believed you belonged here.”

Father took a deep breath before continuing, “Your mother is right. Wedidcome to care for you and trusted you to look after this kingdom. We still do. But things are different now. Your powers have been unlocked. And you have your memories back. You know who you are now. I—I’m afraid this changes everything.”

I straightened to my full height, forcing myself to meet his gaze. Though everything in me wilted, and I yearned to flee from this situation, to throw myself onto my bed and sob until I had nothing left, I lifted my chin. I gathered the courage within me, projecting strength I didn’t think I was capable of.

“Yes,” I said, my voice even and firm, despite the raging emotions within me. “I know who I am. I am the Dragon Queen. I am the Summer Princess. I am a daughter of Midnight and a daughter of Summer. I belong toboth courts,Father.” I fought to take a steadying breath. “Will you let me prove that to you? Now that I am myself, now that my memories and my magic have been freed, let me show you I can be trusted. Let me prove to you that I can be the fearless protector our kingdom deserves. I won’t ask youto abdicate to me unless you know with complete certainty that I can keep our people safe.”

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