Page 51 of Valpar

“Is it about my miresa not knowing her past?” I snapped. “I do not care where she comes from. She is mine and I won’t give her up.”

The king’s eyes widened slightly, and he sighed. “Ah, at least she has told you that much. And that her parents aren’t her blood?”

I nodded. I still haven’t figured that out, and I knew my miresa didn’t understand it either. She didn’t care to know though.

“I have brothers,” the king began. “Five of them, to be exact. They all left Bergarian many years ago for Earth to look for their destined ones and explore new lands. My brother Birch was one of the lucky ones, and he found Theresa. A human. She agreed to be mated, bonded and become like him, but before she did so, she worried for her niece. Theresa's sister, Hattie, was—troubled.” Osirus’ lip curled into a snarl and his wings turning a hint of black.

“Hattie was sick, both in mind and body. Theresa said it happened to humans when they consumed drugs that were meant to heal the body, but used them to make themselves feel good. They got a high or a rush. They didn’t think straight, and they couldn’t take care of themselves, let alone a child.” Osirus stared out over the sea, a distant look in his eye.

Does this mean she couldn’t take care of a child, of my Calliope?

“Hattie couldn’t get enough of these human drugs. It started shortly after Calliope was born, when the father left. I’m guessing she was trying to numb her heart.”

“Father—?”

“Her seeded orgamo. He left her and her ogamie.” Osirus knew of our terms, thank the Moon Fairy. These creatures had many words with the same meaning. It was frustrating.

How could an orgamo leave his seeded? I have never heard of such a thing. An orcling was precious, cherished. How could one leave a female and their seeded? My drum beat furiously in my chest. And then her mother, she made herself sick. She wanted to forget the orgamo, but forgot her orcling. Why? Why would she forget such a beautiful person like Calliope?

Hattie could have given that love to her child instead of ignoring such a precious gift. I gritted my teeth, my brow furrowing in anger. I let out a low growl, my fist balled up and I banged on the tree that we stood under.

“I do not understand human thinking, Valpar. Each soul deals with pain differently, especially humans—”

“No excuse,” I snapped. “What happened? How was Calliope raised? What happened since this human was tainted with thesedrugs?”

Osirus’ jaw clenched, his wings’ veins now fully black, filled with anger. I do not believe I have seen them this black since the war.

“Calliope was ignored most of her life. Neglected. She went to school, but received bare minimum attention. Several times, Theresa went to collect Calliope from Hattie, even called the proper authorities in the human realm, but like most things in the human realm, Calliope slipped through the cracks. Calliope was stuck with her mother.”

A growl erupted from my chest as I heaved my breath in and out.

“With Birch’s help, they stole Calliope in the night and took her away. It took them several weeks to get her strong enough to make the journey to the portal and arrive at the palace. She slept the whole way, slept for days, like she hadn’t slept in years.” He rubbed a hand down his face, pacing in front of me.

“I knew Calliope was going to be stunned when she woke. She was slowly waking up as Birch carried her up the steps to me. Melina and I greeted them, when Calliope finally opened her eyes.” Osirus winced. “Calliope was weak, thin, tinier than she is now. She had raven black hair, gray skin, but those eyes, they were still as blue as the ocean. Still light in there, even after all she had been through.” Osirus swallowed and turned to me. “She was a fighter. She hadn’t given up. I was waiting for her to scream, to shout, something, because she still didn’t know that Birch was a fae yet and here she was, at a palace with Melina’s wings on full display and me in my garments.” Osirus put his hand over his mouth as if he couldn’t speak.

“She didn’t, though, she didn’t scream. Your mate looked straight up at me and asked me, ‘Did I die? Am I in heaven, now?’”

I had never seen King Osirus shed water from his eyes, except for when Melina was stabbed during the war. He thought he was losing her; thank the Moon Fairy he didn’t. Now, he looked as if he was going to shed water again.

For the second time in my life, I felt heat in my eyes as well. Water gathered there, and I wondered if I might let a stream run down my face. To imagine if my Calliope would have never arrived, to not have gotten well? I would have been a lost orc and truly alone. I would have never had her.

“Calliope spoke little. She wouldn’t tell us everything that happened in that house. Theresa said the house was worn down. Men and women frequently came in and out of it, and Calliopeslept in the cold basement. That’s where they found her,” Osirus sobered.

I growled. “This female better be dead, or I shall go and hunt her down.”

Osirus’ wings faded back to their opaqueness, his shoulders relaxing. “A year after Calliope’s arrival, I ventured to Earth with Melina to do just that. She’s gone. There is nothing to worry about there.” He waved his hand and turned his back.

“The reason I tell you these things, Valpar, is that I had a powerful sorceress, Taliyah, rid Calliope of her nightmares and memories of her past. That was Calliope’s one wish. To start a new life, here.” The king turned to me, with his hands folded gently in front of him. “At first, I was against it, but the way she pleaded to forget her mother, what she went through, I couldn’t say no. She was old enough, and been through so much I could not deny her such a request.”

I swallowed heavily and gazed back at the cave. My brother was yelling inside, most likely talking to my miresa to keep her company. I didn’t care. My insides were out of sorts. My miresa had suffered much before me, and she didn’t even remember it.

“What sort of memories did she want to forget?” I rasped.

Osirus shook his head. “As I said before, she didn’t want to talk about it. She wrote a letter, however, when she was trying to get through the pain on her own, the first couple months before we wiped her memory. She thought writing it down would help her get her emotions out. It never did.” He pulled a parchment out of his coat. It was worn, like it had been folded and unfolded many times and held the king’s seal.

“I’ll always remember the scars on her arms, how skittish she was. Calliope feared for everything that moved. She trusted Theresa the most because she knew that Theresa always tried to get her away from that situation. It took longer for her to trust the rest of us, but soon we were a close-knit unit.”

I licked my lips. My pain for my miresa was now my own, yet she did not feel it. How was I to keep this from her, to know that her life before Bergarian was troublesome, and now it was all sunshine to her.

---