Page 105 of The Stolen Princess
Myka nodded. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to have a few people in her life whom she could still trust. “Why didn’t you guys tell me about my father and the weapons?”
Joett sighed. “You love your father so much. We couldn’t ruin that relationship. Maybe we should have told you. We didn’t know what to do or how to handle the situation.”
“We can tell you the whole story now if you want,” Rommel said.
Myka nodded. “I want to know about the weapons.”
Rommel seemed timid to answer her, but the slight nod from Joett pushed him that last little bit. “Your father has produced and stockpiled illegal weapons, and he has used them against his own people.”
That much she already knew.
“And what was your involvement with them?” she asked.
“Do you know why I was fired?”
She shook her head. She had asked plenty of people at Tolsten House, and no one could tell her. Or would tell her.
“I was your father’s top mechanical engineer. Ten years ago, before the Council of Essentials, your father came to me with an idea. He wanted me to design some blueprints for weapons of mass destruction like they had had before Desolation. He wanted to present the blueprints at the Council so that they could be deemed essential. At first, I was hesitant. We all knew that weapons of mass destruction were a big part of Desolation. Building new ones was like playing with fire. But I convinced myself that the Council would never approve them, so what was the big deal with making the blueprints? I liked the challenge. I wanted to see if I could really do it. So I made the designs, and your father took them to the Council of Essentials.”
“But they weren’t approved,” Myka said.
“No, but that didn’t stop your father from making the weapons. At first, Adler said he wanted to make a prototype, something he could work on and perfect for the next Council of Essentials. So I did it. I made him the most beautiful and deadly missile. Then he wanted more. He wanted me to draft plans for bigger missiles, smaller ones, explosives of every kind. In truth, it was an exciting project to work on. It challenged me, and I liked thinking I was creating something that hadn’t been done for over two hundred years. Your father is a master manipulator. You’ve seen it yourself. He stroked my ego, and at the end of the day, my need to be the smartest and best engineer won over my logic.” He paused and looked at Joett. She reached out, squeezing his hand as if he needed some added strength for the next part. “Then your father used the weapons against a village.”
Cora’s village.
Myka pulled in a ragged breath. How could her father have been so cruel? It was a completely different side to him than the one she had known.
“When I found out, I told Adler that I refused to make or design anything else. He threatened to kill me. He didn’t need me anymore. He had all my blueprints, and he thought he could find another engineer whom he could pay off to help him create more.”
“But he didn’t kill you. You were fired.” Myka said the words so low she wasn’t even sure if she had said them out loud.
“I’m smart.” He pointed to his brain like she had seen him do a hundred times before. “I didn’t complete the design. I didn’t finish the computer that would launch them into the air. Right now, they are only stationary bombs.” He looked at Joett again. “Since then, I’m sure your father has found some other genius who completed the computer mechanism, but just in case, he keeps me alive. I’ve been constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting for the day King Adler would kill me or drag me back to Tolsten House to finish what I started ten years ago.”
“Why didn’t you both leave? Run away to another kingdom?”
Joett ran her hand over Myka’s hair. She looked at her with glossy eyes. “We couldn’t leave you.”
Myka’s eyes filled with her own tears. “You stayed for me?”
“Of course. We love you.”
It was nice to be loved.
Joett placed her hand on top of hers. “Myka, honey. I know all of this is hard for you to hear. I know you love your father. He can still be a good father despite all the horrible things he’s done.”
She shook her head, refusing to cry. “It’s too late. My father’s dead.”
Joett gasped, cupping her mouth. “Oh honey, are you okay?”
Myka straightened. “I will be, but I need your help,” she said, looking straight at Rommel. “I think I know where the weapons are.”
His eyes widened. “I thought nobody but your father knew that.”
“He told me before he died.” She stood. “It’s time to get rid of the weapons once and for all.”
28
Drake
