brothers of yours, are you as close to them as I am to my own sister?” he asked, and again I found myself answering him,
“Quite honestly, not as much as I'd like to be.”
“And why is this not the case I wonder?”
“I thought it was me asking all the questions?” At this he shrugged his shoulders.
“I believe in the exchange of information and that it should be gifted in equal amounts,” he told me, making a good point.
“Well said, I see you're a very diplomatic King.” He laughed and gestured with his hand,
“I often try to be.”
“To tell the truth, I found out about my brothers when I was sixteen.”
“So late?” he questioned as most people would.
“It was kept from me and let's just say I wasn't too happy when I found out that it had been. My brothers were… are, beings of extreme power, and being the only human and feeling sort of persecuted for that with an over-protective father, admittedly I took out my bitterness on them. One, especially.”
“And you regret this?” he said as it was easy to guess.
“I do. Theo, my brother, well he's a really great guy and he's funny and kind. I spent so long of my childhood wishing I wasn't alone and wishing that I had someone who I could be close to, like a brother or sister, that well… when it actually happened, I was too overcome by bitterness to see the positive side it brought me. To let myself see that I had been asking for this very thing all these years and when it finally happened, I wasn't in the right place to accept it. So, if I had the chance, would I go back and change things, yes, most definitely.” After I had told him this he looked touched that I had confided in him, as he gave me a tender look before telling me,
“Time is all relative.”
“Excuse me?” I asked as hearing him say this surprised me.
“I believe a very clever man once said this in your realm… yes?”
“That he did,” I agreed.
“Then I think you will agree with me, that the time is what you make of it. For it is never too late to right a wrong, just as I myself have learned.”
“Is that why you want your brother back, to right a wrong?”
This was when he told me,
“Not just to right a wrong, but to right the biggest wrong of all…” I held my breath before he continued with a look of shame…
“To right the reason why my brother was banished.”
16
Family of Guilt
“What do you mean, why was he banished?” I asked making him close his eyes as the memory was a painful one.
“Time. It was all, I should have…” King Auberon said, and I knew it was only to himself, for I was not to understand any of it. So this was when I braved touching him, reaching out with my hand to offer comfort, resting it on his forearm. The material of his tunic felt more solid, more tense and I wondered if this was the difference between what they wore… did the men of this world wear a more stern, stiffer material whilst they wrapped the females up in the softest silks?
Or was it just the King who preferred the discomfort? I didn’t know, but with the feel of his muscles tense beneath my palm, the next thing I wondered was if I had been wrong in touching him? However, he didn’t pull away but instead covered my hand in his much larger one, looking down at it now as if just realising that he wasn’t alone in his suffering.
I knew then that he was finding comfort in my presence and in that moment, I was happy to be the one to give it to him. But then I also felt the question behind the feeling. He wanted to know if this was what it would be like ruling with a queen by his side. Someone to grant him the strength when making difficult decisions, like the one he knew he was soon to face when his brother walked back through the doors of his throne room.
This was when I could stand it no longer. I had to offer him something. So, I spoke his name, as any girl would,
“Auberon.” On hearing this, he finally raised his head to look at me and those eyes belonged to a man whose gaze you could have lost yourself in.