(Amaia)

(Since I promised two Chapters on the 21st. Riemc and Missy sent massage chairs so here you go guys.)

We needed a safe place to discuss everything that was unravelling. Alnilam brings me back to his safe place and hides away those horrendous voodoo dolls for now. I will destroy them later.

I feel overstimulated with everything that has come to light.

The curse seemed to have been on all five brothers. Yes, Saiph as Alnilam remembers and the diary reveals is the eldest son.

How he was switched or what happened is unknown to us, it’s only known to their evil mother. I wished to scratch her face when we went to meet her earlier and she was pretending to care for her sons.

Seeing my own voodoo doll inside that, now I know she is the one who cursed me and not Huradis. Distinctively I remember hearing a female voice, it was her, it means she was there, in the shadows.

What relationship does she have with Huradis or is he just another pawn in her elaborate games?

What an epitome of vileness she is. Cutting off her son’s wings because she hates Fae. He was born part-fae and she couldn’t accept that.

His whole life Alnilam struggled with his identity, with his standing, thinking something is wrong with him, something is missing.

How can a mother be this cruel?

Is she even his real mother?

Or is Alnilam adopted or stolen from some Fae family just because she couldn’t give birth and wanted the king’s favour?

The reality seems bleak, something we need to figure out.

Alnilam is quiet, sitting on his sofa, still clutching that frame. I can feel his pain, I can imagine what he is going through but that cruel reality he has been subjected to, that I can’t comprehend because I still have my wings intact.

Wings are the pride of Fae, it’s the part of their true identity, to have them forcefully taken away is barbaric and cruel to a next level.

My reaction to him makes sense to me now. No matter what I tried, my heart always made excuses for Alnilam. That unholy attraction I felt for him. The first bond that settled, the way it settled. My magic obeying his command.

It was all because he is part-fae.

But it also shines a light on why he is naturally cold. The part of him which can be cruel.

Is it because of his mother?

He could have inherited that trait from her and is unknowingly afraid to let darkness take complete control of his heart.

He is already battling it daily and now I fully understand the extent of it.

"Hey!" I softly call him, touching his knee with my fingers.

His vulnerable eyes slowly shift towards me. The violet is turbulent in them.

"We are going to figure this out. Together," I assure him. "We are going to form a plan. Now that all the curses are broken, she can no longer control you guys."

"I know but she is powerful. Seeing everything she has done, I can only imagine how strong she truly is," he says with a sigh while I place the diary on the table. We need to read it further soon, see what else we can learn from it.

"Do you think by any chance she could be part fae? Like you inherited that part from one of your parents."

Alnilam shakes his head. "She is a witch and part-succubus. Hence, Alnitak and Mintaka got their incubi forms from her."

He pauses, steals a glance at his tiny wings again.

"But, I have my father’s wolf gene and magic from both of them. That Fae part has to be from father. Both of us have silver hair, there could be a Fae ancestor in our lineage."

She is a succubus. They have an insatiable hunger for lust and sex. Alnitak and Mintaka both have their wolves to keep their incubi selves under check. When Mintaka lost his wolf after the passing of his mate, he lost his way and gave in to lust. She doesn’t have a wolf. That could mean her lust is unchecked. Did she subject Rigel to sexual abuse?

Is that why he doesn’t want to have sex?

The thought unsettles my fundamentals, making my blood run cold.

The anger that follows tenses my whole body.

My Rigel.

No, please don’t let that be the truth.

He was just a kid when he was taken.

The bond between us stretches, going all gooey and somehow I feel him, closer as if he is nearby. My emotions feed into him and his into mine and yet there seems a barrier between us.

’Come back, Rigel,’ I whisper, turning my head backwards. I sense him. I need his hug, I need to know he has been healed. All the curses on him are broken.

Turning my head back, I focus on Alnilam again. "We need to speak with Saiph." He nods.

"Yes, and I need to bring my brothers here. Away from her, away from the palace."

"I wonder how he will react, once we tell him that he is Rigel’s twin and the true heir to the throne. That he has been cursed all his life, just like his twin," I wonder out aloud.

"It won’t go down well. Now that everything is coming back to me. He was disciplined with cruel punishments to make him submissive and to snitch on us. Our mother dearest always kept him with us and asked him to report to her. Failing to do so always resulted in several punishments."

Alnilam’s painful remembrance takes me back towards the time when I asked Saiph about his parents. I remember how hollow and emotionless his answers were.

He spoke like that because of the curse. I also wonder how much he truly remembers? And if it’s also the part of curse that leads him to sleep with countless women especially that pig-faced Bellatrix.

The only way to find out is to ask him. Now I want to hold him too. The last time we spoke, I was so mad at him not knowing he had been cursed too.

It also makes me wonder if his bird form is because of the curse and he actually doesn’t have a bird spirit. The queen must have been using him to spy on us, on me.