I knew what he meant. He thought that since I’d been raised differently, I couldn’t possibly be capable of understanding the struggle.
But it wasn’t about being evil; it was about surviving. About doing what you had to do when there was no other choice.
He always surprises me in these moments, though. He’s open, in a way, about his thoughts. It’s strange, but somehow, it makes
him more dangerous. He told me I could gather all the
information I wanted as long as it didn’t interfere with
whatever he was trying to get from the council. He’s got plans. But I’m not sure if I want to play the part of the pawn in his
game.
“Asher is a good brother, and an even better king,” I said, my voice softening slightly. “He won’t stop you from getting your
revenge.”
I had a lot of respect for Asher. Unlike Xavier, I didn’t blame
Alex for any of it. He had a good heart. I didn’t hold what
happened to my father against him, no matter what others
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thought. My father deserved what he got, even if that wasn’t
what the Council wanted me to believe. It was a cruel truth, but
it was the truth.
Nobody will understand Xavier’s need for revenge more than
Asher. So I believed the best way was for them to talk it out,
figure out if there’s another way. Another way to resolve all
this.
“I don’t need Asher’s help. I don’t need a good brother. Asher
won’t support me because he believes that everyone deserves
to live. Even the people who’ve wronged us. He believes that
they should be given a second chance.”
It’s funny. In the beginning, I used to believe in second chances
too. But then you see enough betrayal and loss, and it becomes
harder and harder to believe in anything other than revenge.
I get it. I understand why Xavier thinks the way he does. Not
everyone is a monster though, and sometimes people just need
a chance to turn things around.
Revenge isn’t something I take lightly. Sometimes you loss more than you gain after a revenge.
“What you want to do isn’t wrong,” I said, my voice heavy with
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conviction. “But you’re willing to destroy everything just to get
back at one person.” He doesn’t get it. He’s hurt, angry, and all of
that is justified. But he’s aiming it at the wrong people.
“Did you ever stop to think about who’s really pulling the
strings here? The ones who made you hate the Asher so much?
They’ve been lying to you all along. And you’re letting them use
you as a pawn in their game.”
He looked at me, his face filled with doubt. “What do you
mean?”
Now I had his attention. And I was going to give him the truth.
He could decide what he wanted to do with it afterward.
“The Council was responsible for your mother’s death, and I
hate to say this, but my father had a hand in it too,” I said, my
voice tight. “It’s a hard truth, but my dad’s actions have left me
ashamed of him more than once. I won’t stand by and let him
destroy even more lives, even if they’re already gone.”
He froze at my words, clearly shaken. “That’s impossible,” he
said, his voice rising in disbelief. “I don’t know what kind of
game you’re playing, but you won’t turn me against the
Council. I won’t believe it!”
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He was pacing now, anger in every step.
“You know just as well as I do that those old men are up to no
good. They didn’t orchestrate everything for your benefit. They
used your mother, your life, to get what they wanted. All they
care about is power, not what happens to anyone in the
process,” I retorted. “They’ve been manipulating us all this time,
using us for their own gain.”
“They did it when they kidnapped your mother, with the
purpose of having her assaulted. But your father, he was
different. He was a good man, and despite everything, he fell in
love with her–someone he was never meant to love. But even
so, he saved her life when no one else would have,” I explained.
The truth was painful, but it needed to be said.
“Your father was a hero in a way. Despite the horror of what
they were planning to do to her, he made sure she survived. He
didn’t just save her life–he saved all of us in the process. He
couldn’t stand to see her suffer the fate they had planned for
her. They were going to make her carry a child just to see if she
could give birth, regardless of the consequences.”
