Trendan followed Princess Kara into the house. Liri’s guard greeted them.
“Sorry, we’re late. I had trouble with my cat.” Kara told him.
Trendan grinned. That was an understatement.
“Are they here yet? Did you need anything else?” Kara looked around.
Raiz shook his head. “Queen Alona has supplied us with a lot. I don’t know what else they might need, but I will get them to make a list.” He motioned to the door across the room. “Three are here. Two children and one is a child themselves. She’s an adult, but I can see the Solrelm in her.” He bowed his head to Trendan. “I am hoping you can confirm this.”
“How old is she?” Kara started for the door.
“Thirties.” Riaz followed her. “That is my guess. I didn’t want to ask her age.”
Kara grinned at him. “Good call.”
Taking a deep breath, Trendan exhaled slowly and followed them. His heart was beating hard. They’d been looking for them and discussing it since they’d found out, but now he was going to be looking at the failings of his own people. The treason of his own brother was going to be in front of him, alive and breathing.
When he stepped into the sitting room, he saw the women. The ones that had been left behind because their soul’s other had been forced to leave them. The hardest part of it was knowing that the fathers, the mates to these women, didn’t remember them now.
A boy stood in the corner; he had to be around twelve, and his expression clearly stated, ‘I hate everything.’ Trendan wiped his hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t grin. He remembered that feeling around this kid’s age. However, his own had extended until he was roughly a hundred. He hadn’t wanted to be a prince or to watch over the souls of humans. Of course, he didn’t mind his responsibility and rank now, but several millenniums had managed to snuff out the anger inside him.
Sitting on the floor in front of where one of the women sat was a girl around the age of ten. Trendan cursed inside his head. The fact that this atrocity had happened as recently as ten years ago made him want to hunt the traitor that was behind this and waylay justice and go straight for the verdict.
The woman that stood on the other side of the room looking out the window he was able to identify as the adult child Riaz had referred to. She had coal-black hair and eyes that were close to the same shade. He paused and looked at each one of them carefully. Two humans, two children with Solrelm inside them, and the woman that had to be close to three-quarters Solrelm. Her mother must have had traces of his people’s DNA.
Kara had squatted down to talk to the young girl. She got up. “I know you probably have about a million questions, and we’re going to answer them, but I just want you to know that you are safe here and everything you require will be taken care of.”
“For how long?” The boy asked. “Because we’ve fallen for this crap before with different organizations…”
Kara put up her hand and then touched her wrist as she walked over closer to him. She stood there looking at him for a few minutes. “Ah.” She sighed. “We are not some charity.” She nodded slowly, “And your suspicions are pretty close to the truth. You are not a normal human.”
His mouth dropped open. “How did you…”
“We’re here.” Liri came into the room with her usual full-speed-ahead walk. Her other, Abe, was right behind her. “What did we miss?”
“Nothing, we haven’t explained anything yet.”
“Good.” Liri clapped her hands together. “Abe and I are going to be taking over the—” She waved her hand for a moment and then looked at her mate.
Abe smiled at her. Pure understanding and adoration in his expression made Trendan almost do a double take. “Because of how I grew up and where Liri is from—” He looked right at Trendan. “—we thought we could explain it best.”
Trendan wasted no time nodding his head. He hadn’t looked forward to being the one to try to explain to those they found what happened to them. Why their lives had probably been terrible and what happened to their partner…
“I just want to know if you can find the bastard that left my mother and took off.” The woman near the window put her hands on her hips and gave each of them a hard look.
“We may be able to locate him if he lives.” Liri walked over closer to her. “But that isn’t the real problem in this.”
“And that’s what we’re here to explain.” Abe motioned to the room they’d come from. “Let’s all go out to the kitchen and sit down, and we’ll explain it to you.”
Trendan hoped when they explained things, they didn’t tell them everything. Some things still needed to be a secret. His phone buzzed. He pulled it out and opened the message. “I have to go.” He looked at Liri. “Bas wants me there with Glen.”
Liri’s eyes went wide. “Yes. Go. Call me as soon as you’re done. I want to know if Glen has answers.”
Trendan nodded and backed toward the door. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” He didn’t state with what, but he knew the others would understand. So much had to be made up for with these people. He doubted even he would live long enough to make amends to all those affected.