Grudges

EVAN'S POV

I knew this meeting was going to be fun, after all, Talia herself was so terrified of me the first time I appeared in her rented room. She didn't immediately forgive my mistakes and I didn't expect her to. But she reasoned like a sane person. Her sister is totally different, she reeks of witless hostility.

She has been through hell and she is a teenager. Her cold demeanour is understandable. You don't live in a dark room for half a year and come out stress-free and amicable.

"Go be a slave for three years then come back and say that you're sorry!" She yells, her eyes glowing with rage.

She is clearly struggling to force the words out. She is still in pain and physically weak. Days of starvation have left her body emaciated and bony. I imagine her outburst is only fueled by anger, not strength because she can't have much.

"I don't need to experience what you have been through to understand your pain. But there is no way of changing the past so I am trying to help you get better

and move on." I reply amicably.

Her already furious face forms a frown.

"If you understood my pain you wouldn't ask for forgiveness! What you did to us is unforgivable!"

"It's what my mother and your father did to you, I was never part of the conspiracy. They are both in the palace cell and you're free to take your anger out on them once you're well enough."

Her jaws clench with agitation. Her rage is obviously not allowing her to reason. I think it would have been better if I waited a day or two for her emotions to calm down before coming to check on her.

"Where is my brother? I want to see him." She demands, totally forgetting that she is the guest here and not the other way around.

"Michael is fine. Unfortunately, I cannot let him come in here when you're exhibiting this wild anger."

She shoots me an intense glare full of unsaid threats. I don't blame her for being so full of rage, who wouldn't be after months of being locked up and starved by your own crazy father?

TAYLOR'S POV

He is just as beautiful and arrogant as he was before they sent us into slavery and executed Talia. I was determined to say the nastiest things to him and make him regret his big ego. But after yelling it all his impressive composure remains unruffled. Like he doesn't have real feelings or thinks I am a lunatic that shouldn't be taken seriously.

His confidence is annoying. He even has away of admitting mistakes with grace so that I don't get the satisfaction I thought I would get from embarrassing him.

Powerful people like him never suffer any punishment no matter how much pain they cause others. That's why they are full of bravado and disdain.

Talia had the chance to punish him by rejecting him. But she wasted the opportunity because she was probably reborn stupidly or she doesn't have a good memory of what happened before her death.

It's not too late though to change things though. The fact that she looked for us instead of staying here with him means she still loves us more. I can ask her to spit on his face and walk away with us. It will be the perfect blow to his fame and ego.

"I won't let my sister marry a jerk like you. Our mother will never accept you as her son-in-law either." I snarl expecting him to finally react like a normal human. But he just shrugs his shoulders.

"You forget that your sister has her own mind, you don't tell her what to do. Shouldn't you instead be planning to thank her for the sacrifices she has made for you and your family?"

If I had the strength to cut off his gorgeous lips I would have done it already. His responses are clearly intended to humiliate me despite my being the one that has all the right to insult and embarrass him.

"Try to eat more, your body will need a lot of energy to recover. Feel free to ask the maids for anything you need, . . . except to see Michael of course." He arrogantly says, turns and heads out of the room in his majestic walk. I wonder why God made people like him so physically perfect. They get away with being lousy and arrogant because their attractive features and sheer confidence are deceptive. People think they are a reflection of their personalities and I wish I could show them how wrong they are.

I reach out for the plate of food on the small table they set close to the bed and force a spoonful into my mouth. He was right to point out that I need more energy to get better. I need to get better in order to leave this room and palace. The whole place stinks of arrogance and evil.

* * * * *

TALIA'S POV

This feels like the happy-ever-after moment everyone lives their life aiming for but never really gets to it. I have my whole family back, thanks to the angel-like being I got mated to. He found my sister faster than I thought he would. People are eager to give him information, of course, he is adored even by residents of other Kingdoms.

I can barely wait to get to my room and see Taylor's pretty face again. But I am even more eager to give my mate the tightest hug. He may be the one that first suggested that my family be sold out as slaves, but how many kings of his stature would have left the comfort of their palace and spent days and nights trying to fix their mistake? I am sure any other King would have chosen to protect their mother regardless of the atrocities she has committed. My mate is different, kind and a little humble even though his beautiful features don't ever show it.

"Your son is playing with our King and my father in the backyard." Silvia, the daughter of the former King's beta informs my mother with an excited smile. She was the first person we met at the gate and she literally screamed about all the things we didn't know.

Mother jumps off her horse and starts marching off towards the backyard, her facial expression displaying rage instead of the excitement I thought she would have.

"Please show these good men somewhere to rest," I say to Silvia, gesturing at our escort of Alpha Miles's ten soldiers. "I will go thank the King for saving my sister," I add stepping off the carriage and quickly following my mother. She walks fast around the building looking sure of where she is going. She used to come here a lot when she was friends with Evan's mother. I imagine she knows the place well.

She walks even faster when she spots Michael, Evan and the former King's beta at the centre of the yard. I pick up my pace so I can get closer before she gets to them. I can't see her face but her aggressive walk seems like someone extremely furious.

Silvia's father playfully chases after Michael. The little boy runs to the protective arms of my stunning mate while laughing excitedly. Evan embraces him with genuine care and a smile.

"Let go of my son you evil jerk!" I hear my mother snap out loud at none other than the man that helped me find, rescue and bring my family back home. Shock and embarrassment make me halt in my tracks while she marches on and grabs an astounded Michael by the hand and pulls him away while every one of us watches with baffled faces.