99: The truth hurts.
99: The truth hurts.
Willow pov
I noticed the change only when people stopped talking when I walked into a room.
Mom’s smile was too bright, Kala changed the subject before I finished a question and Zion suddenly remembered he had somewhere else to be. Even Enzo, who usually just looked tired, had started answering me with careful half-sentences.
All because of Khan’s so-called family meeting.
“Same forest.” Khan had tried to backtrack - forests in general, trees and dirt, very common. Nobody in that room looked convinced, least of all me, so I pondered in words for a few days before I started asking questions.
First, I went for the easiest target of them all - Kala. I found her in the kitchen, standing with a mug of coffee she didn’t drink, deep in thought.
“Can I ask you something?” I asked before she could put up her defenses.
She looked up too quickly. “Of course.”
“When Khan said my dad and Ryker might be in the same forest, was that just Khan being Khan, or did he actually know something?” I asked, avoiding any possible back and forth to ensure she wouldn’t have time to practice answers in her head.
“Khan says a lot of things.” Kala muttered and waved me off.
I frowned and took a step closer, “that’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I’ve got that isn’t guesswork.” She tried a small smile. “Your grandpa collects theories the way other people collect mugs. If I treated every one of them like a fact, I would never sleep.”
I didn’t like the answer - it was too smooth and avoidant, but I didn’t point that out. Instead, I crossed my arms and arched an eyebrow, “so you don’t think it’s true.”
“I think,” she said carefully, “that if there was something you needed to know right now, your mother would tell you.”
And there it was - the practiced slide, the way all of them were pointing me in a different direction even though they knew none of them would share real answers.
But, I wasn’t one to back down. I had done plenty in my life, but giving up wasn’t one of the things I knew how to do. Stepping closer, I dropped my voice to a whisper, “that’s what I asked.”
Kala sighed, “I know.”
I expected more, but she only turned her back on me and started talking about a wedding she and my mother were planning for me and Ryker. She went on about flowers and how we’d wed as soon as he returned from the King’s task.
I couldn’t listen to her anymore, so I left before I could say something I’d regret and went to find my mother instead. Sooner or later, I would find the answers I needed, regardless if they wanted to share them or not.
Luckily, I ran into her in the hallway that led to grandpa’s private study. “Mom,” I called out before she could round the corner.
She stopped walking and turned to look at me. “Hmm?”
“Is dad going the same way Ryker went?”
As soon as the question left my lips, I knew I caught her off guard because her facial expression changed from that easy smile to one that she pulled whenever she was thinking very hard. “Baby, your father is following a trail and Ryker was sent to the border towns. Those are not automatically the same thing, so don’t overthink it.”
“That sounds like a no that wants to be a maybe.” I said as I stepped closer, more to check her reaction than anything else.
“It sounds like I don’t have a complete picture yet,” she said. “And I’m not going to feed you one just to make the waiting easier.”
“I’m not asking you to invent a picture, I’m asking if Khan slipped because he saw something.” I insisted.
Mom looked past me for a second before she looked at me again. A heavy, deep sigh left her as she ran a hand through her hair, clearly frustrated. “Honey, you know how Khan is, he’s always talking nonsense and finding his weird patterns where there aren’t any. Don’t listen to him.”
I admit it, it was childish of me, but driven by nothing but pure frustration, I stomped my foot. “Mom!”
“Willow,” she said, keeping her tone as soft as it was most times when she spoke to me. “I know you want an answer, but I don’t have one. The second I do, you will hear it from me.”
I didn’t move a muscle and watched her. Somehow, every word leaving her lips, even the promise, sounded like a lie I didn’t want to accept.
“Fine,” I said eventually, huffing just to make her think I accepted the answer.
Before mom could stop me, I turned on my heel and walked away. If mom and Kala refused to speak, there were more people I could go to, I wasn’t at the end of my rope just yet.
So, with a confidence I didn’t feel at all, I went to find Zion. If anyone could give me a clean answer, it should be him. Zion was known for being blunt and honest - the very traits Ryker inherited.
As always, I found him talking to one of the security guards. The moment he saw me approaching, he ended the conversation and excused the guard, turning to me with a wide smile and his arms open, “Willow.”
“Is Ryker heading into the same area dad is hunting?”
Zion’s smile dropped as fast as his arms dropped to his sides, no longer offering the hug he thought I needed. “Ryker is assessing damage in the eastern towns, your father is tracking a separate problem.”
“That’s not what I asked either.” I said and once again, couldn’t hide how annoyed I was for having to repeat the same words to everyone in my family over and over again.
“It’s the only answer I can offer,” Zion said and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Willow, listen to me please, I won’t stand here and stitch two incomplete reports into a story that sends you into a spiral. What you need is to arm yourself with patience and rest as much as you can. If you won’t think of your own well-being, who will?”
While he had a point, I was also incredibly angry, so I snapped, “all of you! I’m surrounded by a family of liars!”
Zion watched me lose my temper. While I was breathing hard, needing to break something in my way, he didn’t move a single time. When he spoke, I felt like he was trying to calm a child, not an adult woman who worried about her mate and father. “If I had any information to share, I’d tell your mother and you first. For now, I stand here as empty-handed as everyone else.”
“So Khan was guessing?” I asked, needing to hear if he’d break or keep playing the innocent bystander.
“Khan is Khan.” Zion shrugged.
I almost laughed from the frustration that coursed through me. Unable to watch the pity in his eyes for any longer, I left Zion alone as well.
Initially, when I did, I didn’t intend to go seek out anyone else. I had gone to three family members and all of them kept their mouths shut. But, when I reached the living room and ran into Enzo, I dropped the idea of returning to my room because of the look of guilt across his face.
“Grabdpa Enzo.” I called out his name, startling him with the cup of tea halfway to his mouth.
“If this is about Khan, I swear I haven’t lost him again.” He grumbled, keeping his eyes focused on the cup in his hand rather than looking at me.
“It’s about what he said in that family meeting, the so-called innocent comment about the forest. I want to know if it’s true.”
He set down the cup and finally turned to look at me, “Willow, I don’t sit in on the serious briefings. What I know is the safe information and nothing about Bane or Ryker has been shared with me so far.”
A loud, aggravated groan left me as I grabbed at my hair, “I’m losing my mind here.”
“I know,” Enzo muttered and tried to offer me a reassuring smile, “we all can see that, Willow. Right now, we need to stay united and support each other - if there is any news, we’ll hear them together.”
I stared at him with my eyes wider than usual. Of course, everyone in my family had a way to get rid of me and my questions. Fine. If none of them wanted to come clean with me, I had a way to find the information I needed by bypassing every single family member.
“I’m going to my room,” I told Enzo and left him in the living room.
Of course, I lied. There was no way I would get in my bed and rest while my mind was spiralling. Instead, I headed straight to grandpa’s office.
As soon as I reached his door, I knocked and stepped inside before he could call out a permission. Grandpa looked up from the desk and sighed, “you come to me looking like you already heard every version of an answer you hate and refuse to accept. Sit down.”
“I just want answers,” I said and remained standing, arms crossed.
Grandpa set his pen on the desk and sighed, “sit, Willow.”
Again, I refused to follow the direct command and instead, took a step closer, “is my father heading toward Ryker?”
Grandpa leaned back in his chair and watched me. For once, he didn’t look at me like I was just a misbehaving child. Finally, after what felt like ages, he spoke again. “The reports are scattered, little to no information, especially to draw real conclusions.”
“But-”
He raised his hand to cut me off before I could say more, “but Khan loves snooping. You know how he is - I have a reason to believe he saw something, likely not a full report, but apparently it was enough for him to open that big mouth in front of you.”
A gasp tore from me as my heart raced just a little faster, “what did he see, grandpa? Tell me.”
“That your father is moving in the same general direction Ryker was sent.” Grandpa said, for once, being the person who didn’t sugarcoat the information before it reached me. “That doesn’t mean they’re standing in the same clearing, so don’t think such things. I have a reason to believe that the trail your father is following and the route Ryker was given aren’t far apart, but I don’t think they’ll cross their paths.”
Finally, I sat down, no longer able to stand for any longer, processing his words. “If dad is going that way,” I muttered, more to myself than him, “then Bastian is that way. Dad wouldn’t waste a hunt on empty areas, grandpa, it’s not like him. Dad’s following Bastian and if Bastian is near the town Ryker was sent to…”
Grandpa kept watching me. “That’s the conclusion you were going to reach whether I said it or not.”
“So it’s true.” I gasped.
“It’s possible, but not completely certain,” he insisted and leaned closer, placing his hands on the desk. “Willow, I won’t insult you by pretending you don’t feel something’s off. But, also, I won’t sit here and lie to your face about Bane and Ryker being in the same fight - we don’t know that and for as long as we don’t, it’s only assumptions.”
“You all knew it,” I whispered, looking down at my lap.
“Yes,” grandpa agreed and didn’t have the shame to apologize. “We couldn’t inform you about suspicions unless we were okay with your mind spiralling. You’ve already been struggling, we tried to protect you. And don’t start raging just yet, you want the truth, we know that, but sometimes the truth is the only thing we need to protect our loved ones from.”
I hated that he made so much sense. Even more, I hated that deep down, I knew he was right. Truth hurt and sometimes, living in delusion was easier than facing it.
And yet, I still found myself questioning him, “why didn’t anyone just say that?”
Grandpa sighed and massaged his temples, looking at me with worry that rarely crossed his face. “Because you would try to leave the castle to find and warn them. Both Bane and Ryker are strong men, they know what they are doing and believe it or not, this time, they have to do it on their own.”
As his words echoed in the study, I forced myself upright and nodded once. “I’m not going to run after them, grandpa. I just needed someone to stop treating me like I couldn’t notice they’re hiding something from me. Thank you for being that person, grandpa.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, “atta girl,” he muttered and nodded at the door, “run along and don’t forget to bring me some of those cookies from the kitchen later. I swear, if your mother keeps me on that inhumane diet for any longer, I’ll lose any will I still have to live.”
A loud bark of laughter tore from my throat. I tried to stop it, clearly, and failed miserably. Tears welled up in my eyes, but for once, it wasn’t because I was sad or upset - I simply felt overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the truth he just shared with me.
“I’ll never forget to sneak cookies for you,” I promised and left the study.
Once I closed the door and stood in the long hall, I closed my eyes and let myself breathe for a few minutes before I carried on and headed toward my next target. I didn’t want information anymore, I needed comfort and something ridiculous so I wouldn’t have to think about any of this.
Which was exactly why I went straight to Khan. The moment he saw me coming, a bright, wide smile spread across his lips and he opened his arms, “grandcub!”
Without hesitation, I walked straight into his arms and pressed my face against his warm chest, letting him hold me like he had for my entire life. “Grandpa, I need comfort.”