Page 64 of The Forsaken Heir
Taking my hand, he led me up the steps to stand beside the king. Cassius gave Aurelius a questioning look, and some unspoken conversation passed between father and son. Aurelius nodded once, and the king stood as the song reached its end.
“My dear friends,” he called out, and the crowd silenced, all eyes turning to the king. “I promise you, we will return to the festivities, but first, an announcement must be made.”
He swept a hand in my direction and locked eyes with me. “My lady?”
Taking a shuddering breath, I squeezed Aurelius’s hand one last time, then stepped forward. All the eyes on me made my skin crawl, and my anxiety threatened to overwhelm me. It didn’t help that I’d finally spotted my family moving through thecrowd. Bastien, his dark hair slicked back, his widow’s peak like a sharp blade pointing to the frowning and irritated face below. My heart shuddered in my chest at the sight of my parents.
My mother and father, aloof and seemingly unconcerned, gazed up at me. As if a fist had taken hold of my stomach, and jerked on it, nausea rose up my throat at seeing their faces after so long. I saw the flicker of recognition in my mother’s eyes, then my father’s. The two broke into a furious whispered conversation. I didn’t see Freddy anywhere. Unfortunate. He might hate me too, but he’d never acted that way when we were kids. He was one of the only people who’d treated me kindly after I’d proven unable to shift.
My mother was pushing through the crowd, trying to get to Bastien. I had to get on with it.
“Good evening, everyone,” I said, proud that my voice didn’t quaver a bit. “I know that the last few weeks have been difficult. There have been hostilities between our peoples, and all that stems from the allegations the Laurent family has leveled against House Decimus. They’ve accused them of the willful murder of Brielle Laurent. Well, I am here to assure you that those claims are false.Iam Brielle Marie Laurent, and I am alive and well. Not only that, but the?—”
“Lies!” Bastien shouted.
The crowd parted around him, giving him room. Mom stood beside him, hissing into his ear as he pointed at me, a look of outrage on his reddening face. My younger brother had always been a brat, and it seemed that hadn’t changed over the years. He looked like a child who’d been given a gift he didn’t like and was demanding it be taken back and something nicer brought forth instead.
“You are aliar,” he repeated, taking a step toward the dais.
A murmur of unease rippled through the crowd, and more than a few people glanced around worriedly. The fae in attendance made a show of backing up, moving toward the walls away from the shifters. All but the Hikshil tribe, who were watching with rapt interest.
“I am not, Bastien,” I said. “Look at me. I’m your sister.”
Bastien grinned maliciously, taking another step forward. The king’s bodyguards moved together, blocking his approach should he decide to rush the stage.
“My sisteris dead. Murdered by these filthy fucking dragons,” he said, nearly shouting through gritted teeth.
An outraged burst of words erupted from the crowd. Angry dragon shifters shuffled forward, calling out, making their fury known, but the king raised a hand and silenced his people.
“I am not dead,” I said, already growing tired of this charade. “Do I look dead to you?” I pointed to the creepy uncle I’d seen earlier. “Humbert? Am I not your niece?”
My uncle withered on himself as hundreds of eyes turned toward him, his cheeks grew red.
“Uh…well…I…yes, yes, you do look quite similar anyway,” he stammered. “Though it has been a few years since the last time I saw you, Brielle.”
Bastien turned and leveled his own uncle with a baleful glare.
“Uncle, you don’t know what you’re saying. This”—he turned back to look at me, his face twisted in disgust—“is nothing morethan an imitation. If I had to guess, House Decimus had my sister killed, then brought in a skinwalker to replicate her.”
A collective gasp ran around the room. From behind me, I heard Aurelius cursing under his breath.
Our world was populated by magical creatures. Shifters and fae were the main species who lived in the shadows of the human world. In the deeper recesses, though, even rarer creatures existed. Things that were rarely seen even byourkind. A skinwalker, an ancient malevolent witch native to the Americas, was known to be able to mimic any person, even down to the voice.
“I amnota skinwalker,” I said. Though that was probably exactly what a skinwalker would say, wasn’t it?
Bastien stood only two steps from the royal guard, still looking up at me, and an evil gleam shone in his eyes. I remembered that bitter spitefulness from our time as children.
“Fine.” Bastien grinned up at. “If you aren’t, then prove it. Skinwalkers can only mimic the human form. Not the animal. Shift for us.”
An icy dagger jammed straight into my heart. The greatest secret I had. The shameful thing that had caused my family to disown me and send me into exile.
Glancing away from my brother’s angry eyes, I looked around the room. Hundreds—maybe even more than a thousand—of faces looked at me expectantly. Some appeared intrigued, others confused, still more excited.
Fuck it.
“IamBrielle Laurent. I was born a shifter, but I have no inner wolf, and am unable to shift.”
The gasp that came from the crowd was louder this time. The dragons and fae all looked shocked and confused, the wolves appeared disgusted and offended by my mere statement. Despite me coming to terms with the fact years ago, the looks I saw in the crowd sent a pang of shame through me again. My will bent and began to crumble under the weight of those eyes and the sound of hissed conversations. That was until a warm hand touched my back.
