Revelations

Darius learns more things about his family.

“it’s time we’ve finally talked brother to sister.” The woman said.

Darius was shocked into silence. “You’re my sister!? Since when?”

She pulled her hood down, revealing her face to him and the similarities were remarkable. The same storm gray eyes. The same stubborn line of the jaw.

The wind shifted, sharp with salt and storm as thunder rolled again closer this time, as if the skies themselves leaned in to listen.

Darius stared at the woman who had named herself his sister. The violet cloak, the onyx ring these were symbols of authority, of House Vale. But her face…it carried echoes of his own.

Still, the words she’d spoken refused to make sense.

“What are you talking about?” he said at last, the disbelief thick in his voice.

“My name is Maren,” she said calmly. “Our father kept many secrets, Darius. You were one of them. So was I.”

Elara stepped forward, her posture tense. “Is this a trick? Another plant from Lyle?”

“No trick,” Maren said, barely sparing Elara a glance. “I was raised in the northern reach of the estate, far from the main court. Groomed for diplomacy, educated in secrecy. I only learned of you after the rebellion when Lyle defected.”

Darius shook his head. “That’s impossible. I would’ve known.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. Our father believed in control, not honesty.” Maren’s voice hardened. “He used us like tools, Darius. You for your power, me for my influence. And now…now he’s preparing to use us both for something worse.”

Behind them, Rockford growled softly.

Darius stepped closer. “Then why the games? Why not come to me sooner?”

Maren’s expression flickered. “Because I didn’t know who you were. I only knew what you were meant to be. And that terrified me.”