Erica

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Erica did not know how to feel in that moment. Her father's words had left her speechless.

"Return to the estate with me." The Count's tone was that of an order.

"I cannot." Erica barely found her words hardly breaking from the shock of the news.

"Erica. I won't say it again." The Count warned.

"No." Erica looked up at him, "Not until you tell me more about her."

Count Alvore let out a frustrated breath through his nose. He was not happy with the situation.

"Do not be stubborn."

"Stubborn?" Erica could not believe the man, "You tell something so astounding and then refuse to elaborate any further and then tell me that I am being stubborn."

"Erica." The Count warned.

"No!" Erica stepped back, "I deserve answers."

The Count just stared at his youngest before him.

Gone was the little girl who would do anything to please him and now she stood before him strong and defiant.

She had changed so much...

"Not here." The Count answered.

"Then where?" Erica was quick to respond, her once calm tone now a clear reflection that she was upset.

"If I give you the answers, will you stop this behaviour?"

Erica's gaze flattened. His avoidance on the topic was irritating. She was tempted just to walk away and find her own answers.

The Count could tell what she was thinking and eventually caved, "If we do this, can we at least move out of the hallway."

Erica watched the Count for a moment for nodding in agreement.

The Count turned, beckoning her to follow.

Further down the hallway was a nook. There against a large window that overlooked the Palace grounds were a small table and two chairs.

When they were both seated the Count finally spoke again, "What is it exactly you wish to know about your birth mother?"

"Everything." Erica's was not hesitant in her tone.

The Count looked out the window as if contemplating his thoughts before he finally began, "I met her close on two decades ago. I was visiting the area on account of forming business relations with some of the powerful merchants."

It was if his eyes clouded over as he began to reminisce those moments, "I was touring the docks when I first heard it. Her voice lured me to her like an enchanted spell. She was singing at a nearby market doing everything she could to make a few coins for a meal that night."

The Count paused for a moment before a soft smile formed on his lips, "She was so beautiful it felt as if she weren't real."

He took a moment to look at Erica, "It was not long before I got to know her and began to fall in love. I felt a great sense of guilt for I knew I had a family back home, but I could not help it..."

He looked out the window again, "She unfortunately did not feel the same."

There was a brief silence. Erica watched the man, analysing his expressions as she held onto his every word.

"What happened to her?" She couldn't help but ask in an attempt to prod him on to continue her fingers fiddling with the bracket around her wrist.

"As I mentioned, Katrina was the 7th in line to the kingdom of Ruria. That position came with responsibility even though her kingdom had recently fallen back then. Her family had arranged for her to marry into a powerful family to ensure diplomatic relations."

This was the first time Erica had ever heard her mother's name. She wanted to cry at this valuable information.

"It was fortunate for her family that the marriage was not scrapped even when they fell out of power. She knew that she had to marry him."

The Count's thin lips turned into a small frown again, "She was loyal to him, she always had been. She never took another man as she intended to remain pure and untouched when she presented herself to him and I respected that..."

Erica held her breath. Something about her father's change in tone warned her that he was about to reveal something awful.

"It was one of the few days that I was not with her when it happened. She had been corned and taken against her will in some darkened ally. When I found her, it was much too late."

The Count fisted his hands, his knuckles turning white, "She looked so broken. Her body was bruised, and her clothes had been torn and there was blood. She never spoke about what happened, but I knew."

Erica's heart ached. Her own mother had gone through something so horrific. She hoped those men that had done that to her suffered.

"It wasn't long before she discovered she was pregnant." The Count looked down before looking back up at Erica, "It was you."

That's all it took for Erica's fragile little heart to shatter into a million pieces. She could not help the feelings that overcame her.

"She could not keep you. Not with her arranged marriage coming up..." The Count watched Erica choosing his next words very carefully, "That's why I took you in claiming you as my own."

"Listen to me Erica, you will always be my daughter no matter what."

Erica looked at him, her teared up eyes revealing her pain, "You say that after all that you did."

She got up looking down at him, "Thank you for telling me about my mother. I will take my leave now."

"I will not allow it." The Count tried to stop her.

"Continue to ignore me as you have done before." She started walking away, a lone tear falling down her cheek.

She still needed time to process everything and although her father had told her what she wanted to know, she had no will left to deal with him anymore.

"Erica!" His voice was stern, but it did not stop her.

She picked up her pace as she rounded the corner more tears pricking her eyes.

It hurt...

It hurt so much...

All that she had hoped for about the circumstances leading to her birth had been crushed.

Her father who had completely neglected her and caused her years of grief was not even her real father.

Her whole life had been a lie.

A horrible lie that she had suffered through so much.

Tears now streamed down her face tainting her cheeks and blurring her vision. She did not even flinch as she hit the hard body of the person who she crashed into in her haze.

"Erica?" His voice was gentle and ladened with concern as he wrapped his arms around her pulling her to his chest before she could see him angered.

"Who did this to you?" King Aleric just about seethed.