Melody
"It all started in Mallory."
Huh?
I poked my ears with my fingers to be sure that I heard him right.
He just said that it all started in Mallory.
He did.
Is he mistaken? Or is there probably another Kingdom called Mallory?
Last I checked, there's only one place called Mallory in the whole world and it used to be my home.
Dorian had only visited Mallory recently when he came to see me, didn't he? Then how could this supposed secret start in Mallory?
How on earth is that possible?
Even though I had several questions swimming in my head, I chose silence and let Dorian go on with the tale.
"I know you find it surprising that this has to do with your motherland."
Dorian could probably read the confusion on my face.
"Believe me, Mel, it is," he said, confirming my thoughts. "Mallory is the root of all these."
I'm lost.
But still, I stayed calm and listened.
"My grandmother is a native of Mallory," Dorian began.
His words left me stunned, but I chose to listen.
His mother hailed from Mallory. How?
Well, I can only get my answer if I listen to the story.
"She raised my father in Mallory," he paused. "My father was friends with King Arthur and your father."
No.
I think there's a mix-up somewhere.
Did he just say, my father? He just mentioned the king and my father. How is that possible?
If his father and the king were friends, I would have heard tales about it, right?
Well, I'm not my father's favourite and I didn't have the luxury of listening to bedtime stories from him, so there's a possibility that I could have missed that but still, It's unbelievable.
"They grew up together and were best of friends. But when my mother arrived in Mallory with her aunt, they were homeless and were given shelter by the old king."
His mother?
"My mother, Cynthia became friends with your mother Stella and ..."
"Wait."
I couldn't help but jump in at this time. "You mean to say that your mother and my mother were childhood friends?"
"They were friends until the men became enemies."
Dorian's reply didn't help matters at all. It made it complicated.
"King Arthur wanted my mother but she was in love with her mate, my father. King Arthur rejected his mate, a woman called Selene, just because he wanted to be with my mother. And when my mother didn't accept his love, he sent them out of the Palace and Kingdom. The old king was dead and Arthur was king at that time so his orders were final."
Oh my.
I always knew King Arthur to be a sweet man, I never knew that he was so cruel. If this is true, then, Derek isn't at fault at all. An apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He is just like his father.
"My father left Mallory with my mother. He returned to my grandfather here in Dark Flame along with my mother."
Okay, now that makes sense. I nodded as I listened.
"My grandfather was the Alpha and only ruler of the south which made Dark Flame the Supreme Pack here. However, when my grandmother and grandfather parted ways, she left my uncle, Francis with my grandfather. Francis was raised in Dark Flame so he believed that the Alpha position belonged to him until my father showed up here. Being the eldest, the position was my father's by right but my uncle refused to accept that even after he called my father to a duel and was defeated. He started a rebellion and was banished from Dark Flame by my grandfather and that was how my uncle became a rogue with his family."
Hm. Now I see why Felix thinks that he is the rightful Alpha of the pack.
His father was ignorant and so was he.
"Years after my father became the Alpha of Dark Flame Pack. My uncle Francis took advantage of the enmity between my father and King Arthur, he partnered with the king to attack Dark Flame but the other packs disagreed."
Hm. Listening to Dorian sent various thoughts through my head.
"Not satisfied by the outcome of things, my uncle set the king up," Dorian paused and his eyes settled on me.
Why is he staring at me like that? His eyes were filled with fear and insecurity. He was back to how he was yesterday.
"Are you okay?"
The story has probably reminded him of his parents indeed. I was about to ask him to stop if he couldn't go on.
"He sent a woman to drug King Arthur during a gathering. However, his plan failed when the king didn't attend the gathering. Instead, your father did."
Oh no.
I was starting to feel happy when my father wasn't mentioned in all of King Arthur's misdeeds but my heart skipped when I heard Dorian mention him now.
"My...father attended the gathering."
I dread the remaining story. I'm afraid that I won't be able to stay sane after listening to the complete story.
"Your father attended the banquet and the lady drugged him instead of King Arthur. He slept with her in an inebriated state and......"
"He what?"
I jumped out of bed and up to my feet in an instant.
No way!
Now I don't want to listen to the rest of the story.
"Melody please listen to me."
I stared at Dorian and couldn't understand why he wanted me to continue listening to this after hearing that my father cheated on my mother. Even though he was inebriated, he still cheated on her and I'm sure he never told her.
How am I supposed to continue listening to this?
"Please Mel," Dorian insisted.
I sighed and decided to listen. Nothing could be worse than finding out that my father cheated on my mother.
"After the lady slept with your father, she fled the scene before he woke up and returned to my uncle. He was mad at her for foiling his plan. He cast her aside. A few months later the lady became pregnant."
I blinked repeatedly at this.
No this shouldn't be true.
My father got someone pregnant. My father has an illegitimate child somewhere.
Does this mean that I have a sibling out there somewhere?
"The lady delivered twins, two girls and....." Dorian paused and looked at me again.
"And?"
For some reason, I couldn't wait to hear the rest of it.
"My uncle sent one of the twins to your father in Mallory and the other to my father in Dark Flame."
Now, I'm confused.
I understand now who Estrella is from the story. I bet she is the child sent to Dorian's father. However, what I want to know is if the other child was sent to my father, then where is she?
Who is she?