Telling Talia
POV: Reginald
The news that Lucien gave me was really shocking and heartbreaking. I could not believe he had also taken the time to give Alexandra a heads up. I strode into the house after having spoken with him to find my father waiting in the foyer. He smiled at me but when I didn’t smile back the smile quickly morphed into a look of concern, “Bad news?” I shook my head, “Not quite bad but not quite good either. It was interesting news. I will need to gather you, Talia, and Talon in the study with me.” Just as soon as I said that I looked up to find Derek descending the stairs which usually meant that he would be waiting for Alexandra in the foyer. When he didn’t stop there and headed for the door, I stopped him, “Aren’t you going to wait for her?” He shook his head, “I have a special assignment from the King. I’m to fetch Meldon Maigny and bring him to the Headmaster’s tower.” That must’ve meant that Lucien was going to give the news to Meldon when they arrived. I nodded at him, “I guess you better get going then.” He smiled at me, “Yep, see you later, Your Grace.” With that, he left. My father turned to walk up the stairs, “I’ll go get the fire twins.” My father had nicknamed them that when he first met them because of their red hair.
Alexandra saw her grandfather while she was coming down the stairs and smiled at him, “How did I know you’d come?” He shrugged, “You just know that I’m a curious old man plus I had a feeling your parents would need me.” She nodded, “They very likely will, especially Mother.” She turned and walked down the stairs to me and hugged me, “Hi Daddy, I have missed you.” I hugged her back hard, “I’ve missed you too little rose. I know that you know but we can discuss how we feel later. I know you have classes soon. I will tell you that you are down a bodyguard, The Chalshin left on a special assignment.” She looked up at me curiously, “Oh? Usually, he lets me know. It must be urgent then.” I nodded, “I dare say it is with how quickly he left.” She looked up the stairs and said, “Well, at least I have the bulldog to protect me.” I furrowed my brow at her, “Bulldog? Did you get gifted another shadow animal that I don’t know about?” She laughed, “No, I call Jess the bulldog because she’s small but she’s strong.” I hugged her again and kissed her forehead, “You’re amazing, you know that?” She shrugged and looked, “Speaking of the bulldog. Jess! Looks like it’s just us girls today.” Jess rolled her eyes, “Did Derek eat tons of chocolate again? He knows that it doesn't sit well in a lycan stomach.” Alexandra shook her head, “Secret squirrel mission, I guess.” Jess nodded, “Okay then let’s get going. We can catch breakfast at the cafe at school after your lesson with the Headmaster.” Alexandra linked arms with Jess and they disappeared into the study.
The rest of my family showed up at the top of the staircase. Talon was the first to descend the stairs and wrapped me in a big hug and I clapped his back, “So good to see you again, brother.” Talon laughed heartily in my ear, “I feel complete now, brother.” Talon and I had had a very strong brotherly relationship from the very first moment we met. I actually asked for his blessing to marry his sister. He unfeignedly gave his consent and the biggest reason why was that we would be brothers for real. Talia was next down the stairs and kissed my cheek upon reaching the bottom, “Father says you have some news to share with us. I hope it isn’t bad, he wouldn’t share the nature of the news with us.” I looked up at my father appreciably and he smiled then winked back down at me as he slowly made his way down the stairs. As soon as his descent was finished he grabbed his lower back, “I think we need elevators or a way to levitate my old bones up the stairs.” Talon put his arm around my father, “I think Ness might be able to help you with that.” I chuckled at the thought of Vanessa making him a tool to fly. I ushered my family into the study and told Dana that we should not be disturbed. She curtsied and affirmed that she would follow orders.
After everyone sat down, I drew in a sharp breath and slowly exhaled before I spoke, “Okay, what I’m about to tell you all is going to be very hard so I will need you to bear with me.” Talia leaned forward and grabbed my hand, “Take your time, my love.” I nodded at her, “The King summoned me to the castle for two reasons. The first was that he had confessed to me that he had fallen in love with Xan.” Talia smiled, “So he wanted to tell her father of his affections? That’s very sweet.” Talon shrugged, “It isn’t surprising to me based on what Derek was telling me. He’s always looked at her affectionately. I guess he just now realized his own feelings. Does that mean he will name her as the future Queen?” Talia shook her head, “No, they have a competition going on. In the interest of peace, the King will need to continue with the selection.” Talon clenched his jaw, “But what if she isn’t chosen? He will be doomed to live with someone he doesn’t love and watch Alexandra likely marry someone else. That would break my heart.” Talia nodded, “As it would mine, I don’t know how she feels though.” I sighed, “He said that there were circumstances that temporarily lifted her curse and that she has reciprocated.” Talon balled his hand into a fist, “I cannot watch as those two get ripped apart then. It cannot stand that another couple gets their ideal lives taken from them.” Talia patted her brother’s clenched fist, “I don’t believe they will get their ideal lives taken from them, dear brother. I think she will try her hardest in earnest. Even if she can’t feel anything for him at present, she has the frame of mind to save him from the worst thing. I think, Reggie, we should move on before my brother flies off the handle here.”
I cleared my throat, “So, as you all know that in the Esperanza family, there is a very long line of twins.” It was Talia that was clenching her fists at this point, “We promised not to talk about this again, Reggie. It’s too painful.” I shook my head, “I need to because it is relevant.” She furrowed her brow, “If you must but I don’t see the point in bringing up a painful past.” I looked at my feet, “Almost 19 years ago, Alexandra was born after our son who had died.” The sad silence descended upon the room as Talia leaned over and grabbed a tissue out of the tissue box on the coffee table. She dabbed at her eyes to keep the tears from ruining her makeup. I sighed, “The thing is, the King has informed me that Ashton may not be dead after all.” Talia shot up out of her seat, “What?! How?!” It was Talon’s turn to try to calm down his sister but it was in vain, “How could this happen, Reggie? Where is he? Is he okay?” Talon grabbed his sister’s hand and yanked her back to her seat and wrapped her in a bear hug, “T, you need to calm down. Let Reggie speak so we can understand what is going on.” Talon was used to restraining his sister when her emotions got the better of her. He had been doing it his whole life. It was sad to think my daughter didn’t get that luxury with her brother. My father rubbed her back and the tension on her shoulders immediately went away and she relaxed back into her seat. I looked at each person in the room, “King Lucien believes that the midwife claimed that Ashton had died and took him to House Maigny.” My father leaned forward, “So he believes Meldon Maigny to be Ashton Batiste then?” I nodded, “He has asked Talia and me to submit to a parentage test as soon as we can so they can begin a secret investigation.” Talia got up, “We should go then! Right away! I want my damn son back and I want to kick Marquis Maigny square in the nuts!”
All the men in the room automatically shifted in their seats but her anger was not unfounded. I wanted to take him out into the woods and beat the bloody piss out of him but I had to be the cooler head here. I shook my head at Talia, “We should let the law handle it. I believe if they find that Maigny is guilty, the Family Rights Law will kick in.” The Family Rights Law was something that Lucien’s grandfather had enacted that gave an injured family the right to pass a sentence on a criminal if found guilty by their peers. I got up out of my seat and offered Talia my arm, “We should go get that test done right now.” She nodded and we made our way out of the house. We climbed into the carriage that was carrying us to the Citadel. She looked at me, “I’m nervous. What if he is our son? What will we say to him? How will we help him to adjust to life as a Batiste? It’s so markedly different from House Maigny. What about Xan? How will we explain this to her?” I smiled at her, “We will do the best we can for him and he will know that he was always loved by his real parents. We needn’t worry about Alexandra because Lucien has told her. She seems to be taking it in stride. I was even told that the two have met and naturally get along well.” She sighed, “As expected of twins, I bet they felt a kinship right off the bat. That tells me something a parentage test will just confirm. Meldon is really Ashton.” We pulled up in front of the Citadel where I observed Derek climbing out of a carriage in front of us with a tall young man with brown hair in tow. I had never met Meldon Maigny but knowing that Derek was with him, I could only assume that was the very young man that we were here for. We climbed out of our own carriage and made our way inside. Derek exclaimed, “Your Graces! I’m happy to see you both here!” Meldon turned to look at us, his blue eyes looking into mine which were the spitting image of Talia’s beautiful blue eyes. He held out his hand, “Your Grace, I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Meldon.”
