Chapter 22

Royal Secret.




"Can you sit down? We haven't got much time tonight," Kelsie said, looking serious. Ella seemed to be the first one who snapped out of it. She smiled and sat next to Kelsie, looking at the white fairy with interest.
"Right, sorry," I muttered, not quite believing Kelsie had managed to bring the fairy all the way to London. I was impressed.
"This is Karina. She worked with the royal family for over twenty years," Kelsie introduced us. "This is Julia, the half elf I was telling you about, and Ella, our mutual friend."
Karina had snow-white hair and the most striking blue eyes I had ever seen. She was beyond beautiful, with a pale completion, rosy cheeks and full lips. White fairies resided mainly in Norway or Sweden, away from other paranormals. They enjoyed their solitude. It had been known throughout the years that many vampires hunted them, because of their scent and purity of their blood. I couldn't figure out her age, but she was much older than me, possibly in her late thirties.
Karina touched Ella’s hands and closed her eyes. I felt incredibly light; the elf was doing something to me. I felt her magic rolling down over my head, taking the unease away.
"Royal blood, I feel it in her veins. It's faint, but it's there. Someone has used a spell to mask it," Karina said, opening her eyes. I shifted in my chair, wondering if she could really feel it. Ella was frozen, looking eager to hear more.
“I was introduced to a royal fairy who claimed to be my father. His name was Alex. Do you know him?” Ella asked, but Kelsie shook her head.
"Ella, I know that finding him means a lot to you, but we need to connect other facts first. I'm sorry," Kelsie said, and Ella nodded. "The royals have been doing everything in order to keep their blood pure. Over the years many of them married their cousins. Karina, have there been any "incidents" that you’ve heard of? Any royals who didn't want to comply with these rules?"
Karina obviously knew what Kelsie was talking about. In any community there were rebels, people who wouldn't follow the rules. I bet the royals weren’t saints either. My grandmother shared similar beliefs. She hated the fact that Dad married Mum.
"I can certainly say that you’re half fairy,” she said looking at Ella, “but I wouldn't be able to tell who your father is. The royal who conceived you went to a lot of effort to cover it up. I have never come across such a strong masking spell. However, I have never heard of Alex. He was most likely lying to you.”
Ella looked discouraged. She’d had a lot of time to come to terms with what happened since she found out who she was. Maybe my best friend who’d always had problems with self-esteem really was a lost royal princess, even if Alex had lied about his name. This was possible.
"Do you have any idea who might have been interested in Ella’s mother in a romantic kind of way?" I asked, cutting right to the chase. We were here to find out more about Ella’s father or at least shed some light onto who he really was.
I had a feeling Karina was reluctant to speculate. I couldn't get that theory out of my head, and I needed to mention the fact that my grandma had been murdered because Dad broke the contract from years ago and married for love. It was an old-time tradition for male elves to take their wives’ surname after the wedding but because Dad married a human, the tradition stopped. Maybe I was crazy thinking that royals had something to do with it, but Anthony had mentioned it. I didn't make it up.
"There had been rumours that the king’s nephew, Sid, enjoyed seducing human women. No one has ever confirmed anything, but this story has been on everyone’s lips in the palace. My mother worked for the queen, so did most of my family. I got a job as a PA to the prince."
Okay, finally we were getting somewhere. Karina was probably bound to keep a secret. The royal world was always out of reach to other paranormals. There had been many stories about Scandinavian fairies, their ways of living and the magic they had.
"There’s something I need to add before we discuss Ella’s father," I said, clearing my throat. It was time to go through my what I’d learned from my investigation. I started telling Karina about my trip to my grandma’s house, her death and the information I’d gathered from my trip to North Wales. Then, I took the letter out of my bag and laid it out on the table. Ella looked disturbed. She didn't know half of the things I’d been doing since the funeral. I was hoping that in the end Karina would tell us a bit more about secrets the royals had been protecting for years. Secrets that were possibly linked to me and Ella.
Once I was done, Karina looked stunned. For a moment, all we heard was the rambling of the barman about taxes and the government.
“That's terrible what happened to your grandmother," Karina finally said. "This letter, do you believe it's genuine?"
"I was hoping you could tell me that."
Karina looked at it for a long time, her eyes moving over the old paper.
"The initials suggest it might be the king’s nephew."
"The one who liked sleeping around?" I asked. "How long have these rumours been going around?"
"Years and years. The king had passed away, so his nephew should be in his fifties now, if he’s still alive."
"What do you mean, if he’s still alive?" Kelsie interrupted, frowning. Karina twisted her lips and then entwined her fingers tightly.
"I heard the king found out about his romances and disowned him. There was never a big scandal or anything, but Sid was forced to leave the palace. The older fairies had said Sid couldn't take the fact that he was never going to be in power. Apparently, he was ready for anything. There’s a possibility that he pretended to be this Alex person.”
"Anything?" I queried.
"He wanted to become king, but that was going to be impossible. He conspired against his uncle and then just vanished. There had been talks about his involvement with vampires. He was in their debt and some say they murdered him." Karina paused, biting her lip. "You probably want to know how I know all this, well… a couple of years ago I had an affair with the prince, who is now the king."
Kelsie inhaled sharply. Ella’s jaw dropped. I was stunned that she so willingly told us about it. There was no doubt, Karina was beautiful, and no doubt that the prince would be interested in her.
"You managed to get it on with Prince Jurgen? Are you fucking kidding me?" Kelsie hissed in disbelief.
Karina only smiled, she didn't look like she was shy about it at all. "Things get complicated sometimes when you work closely with someone. I was stupid thinking that it could ever work out. His father would never agree for him to marry me. We were naïve and in love."
It was a sad story and I already suspected that the prince was forced to marry his cousin.
"Going back to Sid," I said, feeling it was time to change the subject. "Is there a possibility he might be Ella’s biological father?"
Ella shifted in the chair, twisting her fingers together. We both needed to know if we could get some answers. Yeah, this wasn't the conclusion we expected, but at least it was something.
"Possibly. The years seem to match. From what I heard, he lived in London for a bit and had been seen with human women. I don't know how much to read into that. You said that Ella’s abilities evolved only a couple of years ago. Maybe this has something to do with the letter. Sid’s surname was Harrow, so everything makes sense."
"Hold on, let me get that straight, Julia," Kelsie said. "Do you think the royal fairy who liked banging humans—no offence, Ella—is the same paranormal from the letter, the same paranormal who murdered your grandma?"

Yes, this is exactly what I'm thinking.

She was finally catching up with all the facts.
"I'm just thinking out loud here. Anthony mentioned the royals. My grandmother was murdered by someone with the initials S.H. who was talking about some sort of contract." I was trying to explain this whole thing to myself. Then again, my abilities were underdeveloped, so why would any royal elf want to marry me? I had no answer to that.
"If I may take the letter, I will ask someone to look at the handwriting," Karina suggested. "My aunt still has letters that he sent to the king. We can compare them. She could tell you straight away if it's Sid’s."
"Nathaniel believes my grandma had promised someone my hand. He says the letter proves the contract is genuine. My dad was the first one who didn't adhere to the conditions and then I got involved with Nathaniel," I added. Slowly, everything began to unravel. Kelsie rolled her eyes and Ella looked at me like I was having a problem with my head. Yes, after the whole thing at the funeral everything was normal again. I just couldn't stay away from him.
"Who is Nathaniel?" Karina asked.
"The half vam—”
"Never mind," I cut Kelsie off. "Karina, this would be fantastic. If you could take the letter and see if our theory is right."
"Of course I will, but you must not mention this to anyone. I wasn't supposed to be seen by anyone. I used the portal to gather some ingredients for a fertility potion."
"No, you can count on us. We’ll be discrete," I assured her. Karina touched Ella"s hand again, smiling.
"Your abilities are still evolving. There is a possibility that the fairy who conceived you might come back. He knows his shielding charms have been broken, so don't fear and have faith."
I swallowed hard, giving Ella an encouraging smile, although I wasn't quite sure if the connection was a good thing. That name, Sid, was bothering me for some reason and I wanted to hope he wasn't related to Ella in any way. However, my theory had too many loose ends. It was time to speak to Tron, urgently.
Karina left, masking her scent and appearance several minutes later. By that time the bar was empty. Michael joined us, kissing Kelsie on the cheek.
"I think it's better if we accompany you guys back to the car," he said, shrugging. Ella was quiet. I didn't know what was going on inside her head, but this was a lot to take in, especially if her father was yet to reappear.
I was glad that Michael offered it, because there were a few bulky-looking vampires around.
"Do you think I'm crazy?" I asked Kelsie on the way. She patted me on the back and rolled her eyes.
"I think you’re bonkers getting back with Mr. Dumbass, but hey, if I had an ass like him I wouldn't hesitate either," she said. I laughed. I couldn't help it. Kelsie could always joke even in the most serious situation. "No, for real now, I don't know. This situation stinks like horseshit. You don't mess with royal fairies. They’re lethal."
"But what if my grandma had promised someone my hand?"
"Then you’re screwed; that’s all I can tell you."
"Thanks, you can be really encouraging, you know."
"Not a problem, flower, I'm just telling you how it is, but I doubt it. Royals just wouldn't go for a half-breed. It just wouldn't happen."
I nodded, although I wasn't so sure. Once we walked back to the car, Ella got inside without a word. Michael was looking around with his gold eyes, making sure we weren’t followed.
"Now that I remember, did Nathaniel make a deal with your company about protecting me?" I asked him, wanting to make sure Nathaniel hadn’t lied to me.
"He did," Michael replied. "You shouldn't be upset. He’s only worried."
"No, I'm not. I just needed to make sure."
"Julia, what going on? What did that asshole do now?" Kelsie bombarded me with questions, probably because I was so lost in my own thoughts.
"Nothing, I need to get Ella home. Thank you, Kelsie. I really appreciate you reaching out to Karina."
"Don't sweat it. I'll see you tomorrow," she added, nodded to Michael, and within moments they transformed into wolves. I jumped into the car and fired up the engine, not wanting to stay in this area for longer than was necessary.
I was quite tense until we were easing off into the main traffic.
"Ella, are you all right? I know it's a lot to take in, but—"
"Julia, I can feel people’s emotions and I can influence them," Ella cut me off all of sudden. It was a good thing we weren’t moving, because I would have probably lost control of the car.
"What are you talking about, darling?" I asked her. She was smoothing her jeans over and over.
"I only started doing it recently; first at work, when Christina was angry or upset. I could make her happy again. It's hard to explain, but I felt it, and when we sat down at the table. You were so anxious and nervous, meeting that white fairy—I tampered with your emotions."
My heart rate sped up and I finally looked at her, realising everything Karina had said was already happening.
"That was you? I thought Karina made me calm."
"No, I felt the tension and I couldn't take it, so I calmed everyone down."