"She once told my mother," Lora began, "that she didn't want to be alone anymore. So she chose the strongest man who passed through the village…to give her a child. A man she believed would be easy to find… but nearly impossible to reach."
Ren's gaze flicked to her father. His expression was unreadable now, but something in his stillness told her he was beginning to understand.
And Ophelia, Lora had once said, was so beautiful that even the young men of Sobis worshipped her from afar. She had needed no trickery to be wanted.
The King finally spoke, his voice a low murmur. "And did she lie to my son about me?"
Lora immediately shook her head. "Never. Hector told me that his mother refused to say who his father was. Not even when she was dying a year before our village was attacked."
A silence heavier than before settled over the room. Then the King looked up, his voice steadier now, touched with grief and will.
