Chapter 26 #2
My cheeks burned hot with anger, and it was all I could to do hold my tongue. Somehow, this knowledge made Haman’s affair with my mother even worse.
“Be that as it may,” Janta said briskly, after clearing her throat, “Haman must have run into your mother somehow, then engaged in an affair. There is no way to prettify it—his actions were most reprehensible.”
“Affairs between consenting adults are common enough,” I admitted reluctantly. I was definitely not entitled to cast the first stone there, and my mother had been older than Haman. But the fact that he’d abandoned me, his child…
“Yes, but what makes it so dishonorable,” Janta lowered her voice, “is not the affair as such, but that he was engaged at the time.”
“What?” I leaned forward, gripping the arms of my chair tightly. I’d known it was highly likely that my father had a family of his own by now, but the idea that he’d dallied with my mother when he’d been promised to another stung. “He had a fiancée?”
“Indeed,” Janta confirmed, disapproval clear in her voice.
“As you are aware, betrothals between mages are an extremely serious matter, and even more so in his case. His bride, and current wife, was the daughter of the former High Mage of Castalis. For the last ten years, Haman himself has held that office. Those two families have more or less monopolized the power in Castalis for several centuries.”
I snorted—I could easily see how the other mages in Castalis chafed under that cozy arrangement, not to speak of the humans.
“I can only imagine your mother must have been very alluring to Haman,” Janta went on, “because jeopardizing his future marriage and career through an affair with a shifter was an extremely foolhardy move. He must have taken great pains to hide his relationship with her, so that neither his own family nor his betrothed’s would ever find out. ”
“I guess that explains why my clan never knew who he was,” I said, though I wasn’t entirely certain that Mafiela didn’t know my father’s identity. She and my mother had been very close. “So he returned home and married the woman he was engaged to?”
“Yes, Lady Aria Ragir,” Janta confirmed. “They married the year you were born, and have three children now.” She pulled an article from a celebrity Northia magazine in Dara and pushed it across the table to me. “Here is a picture of them.”
I looked down at the well-dressed family, standing on the front steps of the Capitol Building with Zavian Graning, the Federation Minister.
My father’s wife was a stunning woman with almond-shaped eyes and dark skin, who must have had Sandian ancestry somewhere, and their children shared a healthy mixture of both their traits.
Two daughters and a son. I couldn’t tell their eye color from the black-and-white photo, of course, but the lightness of their irises suggested they had green eyes, just like mine.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about the idea that I had half-siblings running around, halfway across the world somewhere.
“What would happen if the truth of my parentage came out?” I asked, pushing the article back to Janta. “If some journalist discovered that Haman ar’Rhea is my father? Would it be a big deal?”
“Well, as I said, Haman is the High Mage of Castalis—the equivalent of a Chief Mage, except that Castalis is one country and not split up into different states like the Federation. That means he technically outranks Lord Iannis, though Canalo is just as big. He wasn’t the High Mage when he was here in Solantha, as his father-in-law had not stepped down from the position, but he was being groomed for the job.
It would have been a terrible scandal if it had come out he had an illegitimate daughter with a shifter.
His brother, Daram, would have almost certainly gotten the position instead of him, and he would not have been married to his lovely and extremely wealthy bride. ”
“That makes sense,” I reluctantly conceded even as resentment bubbled inside me. I could understand my father’s decision, though that didn’t change the fact that he was a selfish bastard. He should have fucking kept his dick in his pants if he didn’t want to face the consequences.
But if he’d done that, then you wouldn’t exist, a voice whispered in my head.
“So now that he’s all happily married and has been the High Mage for over a decade, would you say that it’s no longer a big deal if the world found out I was his daughter?
” I wondered aloud. I needed to pin this down for sure, because I wanted to be absolutely certain that my father wasn’t going to decide to come out of the woodwork and claim me before I married Iannis.
He could do whatever the hell he wanted after that, but for now, I wanted him as far away from my life as possible.
“Oh no, I wouldn’t say that at all,” Janta said, her silver eyebrows winging up.
“As I mentioned, the ar’Rhea family prides itself very much on the purity of their lineage.
If it were found out that you were his daughter, it might not only ruin his social and political status, but also that of his children.
The loss of reputation, the lack of integrity and judgment he demonstrated, would taint the entire family.
Lady Aria herself would be humiliated and furious beyond belief, her family eager to avenge her.
No,” Janta concluded, shaking her head, “I don’t believe your father would risk claiming you, if he even knows of your existence.
He does live across the ocean, after all. ”
“True,” I agreed. “I’m glad he lives so far away—we’ll probably never run into each other.
” There was little chance of the two of us meeting so long as he stayed away from the Federation and I stayed away from Castalis.
I put that country on my list of places to never visit, which was a shame because I’d heard it was very beautiful there.
“That does not mean there is no cause for concern at all,” Janta warned.
“Of course I will not tell anyone about your heritage, but as technology continues to expand, we have exposed ourselves to more eyes around the world. It is entirely possible that someone may see your face in the paper and notice your strong resemblance to Haman. You should be aware of that, and perhaps try to minimize the number of photos taken by the press until after you are married.”
“All right,” I said, though I had no idea how I was going to do that. Sure, I could refuse to take photos at interviews, but there would be celebrity photographers lying in wait on the streets, hoping to snag a shot of me.
“I’m afraid that is all I have for you,” Janta said, closing the file. “I daresay you will want to discuss it with Lord Iannis, who may know more of the ar’Rhea family. Would you like to take this with you, or shall I keep it?”
I hesitated, my fingers hovering over the file.
“No,” I decided, pulling my hand away. “You keep it. That information is probably way safer under lock and key here, than it is in my rooms.” I stood, then inclined my head to her.
“Thank you very much for your assistance, Janta. Once again, you have proven to be an invaluable ally.”
“You’re welcome, Sunaya,” Janta said, a twinkle in her pale blue eyes. “I could say the same about you, considering the success of your recent mission. Do let me know if you need anything else.”
I left the library, wondering if maybe I should just set fire to every single camera that was pointed in my direction. Sure, that seemed a little extreme, but my relationship with Iannis was worth any price. Guess I’d have to ask him about it during our lesson and see if he had a better solution.