Stealing Cinderella(62)
“I will ruin you for this!” My father comes at me, drawing his arm back at the same time my mother screams at him to stop. I wait for the blow, but Calder strikes first, surprising all of us when he knocks the king on his ass with a single punch.
Before I can blink, he’s launching himself at our father with an untapped rage I never knew existed in him. I’m frozen, watching it all unfold as Calder pummels Elias Lykken in the face over and over again.
“You never protected him!” he snarls. “This is all your fault!”
“Calder.” I haul him off our battered father, and he shoves me away. When Elias stumbles to his feet, he’s breathless and shocked as his eyes move between the two of us.
“What do you mean, Calder?” my mother demands. “What do you mean he never protected him?”
Calder’s eyes have taken on a life of their own. All these years, he’s carried my secret, and I never knew how much of a burden it was until now.
“It’s time, Thor,” he says. “If you don’t want to hear it, I suggest you leave the room. But either way, I’m telling her now. She deserves to know the truth.”
My protest dies on my lips when I look at my mother. She’s clinging to every word desperately, and Calder has just confirmed what she always suspected. Something happened, and she won’t rest now until she knows the truth.
I turn away and head for the door, pushing past my father and Lavinia. When I stumble down the hall to the kitchen, I consider raiding the liquor, but I can’t imagine that will benefit the situation. Instead, I find a quiet seat in the drawing room, where I kick back and stare up at the ceiling.
For a moment, I find myself wishing that Ella was here, but then I regret that. I don’t want her to witness all this ugliness. I only want her to know me separately from my father, so he can never taint her vision of who she thinks I am. Because even when I’m cruel to her, she still looks at me like I’m her hero.
I close my eyes and allow the quiet to consume me, but inside, my head is loud again. Those dark thoughts get stuck on repeat. A knife in the kitchen. A roof on the palace. I could just get in the car and leave, see what happens.
“Thorsen.” Dr. Blom’s voice startles me, and when I open my eyes, I’m met by the sight of him and Calder together.
“I thought it would be best to have Dr. Blom help us navigate this one,” Calder says quietly. “He’s ready to go with you. Mor wants to see you.”
My eyes move over the man in the wire-framed glasses. For years, he has tried to help me, and for years, I have pushed him away. I could never figure out why he kept showing up, seemingly with a genuine interest in my life and my well-being. I’ve only ever been a miserable bastard to him. But right now, something becomes so painfully obvious I’m ashamed that I never allowed myself to notice it before.
He cares about me. He truly wants the best for me. That sentiment is right there in his misty eyes. He’s withholding that emotion for my benefit because he knows this is going to be hard for me. Perhaps one of the hardest days of my life.
“I’ll tell your mother anything you want me to,” he says. “If you give me permission to speak freely about our sessions. I think this is the right thing to do. I think you’ll be surprised how much of a burden this secret has been.”
“Okay.”
Both of them are surprised, but when I rise from the chair, they edge toward the door, preparing for me to change my mind any second. There’s no point in fighting it now. Calder has already told her the worst of it. I can tell by his blotchy red eyes.
We walk in silence to my mother’s suite, and there’s no sign of my father in sight.
“He left with Narcissa.” Calder reads my thoughts. “I doubt they’ll be back for a while.”
Nodding, I steady myself as Dr. Blom opens the door to my mother’s room and gestures us inside. She’s in her chair again, and I don’t know how she’s even managing to stay upright as weak as she is right now.
“You should be in bed.” I come to kneel before her.
“Oh, Thorsen.” She reaches out for me with a trembling arm, pulling me close as she lets out a heart-wrenching sob. “I’ve failed you. My god, I have failed you.”
“No.” I look up at her. “You never did anything wrong.”
“I should have known.” A river of tears flows down her cheeks. “I should have pushed more for answers.”
“I wouldn’t have told you,” I insist. “It wouldn’t have mattered what you did.”
“All these years, you were so angry, and I never understood what happened.” Her body shakes beneath the weight of her grief. “Why couldn’t you come to me?”
“I didn’t want to upset you.”
“Upset me?” Her voice fractures. “Thorsen, I’m your mother. It was my job to protect you.”
“I’m sorry.” I bow my head, trying to quiet the raging storm in my mind.
“You went to your father?” she questions. “And he didn’t believe you?”
When I don’t reply, Dr. Blom steps in.
“May I?” He gestures to the empty seat beside us, and I nod.
“Your Highness—”
“Please, just call me Frida.”