I missed him.
Not so much Arthur. He stressed me out far too much for me to miss him right now.
“Well if it is him, then you owe me a frappé,” Johanna called out as I walked to the door. Rolling my eyes, I twisted the knob and pulled it open.
“Miss Komita.”
I swallowed. “Headmistress.”
She looked over my shoulder, meeting Johanna’s astonished gaze. “Get out.”
Johanna didn’t waste any time scrambling off my bed and grabbing her bag. “There’s something I need to study for in the library. I’ll be back later, Anna.”
I wanted to tell her not to leave me here alone with the woman who wanted to kill me, but I couldn’t do that. Despite our personal connection, Isauros was still headmistress and if she wanted to be alone with me in my dorm, she had every right to be.
The headmistress moved into the room and allowed Johanna to pass before shutting the door. “Sit.”
I moved to my bed as she chose the chair at my desk, carefully lowering herself onto it. My mind was whirling with possibilities of why she would seek me out like this.
Was she about to kick me out of the academy?
Was she going to tell me something about my mother? My father?
Was she going to throw me off the nearest turret and leave me to the birds?
She straightened her skirt before looking at me, her shrewd eyes meeting mine. “I’m sure you are wondering why I am here.”
“It’s crossed my mind,” I answered weakly.
She lifted her chin. “You are a woman who does not give up, I see, not only with your information, but also with the kings of the academy.”
Hearing her discuss the kings sounded odd. Did she really refer to them as such? “I’m not sure what you mean, headmistress.”
She let out a sharp laugh. “Oh, come now, Miss Komita, the entire academy knows that you have fucked two out of the three. I even hear that there are bets hedging on when you are going to complete the trifecta.”
I squirmed on the bed, not liking where this discussion was going and the fact that the entire school knew I had slept with Royce. I thought I had done a good enough job of keeping that one private.
“But I don’t care about your whoring,” she continued, not even paying attention to my discomfort. “I’m here to talk about your mother.”
My lungs seized. She was actually going to tell me something, and likely something important given the fact she had sought me out like this.
“I have finally decided that it is best for you to hear the truth,” she said, picking off the imaginary lint from her skirt. “From me, of course.”
I wetted my lips. “All right.”
Isauros stared at me, her eyes glinting in anger. “You are the daughter of Alexei Kameno, even if you are a bastard.”
I loosed a breath. That was something I had already figured out.
“Officially, you could be recognized as the last living heir to the Roman empire.”
Again, nothing new there.
Seeing that I wasn’t reacting to the news, Isauros’ eyes darkened. “But what you do not know, Miss Komita, is that your birth is rooted in death.”
I sat up straighter at the words. Death? Was she talking about my mother’s or my father’s?
Or my own? “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t,” she snapped. “How could you?”
I swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
That seemed to placate her, and she cleared her throat a few times, moving around in the chair. “Your mother was a graduate student when she met my husband. She was studying the historiography of Greek mythology, and Alexei always loved anything to do with the Greek gods. He thought himself one from time to time and his wealth only reinforced that belief before he died.”
She cleared her throat again. “Somehow, your mother got a job as the personal assistant to my husband, which put them together a great deal of the time. I was pregnant with my son at the time, and the pregnancy had me staying in bed more than getting out and about.”
I watched as she struggled with the words, wondering how she had come to the realization that she needed to tell me this. This was something deeply personal to her, a part of her past that I was sure she would like to forget. I knew if I was in her shoes, I wouldn’t be sitting before me.
“She was a welcome distraction for us both,” she continued after a moment, her eyes getting a faraway look to them. “Alexei saw an able assistant and I saw a good companion, one who was always out to please everyone.” The headmistress frowned. “Everyone including my husband, apparently.”
I didn’t dare move, afraid that she would end the conversation and I wouldn’t learn anything else today.
“I gave birth, as you know,” Isauros stated, her jaw clenching. “My precious baby boy who died in my arms before he could even take his first breath. His little hands cold as they clung—lifeless—to my thumb. But that wasn’t the only thing I lost. I lost my ability to have more children, and by extension, your father’s love for me.”
That I didn’t know. I wanted to comfort her, but also wanted to keep my distance. She was the enemy at the moment until she proved otherwise and just like the kings, she had her own reason for telling me this.
I just had to wait and see what that reason was.
“Your father turned on me,” Isauros said, her voice soft now. “He saw me as an empty vessel that had served its purpose and failed. I was no good to him, no good at all.
