Chapter 10: "Tell me the truth!"
Elyon raced out of the palace to greet her daughter. "Celeste! You came back!" She exclaimed eagerly, reaching up to hug her daughter. Her hair was mussed, her body seemed wasted away, and she wore a plain peasant's dress. But she was home, and alive!
Celeste dropped down, putting her weight on her newly healed ankle. "Mom, we need to talk. Don't celebrate just yet." She said in a firm tone. Connor reached out and took her hand for a moment, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles before he let go and walked up to Will and Caleb.
Elyon saw the way Celeste's eyes followed him, as though he drew her by a string. Then she smiled at her daughter, trying to swallow down the uneasy feeling in her throat. "Alright, Celeste. What do you need?" She asked gently.
Celeste signaled for her to follow her into the gardens, then waited for her in front of a fountian. She had her head cocked in a way that was very similar to what Cedric did when he was thinking about something, and her mouth was bunched to a side in the same way Elyon's did when she was thinking. Finally she spoke. "Mother, where is my father?" She said quietly.
Those 5 words had a bigger impact on Elyon than anything else. "Palar is in the throne room, dear." She tried to tell her daughter.
Celeste threw up her hands. "No! My real father. My birth father!" She cried. Her voice echoed off the fountians and bushes.
Elyon stepped forward. "Celeste, your 'birth father', as you put it, is dead." She said sternly. "I don't know what gotten into you."
"What's gotten into me? Mother, you've lied to me all these years! You never told me that he was a snake-person or whatever! You never told me that he had blonde hair or green eyes! You never told me anything! I know he's not dead, Mother! I know he's not! Quit lying to me! Tell me the truth!" Celeste shouted.
Elyon walked forward to try and soothe her daughter. "Celeste, your father is dead. He doesn't want you or Elrin or me. He doesn't want any of us. Besides that, I have no idea where he is." She said softly.
"Mother! Tell me the truth! Where is he?" Celeste shouted. Her hands formed fists. "Tell me, or...or...or I'll run away again!" She threatened. "And you'll never get to see me marry Connor or have kids one day or do anything!"
Elyon stepped back, putting her hand on her mouth like the sheer impact of the threats had left her speechless. "You want to marry Connor?" She finally stammered. Celeste rolled her eyes. "No, no, sweetie. Don't get mad at me. I do want to see you marry and have children. I honestly do. But I don't want you to get hurt. And to see your father now...would hurt you."
Celeste looked up. "I know you have him in the dungeons, Mother. I'm not stupid. I just need to see him--see how I'm like him and how Elrin's like him." She said quietly. Then she paused. "Did you ever love him?"
Elyon sighed. "You act like him, anyway. You do." Amusement made her eyes sparkle. "As for loving him...well, I did. But then I had you and Elrin. And...well, that love or whatever it was, faded away when he went evil." She leaned over and tapped Celeste under the chin. "Now, let's have that meeting before we begin planning the wedding."
