“No,” said Freda pointedly. “Oberon, this is my full sister, Pella.”
The long-lost Oberon?
I wasn’t sure quite what she meant by that. It seemed as though she’d heard stories about me. But how could that be—unless Dworkin had told them? But why would he bother?
Putting on my charm, I took Pella’s hand and kissed it. “Call me Obere,” I said with my most winning smile.
“He is cute,” Pella said to Freda. “I can see he’s destined to give Aber a run.”
“Aber?” I said. “Is he here, too?”
“Of course,” Pella said.
Freda added, “I do not think he has ventured outside Juniper’s walls in at least a year.”
“Not at all?” I asked, puzzled. The castle seemed nice enough, but I wouldn’t want to hole up in here. If not training in the field with the soldiers, I’d want to be off hunting, patrolling the forests, or simply exploring new territory.
“He has been busy chasing the kitchen maids.”
“Oh.” I blinked, somewhat surprised.
Freda said to Pella, “He is such an innocent. He was raised in Shadow, you know. He knows next to nothing of Father or our family.”
“Not so innocent!” I protested.
They both laughed, but it was done in such a kindly way that I couldn’t possibly take offense.
A throat cleared behind us, and I turned to find a new woman leaning almost seductively against the doorway. She wore a low-cut gown of shimmering white, showing off ample cleavage. She was younger, a tad shorter, and far more attractive than either Pella or Freda. She wore her dark brown hair up, and makeup accentuated her high cheekbones, pale complexion, and perfect white teeth. She was beautiful and knew it.
When she gave me an almost predatory boots-to-eyes appraisal, I took an instant dislike to her.
“Oberon, this is Blaise,” Freda said. I couldn’t help but notice the chill that had crept into her voice. Apparently she shared my feelings about this woman.
“Introductions?” came a man’s cheerful voice from behind Blaise. “Someone new here?”
The man goosed Blaise, gave a grin at her indignant glare, and ducked around her with a swirl of red.
“Aber?” I said, staring. He dressed as he had in his card: red from head to heel.
“That’s right!” He gave a laugh, stepped forward swiftly, and seized my arm in a firm grip, pumping it. “And you, I gather, must be the long-lost Oberon.”
“That’s right. Call me Obere.”
“Let me save you from these old hens, brother.”
He pulled me toward the back of the wall, where a cart filled with several dozen bottles of liquor sat. “Care for a drink?”
“Gladly!” I glanced back at Freda and Pella, and beyond them to Blaise. “Care to join us?” I asked politely.
A little sulkily, Blaise said, “Aber knows what I like.”
“Apple brandy,” he said with a grin and a wink at me. “Red wine for Freda and Pella. And you, brother Oberon?”
Brother again. Why did he call me that? I wanted to ask, but what I said was, “Whatever you’re having is fine.”
“Whiskey, neat?”
“Perfect. It’s been quite a day.”
He poured quickly and I got to pass out the drinks. The five of us formed a little semicircle around the liquor cart, Pella and Freda chatting about people I had never heard of, Blaise pretending an interest in them, Aber sizing me up behind his drink. I sipped my whiskey and returned his inquiring stare with one of my own.
“Good whiskey,” I said.
“It’s imported from a distant shadow at great risk and effort… my own. Best I’ve ever found.”
“Believe him,” Pella said to me. “He used to roam farther through Shadow than any of us. And he always seemed to turn up something delicious to bring back.”
“All for you, dear sister!” he said with a laugh. Then he raised his glass in a toast. “To king and family,” he said.
The others raised their glasses, too.
“To Dworkin,” I said, “for rescuing me.”
It was only then that I caught a glimpse of the five of us in a long mirror hanging on the far wall. I was the tallest by a head, then Aber and Pella. But what truly caught my eye was the similarity between Aber and me. Our eyes were different colors, the shape of our faces and noses not at all the same—but there was something about us that struck a familiar chord. Our cheekbones, I thought, high and broad—and the similarities had to be more than coincidence.
We looked like brothers.
I had been denying it all along, but suddenly I realized how the women and I also shared many traits. Just as we shared them with Dworkin.
Almost choking, I set my drink down. But my father is dead. He was a naval officer.
So I had been told all my life.
But now, faced with overwhelming evidence, a different truth suddenly made sense.
I was Dworkin’s son.
I had to be.
It all fell neatly into place. Dworkin’s interest in my mother and me. All the lessons he taught me during my childhood. His unexpected return last night to save me from the hell-creatures, just as he had saved Freda and his other children.
I was a part of his family. Just as these strangers were now a part of mine.
Both Freda and Aber already knew. They had both called me “brother.” I assumed Pella and Blaise knew as well. Apparently I was the only one who had been kept in the dark, too blind or stupid or naive to guess my true heritage.
Why hadn’t Dworkin or my mother ever told me? Why had I been forced to think of myself as an orphan all these years? It wasn’t fair! All through my childhood, I had longed for a father and brothers and sisters, longed for the sort of family everyone else had. Now it turned out I’d had brothers, sisters, and a living father all the time—only I’d never known it. I had been robbed of the family I could have had.
Why had my mother hidden the truth from me?
Why had I spent my childhood lonely and alone?
The next time I saw my new-found father, I intended to ask some hard questions. For now, though, I tried to hide my sudden realization. My siblings all acted as if I should have known the truth about my parentage. Well, let them continue to think so. I seemed to get more information when people assumed I knew more than I did, as with Freda in the carriage.
Suddenly I realized I’d missed an important thread of conversation. My attention snapped back to Aber.
My new-found brother was saying, “… and that’s what Locke claimed. I’m not sure he’s right, though.”
“Time will tell,” Blaise said.
Pella laughed. “That’s what you always say, dear. It hasn’t been true yet.”
Blaise, bristling like a cornered wolf, opened her mouth to say something I knew she’d regret, so quickly I jumped in with, “It’s nice to finally meet you all. How many more of us are here in Juniper now? Freda said something about a family gathering.”
“Nicely done, brother,” Aber said with a grin. “To answer your question and ignore the bickering”—he looked pointedly at Blaise and Pella—“there are fourteen family members present, including all of us.”
“Fourteen!” I exclaimed, unable to help myself.
Freda said, “I know it seems like a lot, but I’m sure you’ll have no trouble remembering all the names.”
“When will I see them?”
“Tonight at dinner, I’d imagine,” Aber said. “Fresh blood brings them out of the woodwork.”
“Aber!” Freda gave him a sharp look.
“Out from under the rugs?” he amended.
With a sigh, Freda said, “There is Anari.” She raised her hand and beckoned, jeweled fingers glittering, and an elderly man in red-and-white livery hurried to her side.
“Lady?” he asked.
“Take Lord Oberon upstairs and find him appropriate rooms,” she said. She fixed me with her brilliant smile. “I am sure he wants to rest and freshen up before dinner.”