“A peach.”
absurdity of it almost made me laugh too.
“You were sitting on a broken stone wall, filthy from head to toe, your clothes torn, your hair a complete mess..”
A pause.
“And calmly eating a peach.”
I couldn’t help it.
I laughed.
The image was ridiculous.
“You looked like you belonged there.”
That made me stop laughing.
Something about those words felt important.
“How did he know who I was?”
Grandfather pointed toward a small decorative phoenix on a nearby shelf.
“You were carrying a toy.”
A memory flashed through my mind.
Brief.
Fleeting.
A small carved bird.
Gold and red. 1
“A phoenix.”
Grandfather nodded.
“Your father had commissioned it for you.”
My throat tightened.
“The governor recognized the family crest immediately.”
Of course he had.
The phoenix was synonymous with the Asher family.
“He called me that same day.”
Grandfather’s eyes became distant.
“I drove for fourteen hours without stopping.”
A shaky breath escaped him.
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+15 8cnus
“When I arrived…”
voice cracked.
“You ran into my arms.”
Tears burned unexpectedly behind my eyes.
For a moment neither of us spoke.
Then I asked the question that had been bothering me since the beginning.
“How did I get there?”
Silence.
Grandfather looked away.
And suddenly I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer.
Because he didn’t have one.
“We never figured it out.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
He shook his head.
“No witnesses.”
A pause.
“No records.”
Another pause.
“No vehicles seen entering or leaving.”
The room felt colder.
“The castle had been abandoned for years.”
I frowned.
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