Royal Heiress (2 page)

Instead, he’d learned a grim truth when the
Augurs came to him. The Augurs had told him, “Atlantis will rise
again, but when it does, you will help Amanda destroy it.”

Twenty-four years later, he still didn’t know
why he would help Queen Amanda destroy Atlantis. He only knew they
had seen the future and knew he would indeed help her. He sighed as
he turned the cane around in his hand. Deep in the recesses of his
soul, he knew the time was near for the Augur’s prophecy to be
fulfilled. He hadn’t had any contact with an Augur or a Razian
since that day. But soon—very soon—he would.

The time for him to help Amanda was at hand.
And finally, he would get the answer to the question that had
bothered him for so many years: why would he help Amanda destroy
Atlantis?

Chapter Two

Baton Rogue, Louisiana

United States of America

Planet: Earth

Galaxy: Average

Jake Stafford stared silently at his
mother’s corpse as she lay in the silver casket. He couldn’t bring
himself to cry. It wasn’t that he didn’t love her. She was a good
mother, and his heart was filled with an indescribable loneliness.
But something was bothering him. Before she drew her last breath,
she’d whispered, “Forgive me.”

“For what?” he’d asked her, holding her
hand.

She’d been pale and abnormally thin in her
hospital bed. The cancer that raged through her body had beat the
chemotherapy treatments. A single tear had fallen from her eye.
She’d tried to speak, to reveal a secret she had kept from him, but
she never got the chance. The flat line on the heart monitor told
him all he needed to know. He wouldn’t get his answer.

A chill ran up his spine as he pushed the
memory from his mind. He slowly walked away from the casket. He
figured he should be relieved she didn’t get to reveal her
transgression. Even so, he couldn’t ignore the impending sense of
doom that hovered over him.

His entire world was about to change, and he
didn’t have any idea how or why. He sat next to his father and
tried to pay attention as the pastor gave the eulogy, but he
couldn’t concentrate.

After the funeral, he and his father were
summoned to his mother’s lawyer’s office.

“Good afternoon, Clark. Jake,” Tom Jenkins
said. “I’m sorry about your loss. Jennifer was a wonderful
woman.”

“Thank you,” Jake’s father said.

They sat across from the lawyer.

Tom cleared his throat. “This is awkward. I
didn’t come here to read you the will. I will be doing that
tomorrow.”

Jake held his breath, his heart pounding in
his chest. This had something to do with his mother’s secret. He
just knew it. He forced himself to remain calm as Tom opened his
mother’s file, aware of his father’s tension. Had she asked him for
forgiveness, too?

“Jennifer said I was to wait until the
funeral to give you this letter,” Tom told them as he pulled out a
sealed envelope from her file. “I don’t know what’s in it. It’s
addressed to both of you. Would you like me to leave you two alone
so you can read it?”

Clark glanced at Jake uneasily.

Jake shook his head. “I can’t read it.”
Something deep inside screamed at him to leave the room. He didn’t
have to hear the letter’s contents. He could refuse and live his
life never knowing what his mother’s transgression was. But he was
thirty years old. He was an adult. His mother hadn’t been perfect.
He was going to have to deal with the facts of whatever it was she
had done, and if she took the time to write the letter, then it was
important he find out what it was. “I’ll listen,” he finally
added.

Clark shifted in his seat. “I’ll read it.” He
glanced at Tom. “We’d like to be alone.”

“I will leave the room so you two can have
your privacy,” Tom said as he handed Clark the envelope.

Once the door to the office was closed, Clark
opened the envelope and unfolded a single piece of paper. He
scanned through the contents of the letter, his face white.
Glancing up at Jake, he warned, “This isn’t good news.”

“I gathered as much,” Jake sourly noted.

Clark cleared his throat and began reading
the letter:

To my beloved husband and son,

It is with deep regret I write this. I often
struggled on whether it was best to keep quiet. Surely, it would be
easier to let things continue as they are, but I would cheat Jake
out of his inheritance if I failed to tell the truth. Thirty-one
years ago, I dated a young man by the name of William Nichols while
I was dating Clark. Clark knew I was seeing William, but what he
didn’t know was that I got pregnant with William’s child. Upon
telling William, he refused to have anything to do with me. I was
scared so I talked Clark into eloping.

Clark, I did not love you in the beginning
of our marriage, but over time, I not only grew to love you but I
also grew to think of you as my best friend. I am sorry for not
being honest with you. Many times I wanted to reveal the truth, but
I was afraid you’d leave me, as you would be right to do. In my
selfishness, I kept my sin to myself.

About twenty-four years ago, I received a
letter in the mail from William’s attorney. In it, I learned Jake
was the sole beneficiary of his will. I had assumed that William
forgot all about me and his child, but he didn’t. I wouldn’t even
bother with the contents of the will, except I discovered William
was worth $130 million. I never touched this money. It is in his
bank account, and Jake is the joint-owner of it. Jake, the money is
yours at a bank in Cincinnati, Ohio. The information you will need
to access your account is below. Please forgive me, Clark and Jake.
It was never my intention to hurt either one of you, but I fear it
is unavoidable. My only hope is that over time, you will find it in
your hearts to forgive me. I love you both.

Signed,

Jennifer Stafford

Jake felt numb as the man whom he thought was
his father handed the letter to him. He mutely took it, barely
seeing the details of the bank account. In a matter of minutes, his
entire world had crumbled down on him.

“We should get to the burial,” Clark softly
stated as he stood up.

“Are you kidding?”

“She is your mother.”

“But you’re not my father.” In his anger, he
crumpled the letter in his hand.

“Biologically, no. But I will always think of
you as my own son.”

Jake stood up, not believing what he was
hearing. “How can you want to go to her burial after learning about
this? She betrayed you. She lied to both of us.”

“I know. It will take time to work through
forgiving her. Today, at least, we should honor her memory.”

“No. I’m not going.”

Clark looked as if he was ready to argue but
stopped. “You are free to make your own decisions. Just keep in
mind that forgiving her is the best thing you can do for yourself.
It’s not good to spend your life filled with anger and
resentment.”

Jake watched as Clark left the room. He
marveled at Clark’s calm demeanor in this situation. Too bad he
couldn’t imitate it. The rage filling him was intense, and there
was only one way he could safely release it. He grabbed his car
keys and headed for the gym where he worked. He needed time to
think things through before he acted.

***

Throne Room

Planet: Raz

Two days later, Katherine was having a
difficult time deciding what she most wanted to do on Raz. Now that
she knew her sister was the queen, she had to choose another
vocation. In fact, it was this very matter that made her come to
the Throne Room to consult the Great Magician.

When Katherine saw Amanda enter the room, she
groaned. Amanda was the last person she wanted to see right
now.

“Hi, Kathy!” Amanda cheerfully greeted.

She rolled her eyes. She always hated that
nickname. What made it worse was seeing Amanda wearing her new
diamond crown and elegant, long green dress that accentuated her
curvy figure. Amanda looked every bit the queen, she sourly
noted.

“What are you doing here?” Amanda asked.

“Oh, nothing much. Just waiting to see the
Great Magician.”

“I’d be more than happy to help you find a
husband.”

Katherine gave her a sharp look. “That’s not
what I wanted to see him for!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Well, you did.” Katherine didn’t know what
bothered her more. Amanda’s insinuation that she needed help
finding a man or the fact that she was trying to be so nice about
it.

Amanda stood quietly by her sister for a
moment. “I wish you lots of luck,” she finally said before going to
her purple throne and sitting down.

Katherine grudgingly watched her sister as
she adjusted the hair around her shoulders. Didn’t Amanda look
perfect enough already?

Matthew walked into the room and handed
Amanda a list. “Try to be fair with each of your suitors,” he
said.

“Of course, I’ll be fair.” She laughed. “But
I will only marry someone I love. I want the kind of marriage our
parents have.”

Katherine growled softly to herself. She
should have realized Amanda would have a list of men wanting to
marry her. It was bad enough to deal with this before she was
declared queen, but now it was unbearable. If Katherine hadn’t been
so determined to see the Great Magician, she would have left the
room.

Matthew went to call in the first suitor.

Katherine’s anger swelled when she realized
it was Coyno, the one young man on Raz she had had a crush on since
she was a teenager. She’d thought there was a chance he might
actually like her, too, but obviously, she was wrong. She should
have realized he didn’t care enough about her to marry her when he
never proposed. She shook her head, feeling like a complete
idiot.

Coyno bowed before Amanda, who giggled.

The Great Magician opened the door to the
Grand Oak Room and motioned for Katherine to enter.

Relieved, she hurried into the other room.
She sat down on the comfortable large brown chair he motioned
to.

“Princess Katherine, what can I do for you
today?” he asked, his blue eyes young despite his ancient
appearance.

“Now that I know I won’t be queen, I don’t
know what to do,” she confessed as she rubbed her hands together
uneasily.

He nodded and took out his crystal ball. “You
have been prepared to rule Raz since you were a child. It is
understandable you find yourself at a crossroads.”

She held her breath as he gazed into the
crystal ball. This was it. The answer was in that ball. Soon, she’d
know what to do with the rest of her life. His eyes became the same
milky white color that the ball did.

When the ball went back to its clear color,
his eyes resumed their natural blue color. He set the ball down and
sat across from her. “What you require does not exist on Raz.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Are you saying there
is no place for me?”

“No, I did not say that. I said your destiny
is not here on Raz. You are meant to be somewhere else.”

She struggled to comprehend the meaning of
his words. “How can this be? I grew up here. This is all I
know.”

“If I reveal the details to you, I will take
the thrill out of the adventure you are about to embark on. I don’t
wish to do that to you.”

“Adventure? I thought only the queen and king
participated in such things.”

“On this planet, that is true. There are many
more planets out there.” With a grin, he patted her shoulder.
“It’ll work out. Don’t you worry.”

She realized that she wasn’t going to get
anything else from him, so she thanked him and left. She sighed.
Why couldn’t he have given her a hint? Would it have been too much
to at least tell her which planet she should go to?

“Hello, Katherine,” Coyno called to her as
she headed toward the exit of the Throne Room.

As much as she didn’t want to, she found
herself glancing in his direction. He was walking away from Amanda.
She frowned, sensing his reason for suddenly taking an interest in
her.

Matthew was letting in Amanda’s next suitor.
She wasn’t surprised to see Reyno, for he had often made his
attraction to Amanda known.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” Coyno
asked Katherine when he reached her.

“No,” she replied, her cheeks burning with
anger. “And I don’t appreciate being second best to my sister.”

“Oh…ah…” he stammered, his face red from
embarrassment. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Then don’t say anything. Amanda’s not
interested in you so you might as well leave.” She knew her tone
was rude, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to waste her time
with anyone who would choose Amanda over her. It was just one more
slap in the face that she didn’t need.

“Yes. Well, I’m sorry,” he said before he
left.

Matthew, having witnessed the scene from
afar, came up to her. “Are you doing alright?”

“Oh really, Reyno. You’re too much.” Amanda
laughed from across the room.

“Can we at least get out of this room?”
Katherine asked.

“Amanda will talk to him for awhile. She
always did enjoy his attention,” Matthew replied.

As they departed from the room, she grunted
at the long line of suitors who eagerly waited to see Amanda. “This
is disgusting,” she muttered, growing more frustrated every
minute.

“The den is clear. We’ll talk in there,” he
said.

On the way there, they bumped into Cara, who
was a couple years younger than him.

“Hi, Matthew,” Cara said, blushing.

He nodded politely. “Hi.”

“I was just coming to take this message to
you. It’s for Queen Amanda.” Cara handed him the piece of paper.
“Hi, Katherine.”

Katherine smiled and nodded to her.