Ariana had changed and I saw no reason for complaint. Goddess, no. It felt weird having someone talk back at me but not in a way I hated or could hate. Growing up as the heir to the throne of Karriel, everyone fell on their faces to please me. My parents included.
My parents were mated three years before I came along, closing the gateway for children behind me. Three years did not seem like a long time to a lot of couples but it could as well be a lifetime to a king desperate for an heir to a throne that had been in his family for centuries. If I hadn’t come along, our kingmakers would have had to start seeking a new royal blood as we were the last of our bloodline. No uncles, no cousins.
Father told me he suspected he was cursed before he had me. Himself and my mother had spent a for
