Twenty-three:
Imperator Zale
There were lots of things that I had hoped to show Sirena. The Opera, The Astronomy Center, The Royal Art Museum…. I hadn’t planned on telling her about my brothers. But there was something about the girl that made me want to be anything other than what my father hoped I would be. He loved my mother that was true. But if he loved anyone or anything else, I didn’t know.
It certainly wasn’t me.
One time, when I was ten, we went on a ride during the summer. Our hunting lodge in the country had a spot that overlooked a wide valley, complete with a river. He took me down to the river and we spent what seemed to be a pleasant afternoon there, reading and eating the picnic that had been brought with us by the servants.
“Son,” my fath
