Phoebe Dustin was now sitting in a comfortable chair in one of the mansion's many rooms.
The light, which entered the room illuminated the pale face of the girl, her large turquoise eyes and her hair, blond, shiny and smooth, which, loose on her back, did not reach a length longer than her shoulders.
The room in which she quietly sat was one of the medium-sized rooms in the mansion but on the one hand more poorly furnished and that had all been to host young Zick.
Obviously, Phoebe herself also found it very unusual that a eleven-year-old boy had survived the sea by himself and got there but she was also there to find out how it all went.
It had been necessary to place the boy in a room of their mansion, since, listening to the horrendous stories he had told, they would not have expected to send the boy back home any time soon.
He was a Jones, coming from an opposing family, so obviously he had not been treated as a guest of honour but apparently this didn't matter to Zick and indeed it seemed that the small room pleased him much better than the cold and immense sea.
Now the boy was lying with his body against the large open window: his wavy ash-blonde hair of a light brown colour was slowly being moved by the wind, his big brown eyes were lost at the sight of the immense and transparent water.
Almost an hour had passed since his arrival in those lands and although it seemed quite interesting he still showed traces of sleepiness from his unconsciousness.
-Ezekiel?- Phoebe called from her position, she held her cold hands one in the other, it was cold on that August afternoon, an almost unexpected and annoying coolness -this is your name, right ? Zick?-.
The young Dustin tried to draw the boy's attention to herself, almost distracting him from the chronic sadness and distraction that he had recently learned.
The boy seemed too enchanted by that sight, by the seagulls flying in the sky, from the blue cloud-free sky, from the verdant grass, almost as he had rarely seen such beauty .
-My first name is Ezekiel Jones, but please call me Zick, that name reminds me too much of my previous life...- admitted the young Jones exhaling slowly from his upturned nose, he seemed relaxed and almost joyful to be in that place at the right time -I had almost forgotten how beautiful it was to finally see the light again…-.
At those words Phoebe was struck by a shiver of fear, what on earth did he mean with those words, he hadn't seen the light for some time? What had that young lord been through before he got here?
Phoebe could have no idea but in the big brown eyes of the other she could read a remarkable fear, she knew he was hiding something big that still frightened him.
-Zick?- the lady began to speak again, lifting her light body from the comfortable and precious upholstered armchair -What do you mean by that? I know your look well, you are hiding something that you didn't even have the courage to communicate to my father or to prince Aleksei...I am more than sure that this mask of innocence you are wearing is just a farce...- admitted her leaving an air of anger out of her light and soft lips.
Young Phoebe Dustin was the youngest member of the family but despite being only fifteen years old and being unfairly left out of political life as a woman, the girl possessed an incredible investigative will, inner strength and charisma, which were the most important things in such a situation.
Phoebe was standing a few meters beyond the boy, she had no intention of starting a fight, that was not what the young woman was particularly gifted for but she was at least four years older and definitely a few tens of centimetres taller than him.
Her straight blond hair fell wearily to her shoulders, her pale face was lightly illuminated by the warm rays of the sun, her nose was underlined by the shadows that the light created on her sweet face, her large turquoise eyes shone of a particular energy and vitality.
Young Jones smiled slightly, he sensed that the girl he was communicating with was quite an honest person and most likely sincere.
-What if it were? I definitely do not trust talking to adults after what has happened to me...the only reason I communicate with you is because you seem trustworthy...-.
Phoebe did not know whether to take that sentence as a compliment or an offence but she decided, in that moment, just when the boy was starting to trust her, that she could not disappoint him.
-Promise you won't report anything of our conversation to your father, please...- Zick begged as he slowly sat down on the small but soft bed that had been prepared for him.
The lady was suddenly seized by a situation of fear, she imagined, if she had not promised, she would most likely not have been able to extort a single piece of information from him, but on the other hand what would it have been if he had said something too big to keep secret.
She observed the pale face of the young Jones, read in his big eyes a shadow of fear and terror, together with a plea of pure trust and sincerity.
-Okay, I won't tell my father anything but I don't like playing right now, so I'll ask you some clear questions and you have to answer honestly, without lying…-.
Phoebe set the conditions and observed how slowly the boy who at that moment was sitting composedly on the comfortable bed nodded with his head -I don't want to play either right now, I will answer honestly until there are questions unknown to me...-.
Ezekiel Jones was not as stupid as he wanted the others to believe but in his mind he seemed to have a perfect idea, for his young age, how the world around him already was and it seemed for that very reason that he had developed a great cunning.
-Alright then, I'll start with an easy question, what is your parents' name?- Young Dustin began by sitting her light body again on the cool, soft seat where she mostly sat.
-My father's name is Jacob Jones, my mother instead...her name must have been Azura Hannover, maybe...I can't remember, I never met her in person, she died the same day of my birth...- admitted the young Zick arranging his legs comfortably.
At first glance Phoebe felt a sort of supportive sadness rise in her heart: she knew what it was like to grow up without a mother and for this very reason she felt in a certain way more connected to the boy.
But on the other hand she analysed the woman's name: Azura Hannover, she had never heard that name before, it was strange to her, of course she was aware of the four royal siblings: Karlheinz, Ernest, Ella and Georg Hannover, but never, ever had she heard that other name, Azura, was it possible she was a relative.
-Then? Did you say you haven't seen sunlight for a long time? What happened to you?- asked the young Dustin starting with interest to pass some locks of her straight blond hair between her fingers.
Phoebe rested her turquoise eyes on the pale face of the young Jones: she noticed that the unexpected question made his face even more pale.
It was clear that something was not right in that family at all, but Phoebe was in that moment focused on finding out the truth especially as she would do everything in her way.
She would have shown her father that she could extort those informations even though she was a young lady and to make the man understand that she, his only legitimate heir, was much more than capable of reigning over those lands one day.
-You know, I was born suffering from a rare lung condition...my life was very complicated from the beginning, I could not do many things, my resistance was very low, sometimes I risked dying from losing my breath and very often I fell victim to fainting and convulsions - Zick admitted returning to point his dark and deep big eyes towards the girl.
-My father has always been very close to his younger sister, Jade Jones and after what happened with Georg Hannover and after the birth of Connor, my cousin, a completely healthy child, my father became very attached to the young man, so much so that twenty years later, my birth brought almost no emotion to him…-.
What the young Jones told was really sad, he couldn't believe that seriously a man could be so cruel to treat his own child in that horrible way, a little boy, who even with a lung condition was perfectly fit and absolutely kind and adorable.
It was Jacob Jones himself who organised the murder of the young Zick in an attempt not to distract him and detach him from the plan to usurp the Hannovers, putting the son of his sister on the throne.
Jade Jones had also died fifteen years after her son was born, so it was only natural that the uncle had agreed to take young Connor under his own care and treat him as his own son.
-My father never had the courage to end my life, not himself, so he asked the guards to do it, to "take care" of his legitimate heir whose health was too poor to reign...the guards tied my arms, led me into the open sea and threw me off the boat, they knew well that with my condition I would never be able to breathe under water and that even pneumonia could easily kill me...-.
It was difficult to say if what the young Jones had said was sadder or more disturbing: on the other hand, with his words Zick had admitted too much of what the young woman had needed.
On the other hand, no one knew that the Jones had ousted the Hannovers, so she would have risked that by going to war her father could have had to clash not only with the Hannovers but also meet a second enemy who had not even been calculated in the battle.
Perhaps it was also because of that that his father had insisted on killing his young son, perhaps because he knew more than he himself was supposed to know.
It was too good an opportunity, giving this information to her father and the prince would have enlightened her before their eyes and most likely convinced Preston that his young daughter was exactly suitable to be the next lady of those lands.
But on the other hand she had promised Zick to keep the secret and given his weak constitution, it would take very little to end his life and Phoebe absolutely did not want to become a killer at fifteen.
-Do not reveal my story to anyone, I beg you-.
The girl smiled faintly -Do not worry, on the contrary...would you like to train piano with me these days? I'd like to know you better…-.
-It was all very strange- admitted the young lord, lowering his gaze almost innately to the cold and white marble floor -everything was presented to me as a simple educational trip in the company of my guardian, it is only halfway through the journey, when my hands were tied that I realised that it was not exactly what my father had passed off as a journey...my last final journey-.
She could see a certain sadness in Zick's eyes -it was horrendous, I couldn't breathe, I could not swim with my hands tied to my back despite my body being light enough- he admitted turning his gaze to the girl -I would not be still alive if an Irish military fleet hadn't found my half-dead body in the middle of the gulf, they thought I was dead, that's why they left my body on the beach before confirming my presence at your House...-.