––––
She remained still, her eyes bored in his as her mind did its best to solve the puzzle it had been challenged with.
"So you're just going to remain quiet with that face like I was talking nonsense?" He asked her.
"No, okay? " She said, taking her eyes off him while she took some loose strands of her hair to rest behind her left ear with her shaking fingers. " I wasn't with her or anybody. I just needed some alone time." She told him.
"Some alone time for what? What is there to think about? I'm your fiance, we are to get married in a few weeks. What do you want? More money for the preparations? More space?" He asked her.
"Space?". She rolled her eyes confusedly.
He heaved a sigh and then turned towards her.
" I know you have a lot going on that you do not wish to talk about. I know I cannot understand everything, that I'm not perfect. I did wrong the last time. I wasn't myself, I lost control but I would never hit you. I know it scared you and then you needed space, haven't you had enough?" He said,
She remained quiet.
"If I gave you my word that I was going to behave then you should believe it. " She told him in a soft but stern tone. "You can start the car now." She added, turning her face towards his.
————
It was evening and he had taken her back to the mansion. The journalists had gotten tired of the wait making their journey back home a peaceful one. As the black dodge charger came to a halt in the compound, she stepped out and so did he. He walked round to her side slowly, she knew he must have some final words to say for the day. He got to where she stood and she brought her eyes to his.
He said no words, only took two steps closer, placing his left palm to rest on her face tenderly. She realized a kiss was on its way but didn't know the next appropriate action to take and so she slowly turned her face away. He sighed, retrieving his hand and dipping it in his trouser pocket.
"You should get some rest." He told her. He walked back to the car and wasted no time getting in. As he drove out of the compound, she watched him.
"What's his problem?" She soliloquized.
Almost like something had struck her mind, she walked fast towards the main door. The guards found it strange but remained in their positions. She got in and began ascending the stairs.
"You're back," Mrs Peterson said.
It happened to be that she was heading down the stairs and now they had both met just before the turn that led to the passageway. Tara slowly held up her head.
"I hope he was successful in ridding you of whatever evil spirit that ravages your mind?" She added with a serious look on her face.
"I'm fine," Tara responded as she hurried up to her room.
She shut the door quickly, turned the knob lock and stood with her back against it. Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths.
'None of this makes sense '
She repeated severally in her head.
Suddenly her eyes opened and she walked towards the bed. Throwing the purse she held on top of it, she got to the wardrobe. Pulling it open, she began taking out all the bags, purses and clutches that lay in there. She threw them on the bed as well.
Once all was on it, she got to work. Searching through each one for something. An I.D card fell out of the black purse she was holding upside down, along with a white envelope. She quickly picked it up and turned it over to see.
"What is this?" She muttered in great disbelief.
She reached for the envelope, she tore it open. As she did, her fingers shook and some passport photographs fell out scattering about. Her eyes blinked uncontrollably. She picked them one by one to get a closer look and they were all the same.
"How–" she said, moving her head in confusion while still looking at the photographs she held in both her hands.
She dropped them. Her face showed fright. She looked at the bags she hadn't searched through and they were many. She got up immediately as her heart began to pound harder. Turning her head, her eyes fell on the study table that was in another corner of the room. It had many drawers.
She carefully approached and knelt before it. Then began pulling out the drawers, taking out all she could find. They were mostly paperwork till she got to the last one. It had two books in there. There was a noticeable difference in their sizes. She brought them out and sat on the floor with her knees up while she rested her back on the wall. She began with the bigger one, it had a brown cover.
She flipped it and beheld so much–Too much. Her eyes danced about in their sockets. Her mind was reading information overload but she had to know. She had come too far to stop now. It felt like a grenade had landed on her head and how it had exploded but somehow she wasn't dead.
'If this isn't me… why does she look so much like me?" She whispered.
The book had photos of when she was just a baby. It captured every moment till she became a woman. It had family photos, photos with friends and now she stumbled on one that had Stark in it.
"The engagement party." She voiced, sliding her fingertips on the faces of each attendee that was captured.
The other book fell from her thighs, it was in pink and gold design, and this caught her attention. She kept the photo album aside and now reached for this one.
"A diary." She said and threw it down again. Holding onto the sides of her head, she had her eyes shut.
'I can't do this, I really can't,'
She thought. 'But I must, I must know everything, else how do I keep up with this madness?'. She added.
'I must master her life, know her ways and patterns before she comes back. This is a sign that God has chosen to bless me, an opportunity I cannot waste. Tara, you can do this. You just need to be an actress only for a short while and you will have all the money you never thought you could, no more f*cking random men and then you can run away even before you can ever get caught. '
She grabbed the diary and began reading through it.
————
Mrs Peterson sat quietly and up straight on the stool at her dressing table. The room was a beauty. She was in a white bathrobe and was slowly brushing her hair to rest on her right shoulder while staring at herself in the mirror. She looked downwards, dropping the brush carefully into the drawer, she pushed it close without making a sound and then slowly returned her eyes to the mirror.
Mr Peterson had just stepped out of the washroom in a white bathrobe as well. He walked towards his wife and bent slightly as he planted a soft kiss on her neck.
"Don't you notice it too?" She asked him.
He could tell she had something on her mind and now he stood straight with his hands on her shoulders.
" Give her time." He responded.
"This has lingered on long enough. Time is not on our side. This is no longer about us, but our people. This marriage will unite us and this unity is what we need to defeat the Od'hawks. Why can't she see that? Why can't she for once be the daughter we need?" She said,
"Patience my love, patience." He told her.
"How can you be so calm? You are the king." She said, springing up on her feet and walking away.
He blinked his eyes bitterly.
"You believe the rumours?" He asked.
"I believe this place has made you soft. " She responded.
"What would you have me do? Put my claws to her throat? She is a child. When younger, they are easier to control, not as adults." He told her.
"Well this is how things go. She must accept it, willingly or unwillingly". She retorted, quickly turning towards him.
"She is our daughter." He told her.
"And I am the Luna. We didn't come this far with sentiments." She told him.
"And you would rather have a witch or wizard obliterate her memories?"
He sounded disappointed.
"To have her do what she must," She responded, looking him straight in the eye. "Even if it means she forgets that we are her family. Sacrifices like this are what we signed up for the moment you became king, deal with it !" She added, peering into his eyes fearlessly.