Read Online An Unexpected Return by Jessica E. Subject - Free Book Online

wiping away tears. “It’s no surprise you love her. You two spent much of your first year together on Otaria.”
    “What?”
    Aris’s question echoed hers. “What’s going on here?”
    “Thornton,” his father bellowed.
    A stout Terran man scurried into the room, huffing to catch his breath. “Yes, Your Majesty?”
    Terran ? I thought Otarians and Terrans didn’t get along ? W hat is this man doing with the royal family ?
    “My son has returned,” the king announced.
    “I see, and I am most thankful.” The man nodded, wringing his hands together.
    “Yes, yes.” The king waved his hand as if he was insignificant. “But look who he’s brought with him.”
    Xia went immobile under everyone’s inspection. Who did they think she was? Did they somehow know her real parents? Would she be forced to face them? Her heart hammered in her chest, and she licked her dry lips.
    “Impossible.” Thornton circled her and Aris. “I thought you were dead. If I would have known….”
    She couldn’t take the mystery any longer. “I’m not who you think I am. My name is Xia and I was abandoned by my parents here on Elatia when I was a baby.”
    Thornton winced. “No, your parents love you very much, Belle. My sister and her husband, your parents, were visiting Otaria, forging an alliance between the two planets. You were kidnapped from the government building on my watch.” He took her free hand. “Please forgive me. I only went to the washroom. When I returned, you were gone.”
    Taking a step back, he stared at the floor. “We looked everywhere for you. We thought they killed you. Oh, gods, why did I stop looking?”
    No, this couldn’t be. If she were someone else, then everything she’d believed her entire life was a lie. She wasn’t abandoned, but stolen away from her parents? And she’d hated her parents her entire life.
    She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I….”
    Aris wrapped his arms around her. “If she is someone I should know, how is it I’ve never heard you mention her name until now?”
    While resting her head against his chest, she listened for their explanation. But she jerked her head when she heard the queen sobbing as she scurried away.
    “Belle? Xia?” the king said. “Will you look at me, please?”
    Rotating in Aris’s arms, she remained pressed against him, waiting to hear what the king had to say.
    “It was always too painful to talk about them before, but your parents were our closest friends back on Otaria. When they lost you, everyone’s lives turned upside-down. Sure, Thornton stepped away from you for a moment, but it was one of my people who took you. I shouldered the blame and fled, unable to face your parents or the rest of Otaria.” The king wiped a tear away. “Some came with me, such as your uncle, but life was never the same. If only we’d known where you were.”
    He paced in front of them. “We searched every nearby planet, halted all traffic in and out of the Petrogeous galaxy. No one had seen you.” Coming to an abrupt halt, he spun on his heels and stared at her. “I’m so glad Aristides found you. I only wish it had been sooner.”
    “I have something I want you to see.” With a huge grin, the queen stood in the doorway, gripping an object in her hands. “Belle, it’s a picture of your parents.”
    Although she never felt her feet touch the floor, she met the queen halfway.
    “I’ve kept this picture with me for years.” She held out a color imagescreen.
    Xia stared at the three people in the picture: a man, woman, and a baby. Blinking, she took in the woman again, as if staring at her reflection. “That’s my…mom, my dad?”
    Hands rubbed her back, not Aris’s, but the queen’s. “Yes, they are wonderful people who love you with all of their hearts.”
    Gazing up at the woman, she took a deep breath. “Will you…tell me about her, about them?”
    “I will. And we’ll even contact them for you. It’s about time we put our differences