“See? I’m sleeping here! Come sleep with us, Mama.” She patted the space next to her.
“I-I can’t. Klaus is sleeping. I need to…”
“Please, Mama?” She said in a tone that even tugged at my heart. No one can refuse that. This girl is going to cause serious trouble when she grows up. “Please sleep with us.”
Avalyn wavered. I saw it in her eyes. “I’ll stay till you sleep. I’ll need to get back go your brother soon.” That earned her multiple claps a wide grin.
I scooted backwards, taking Viktoria with me to create space for Ava.
Avalyn’s eyes connected to mine before she lifted the blanket and settled in. I propped my elbow on the bed and then rested my head on my hand. Now, I had a clear view of both my girls.
“Story, Dadda!” Tori demanded and my eyes met Ava’s again. Memories flooded in seeing her here, in our bedroom and in our bed. And I knew exactly what story to say.
“There once lived a Prince, mightier than the rest.” I told Tori but kept my eyes on Ava. She was looking at Tori too but I didn’t care. I was getting a chance to look at her, I wasn’t losing that. “When he was travelling to faraway lands, his eyes fell on a girl.”
Ava’s eyes snapped to mine.
“She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had long brown hair and deep brown eyes. Like chocolate.” My eyes flickered down to Tori and she was listening to me we rapt attention. “And he loved chocolate.”
“I love chocolate too!” She grinned and a smile formed on my face. Like father, like daughter.
“And then he decided that she would be his Queen.” My eyes met Ava’s again. They didn’t hold the hardness it usually held during the day. They were soft. They were my Ava’s eyes. “So he whisked her away to his palace. But she used to think, she wasn’t worthy enough to become the prince’s wife or become the Queen. This hurt the prince, he thought that she didn’t like him.”
Tori’s mouth dropped open. “What did he do then, Dadda?”
“The prince decided to find out the reason why she thought she wasn’t worthy. And do you know what he learnt?”
“What?” She asked eagerly.
There was fear in Ava’s eyes. Fear of what? Did she think I would actually say she was a slave?
“He found out that the girl used to be a princess. But another kingdom’s king had captured her Kingdom and had kept her locked in a tower.”
“Like Rapunzel?” Tori asked with a gasp. I had no idea who Rapunzel was but I nodded anyways.
“And all her life, he treated her as a maid. Because of that, she believed that all she was worthy of being was a maid. So when the Prince learnt this, he grew furious at the King. It was because of him that the girl thought she was unworthy. And he wanted to avenge the girl, he wanted to fight for her honour and he wanted the girl to grow more confident in herself. He wanted to give her the Kingdom that was rightfully hers.”
“Did he kill the King?” A smile grew on Tori’s face at that thought.
“No.” I replied and she frowned. My eyes slid to Ava’s again. Vulnerability shone through her features. “Both of them defeated the army of that King, together. And then the mighty Prince threw the cruel King at the girl’s feat. The girl slay the bad king herself. She avenged herself, like an angel-mstitel. And became the Princess she always was again.”
My eyes met Ava’s and we both relived that memory again.
When she had entered that cottage, I had offered her my hand, beckoning her inside, into the dark side, ‘I was waiting for you.’
‘He’s yours, Moya Lyubov. To torture. To maim. To kill.’
‘Shoot.’ I had said and she shot Emilio, missing his heart by half a centimetre. And then she had taken a spiral knife and had butchered his already broken and bruised body. Bathed in his blood, she had collapsed in my arms. That day, my angel had turned into an avenging angel.
“Angel mstitel?” Tori echoed.
“It means avenging angel in Russian.” My eyes slid to Ava’s and she lowered her eyes.
“She was strong, Dadda! Like a… a warrior Princess.”
“Yes.” I agreed. Ava looked beautiful in red, especially in the red of revenge. “Yes, she was.” Ava’s eyes flew to me and I saw tears in them.
I wrapped my arm over Tori and my hand was near Ava’s now. I slowly neared my hand near hers.
Two inches.
“And then the beautiful Princess grew stronger each day.” My fingers twitched as the distance between is lessened. Her eyes fell down to our nearing fingers but she didn’t move. She waited. That was progress.
One inch.
“And she began loving herself again.” I neared her fingers further. There was once an inch of distance now. “And then the Prince and the Princess became the King and Queen of their combined Kingdoms.” I moved closer.
Half an inch.
“And then they lived happily ever after. The end.” Her eyes turned icy cold when I said that.
Ava pulled away before the tips of our fingers could touch.
A coil of hurt tightened around my heart.
“The story isn’t over just yet.” Ava whispered. “Not every story has a happy ending.”
And then she fled.