Chapter 353


    idental Surrogate Chapter 353-E


    “D-duke?” I stutter out,pletely overwhelmed by the information, my eyes going wide. “There are


    dukes? And I had I have an uncle!?”


    “I’m sorry,” Henry says, and I can see the guilt written all over his face. “I overlooked this – honestly, no


    one has heard from him in years – and, considering what we think he was actually getting up to, it


    makes a great deal of sense that he wanted everyone to believe that.”


    “Who,” I say, frantic now, looking between Henry, and Sinir, and Roger – Cora, I see, looking at me


    with worried eyes, but I know she doesn’t have any answers – “who is he?”


    “Rx, E,” Sinir murmurs to me, leaning close. “It’s all right -”


    “It is absolutely not all right -“I snap, not wanting to be mean butpletely panicked right now. “My


    father is dead but I have an uncle? Seriously? And no one told me?”


    Henry continues to hang his head, shaking a little, and I instantly feel guilty. It’s not his fault – it’s so


    complicated, the politics, and why would he tell me about an uncle if he hadn’t spoken to the man in 30


    years had genuinely assumed he was dead –


    “I’m sorry, Henry,” I say quickly, leaning forward to put a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry – I’m behaving


    so poorly – ”


    “No, E,” Henry says, moving his attention back up to me. “Your reaction is absolutely correct. I have


    failed you in this.” His eyes shift to Sinir now. And you, son.”


    “We have to stop this,” Sinir says, shaking his head. “Honestly, the me game does no one any


    good. No one mes you, dad and E, you don’t have anything to apologize for. We all know this is a


    lot. So, can we please?” he says, pausing now to look around the table. “Can we continue? There is…


    more…”


    I groan a little and give Henry’s arm a little squeeze to let him know I don’t me him for any of it, and


    that I love him dearly and am grateful for him every day. At least, I hope he gets all that from a


    squeeze, but the little smile he sends me suggests that he understood at least part of that. And I feel


    instant relief.


    “Xander was your father’s older brother, E,” Sinir informs me briskly, I think a little irritated at the


    disruption and wanting all of the information on the table now so that we can decide to do something,


    instead of just talking about it. I smile at him a little, loving my all-action Alpha mate who is ready to go


    even though he almost got burned to a crisp yesterday.


    “He was much older,” Henry says, ” and there were always…rumors about whether or not his father


    was his biological father. Either way, Xander was recognized, but he was never the favored son. That is


    why Xavier – stronger, faster, smarter, better-liked – took the throne instead of Xander.”


    “A stance which I actually think is quite clever,” Roger quips, and I’m shocked to find a smile on my


    mouth as he delicately raises his brows, looking up at the ceiling. “I mean, some of us think that the


    better-looking brother should always take the throne – ”


    And while Sinir growls and Cora elbows Roger not-too-gently in the stomach to get him to stop, I


    grin at my brother-inw, grateful for theugh which has drained some of my tension away. He gives


    me a little wink in response.


    “Anyway,” Sinir continues, ring at his brother, “Xander was never a popr figure in politics – he


    was always fringe, always very much the King’s sullen brother rather than a real yer. When Xavier


    died, Xander…he wasn’t even considered for the throne. No one said his name, not even him, as a


    potential heir.”


    “Which,” Henry adds, “was perhaps… the mistake. That started all of this.”


    “Started what?” I ask, confused again.


    “E,” Henry says, taking my hand. ” Nothing is for sure. But our best guess, at this point, is that…well,


    that Xander put this in motion. That he knew he was never a contender for the throne when his brother


    died but he coveted it anyway 1 that Xander wanted it, perhaps his whole life, and certainly after his


    brother died, but when no one mentioned him as a potential heir he started to devise a new n to get


    what he wanted.”


    “A longer n,” I whisper, sitting back against my chair. “To – to reim the throne. To keep it…in his


    family’s line.”


    And my eyes drift back to Rafe now, cooing gently in his father’s arms. My baby, the grandson of a


    King. The nephew of a Duke that, perhaps, always wanted to be in charge.


    “It makes sense,” Roger says softly. ” Honestly, it makes so much sense that we were fools not to


    consider it before now. Who benefits from Rafe being born? The man who intends to kidnap him and


    put him on the throne as a puppet, acting as regent for eighteen years before Rafe is old enough to rule


    himself.”


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    “I don’t think we’re fools to have overlooked Xander,” Sinir rumbles beside me. “I haven’t heard


    Xander’s name since I was a child – I, too, thought he died in quiet obscurity. He’s taken great pains, I


    think, to ensure that everyone assumed that he did. He is ying the long game – we’re not total idiots


    for falling into the traps he’s taken twenty years toy. We’re simply outyed.”


    “So,” I interrupt, still wanting more details. “Can you – I mean -” I exhale quickly, closing my eyes and


    gathering my thoughts, “is the assumption that we’re making here that Xander wanted Rafe to be born


    so that he would be a legitimate heir to Xavier’s throne? Is that it?”


    “Yes,” Sinir says, confirming what I’ve pieced together. “We know that Reina told Xavier about you


    on his deathbed he must have found a way, somehow, tomunicate your existence to his brother


    before, or directly after, his death – I don’t know. A note, a letter perhaps.”


    “So why didn’t hee for me?” I ask, brisk. “To be the heir?”


    Sinir and Roger hesitate, looking at each other. “Well,” Sinir says carefully, “your mother did a


    very good job hiding you at the orphanage, which actually emphasizes the story. She could have had


    you raised by a well- known human family, but she chose an orphanage to disguise you.”


    “But no,” I say, looking at Cora. ” They knew they knew we were there. Yes? The dark priests – if they


    were the ones who are looking to Xander for some reason as their master – they knew that Cora and I


    were in the orphanage. They followed us our whole lives! So…”


    I draw my brows together, trying to figure it out. If Xander wanted an heir… why didn’t he juste to


    get me?


    “E,” Sinir says, tightening his arm around my shoulders. “Xavier and Xander they were deeply old-


    school Alphas. Theye from a world where .” he hesitates again, looking down at the floor. My eyes


    sh as I figure out what he’s not saying.


    “Seriously?” I breathe. “Seriously, my uncle my blood family – left me in the orphanage because I was a


    girl? Because he didn’t see me as a legitimate heir to the throne?”


    Sinir looks up at me with sad That’s our best guess eyes. for E,” he now, says softly, shaking his


    head slowly at me. “That he contracted the priests – or perhaps was always aligned with them, and


    called to them to watch over you. But that he had no real interest in you as a person. Merely in…” he


    hesitates, his eyes drifting to my stomach.


    “Oh,” I say, my heart sinking – though I don’t know why. I just – just can’t imagine someone being so


    callous to a child, especially their niece… “I was always just…a broodmare to him…” I murmur, looking


    over at my baby.


    “Rafe, a male heir, was always the goal,” Sinir agrees. “We think Xander bided his time, and then –


    when all of his pieces were in ce – he …arranged it all.”


    “But why,” I ask, suddenly confused. ” Why did he pick you as the father?”