In the Midst of the Lonely Sea of Loneliness 7

When the guardians of the children were silent, Janner took manners into his own hands and asked again on behalf of his siblings, "Who is she? How do you know her?"

Podo shook his head and looked down. "Me daughter... Nia."

"Your daughter?" Janner's eyes widened. "What does that make her... to us?"

There was a couple more seconds of silence before Wendolyn stepped forward to gently relay the answer to her grandson's question. "Janner, dear... Nia is your mother. All of you Igiby children are hers..."

The three children were extremely shocked to hear of this information. For all they knew about their mother, they thought she had died when they were too young to remember her. How was it that their own grandparents and uncle kept this information from them for so long?

"Mother?" Leeli asked, clenching the hem of her vest. "She's alive...?"

"What?" Tink looked bewildered as any of them, not having expected such a deep revelation from a strange woman he had just seen that day. "SCARF LADY IS OUR MOM?!"

As for Janner, he started out just as shocked as his siblings but it only turned to anger. "You... Knew about her?" He looked over at Artham with a betrayed look on his face. "You knew she was alive?"

"Janner, we were only trying to protect you." Wendolyn spoke gently, trying to keep the situation from escalating. "Nia... she... Something happened to her when you were very young and... she hasn't been herself since."

"Aye... There were many times we tried to bring her home but she always ran away." Podo attempted to explain as well. "We would have told ya but... We feared she was not safe to have around-"

"But- she was alive! All this time!" Janner put his hand over his forehead in frustration. "You could have told us..."

"Scarf lady is our mom?!" Tink repeated again in disbelief. "Where is she?!"

"What else aren't you telling us?" Janner looked hard at his grandparents and then at Artham. "What about Esben? Was anything you told me about him true or was that a lie too?"

"Janner..." Artham appeared greatly saddened at the mention of his brother's name.

While it was true that the Igiby's had withheld information of their mother's whereabouts to them, Artham had been open with the children, especially Janner, about his former brother Esben. Besides stories of the Florid Sword, Artham also told them stories about his childhood with Esben and their mini adventures they would have together. It was both a way of coping with the fact his brother was gone but also a way to connect the children to their father in a way they never got to experience. Artham often rationalized that if he couldn't talk about their mother, the least he could do was tell the children about their father.

"Was ANY of it real?" Janner asked, becoming so worked up he was tearing up.

"Janner!" Artham grabbed his nephew by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Everything I said about my brother is true. The stories are true. I know you're mad since today hasn't gone the way we hoped and I'm sorry about that... But if you'll give us a chance, we'll explain everything."

"... Then tell us." Janner replied, taking a breath when he saw the genuine look in his uncle's eye.

"It's a long story... But let me tell you from the beginning." Artham began, appearing oddly weary of the story before he had even started. "Me and my brother... We were from a country far away called Anniera. We grew up there in that kingdom... But one day, the kingdom fell." He closed his eyes, seemingly flinching at the flames in his memory as if he was still in them. "There was fire... Everywhere... But there wasn't much time. I tried my best to defend my brother but... In the end, I couldn't tell you of his fate. I was told by the royal advisor that-"

"'Royal advisor'? What royal advisor?" Janner was taking in everything Artham was saying and didn't want to spare any of the details.

"... I know this will be hard to believe, given our current status but..." Artham slowly opened his eyes to look at his nephew's and niece. "I was a prince of Anniera... and your father... was King."

"What?!" All three children exclaimed in shock.

"... I'll get back to that in a moment." Artham sighed as he continued, "Our royal advisor told me Esben had died in the flames and given that the wing he was supposedly in was overcome with fire, I couldn't get to him even if I tried... If that wasn't bad enough, the Queen was missing... All I could do was save what little family remained..."

Tink's eyes widened as he came to a realization from something that happened earlier that day. "That's why you tried to sword Zouzab. You know how to use a sword, don't you?!"

Artham nodded, though he kept looking more weary by the minute. "I was the Throne Warden... Sworn to protect the High King... But I failed that night..."

The children looked amongst themselves with compassion developing on their faces despite not understanding the full picture. They had begun to realize that their family had actually gone through a lot to get them this far.

"... Is that why you can't sleep at night?" Janner asked with a sorry expression on his face.

"... Yes." Artham wiped his eyes with one of his hands in an attempt to keep tears from falling.

His uncle's raw answer made Janner look down, feeling awful he had forced his uncle to relay such a painful story. No, not just a painful story but the very thing that stole sleep from his eyes for years. In his own anger, he hadn't thought of what drove Artham and his grandparents to keep these secrets from them.

"But if... our father was king and our mother was queen... and you were a prince... Who are we?" Leeli's gentle voice rose softly in the air like a song. "Does that mean... We're royalty? Just like the stories?"

"Yes, ya are." Wendolyn carefully kneeled down to her grandchildren's level. "You are all royals from Anniera. Every one of ya. And you, my dear, are our lovely Song Maiden."

Leeli giggled upon hearing her own title and grinned.

"Wait..." Janner perplexed to himself before looking back at his uncle. "Isn't it the eldest that becomes the king? You've mentioned before that you're... or were... older than Esben... And you aren't king? What does... that mean for me?"

"Janner, you're a Throne Warden like I am... and Throne Wardens protect the second born, that being the High King or Queen." Artham explained before looking over at Tink.

"No..." Janner's jaw dropped and glanced at his brother. "You mean mean say... He's king??"

Tink's eyes widened even more. "I'm KING?! This day couldn't get any more crazy!"

"I'd say..." Janner thought but didn't say out loud.

"Regardless of royalty status..." Artham began once again, "The fire was an attack by Gnag the nameless. We escaped to Skree... But we have remained in hiding from him since. That is why we've never told you who your parents were... Who I was... Or even who you are." He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry everything has come to this..."

With such a large amount of information to digest, everyone became very quiet, prompting Wendolyn to give a suggestion.

"Perhaps it would be best if we all got some rest. If you children have any more questions in the morning, we'll answer them."

"But what about the fangs?" Leeli asked.

"Don't worry about them, little lass. If there's anything amiss, we'll be ready. When we first arrived, yer Uncle Artham here helped me dig a secret basement under the floor." Podo reassured them as he stamped his peg leg on the wooden planks underneath him. "Now, up to bed with all of youse."

With the day they've had, they didn't have to be told twice. The three of them gradually gravitated toward their rooms for a night of thinking and rest.

Later that night after everyone had gone to bed, Janner quietly rose from his bed and carefully tiptoed out of his room to head outside.

He was satisfied with the answers his Uncle and grandparents had given him regarding his family but that wasn't why he was sneaking out. There was still one piece to his puzzle that was missing and that puzzle piece was his mother. What happened to her? Where was she? And most importantly... Did she still want to be part of their family? Janner had to know the answers to these questions and while he wouldn't normally go off on his own, he felt it was necessary for his mother's well-being. If the fangs found out she was the one who killed the fang at the festival... She was in just as much trouble as they were.