I lean back in my chair, holding back sobs while my tears wet my hoodie. My mouth quivers, and my hand trembles so hard the paper flutters. I want to throw it away and pretend this never happened, but I can't. I hang my head, resigning myself to the fact that I can't let go of the paper. 

     'What did I do to deserve this?' I think to myself, recapping the last week. It was all good just a few days ago, when my worries were just whether I would be strong enough to wear the Kamar. Now, I have to wonder if I'm strong enough to accept what I've read from Klen's letter.

     My mother had framed Suri.

     I gulp as I realize the gravity of what I've learned: she'd been paranoid that Suri knew something he shouldn't, and when Alebi suspected it, she shipped him out of Al Kamara entirely. He was never going to kidnap or assault me, as both my parents told me so many times over the years. He knew something so damning that my mother would sacrifice her son - my brother - to conceal. 

     I feel like I should cry more, but the emotional rollercoaster I've unwillingly ridden has drained all the emotion from my body. I've expounded every ounce of sadness, and all I have left is a numb, drained heart. I sigh as I realize only one thing wants to fill that void: fury. Unbridled rage sits at the gate, patiently waiting for me to let it in.

     Would my mother really frame Suri? What did he know? Everything seems to click into place as I remember small details from that fateful night. At only nine years old, most of it was lost to time, but I can still remember his panicked voice as he snuck through the palace with me. I had asked him what was wrong... he didn't tell me. It was only when a guard spotted us in the courtyard that Alebi and Klen came.

     He had told me we were in danger, that we needed to leave now or else we would be targeted by someone. If only he had told me... I slump in my chair, one last tear dropping from my face. It lands on my jeans as I feel a fire burn inside me. That fury was opening the gate on its own, and I wasn't resisting it. I'm letting it in with a cold, vicious smile.

     The contrast between my world falling apart and the anger feels... strangely good. I welcome the rage as my mouth continues to quiver. I see my sheared hair sit in the edges of my sight, reminding me of who I am now. There's no coming back from this. If what's in this letter is true...

     I resolve to ask my mother. So what if she expels me? She'd be doing me a favor - I'm not a princess. Something tells me I'm never going to wear the Kamar ever again, never feel its power, never be the heir to my father. Everything I've worked for is a lie, and if I'm ever going to be who I am, I need the whole, unabridged truth - and now, I have a piece of it.

     My hand clenches tight as I stand up, grabbing the lockbox and sliding it beneath my bed. My feet carry me on autopilot towards my door, and I stride out with pursed lips. I rip off my hoodie as I leave, throwing it back on my bed with strangely good accuracy. 

     My shoes crack against the palace floor as I feel the wind from the central courtyard. It brushes against my now exposed shoulders, whipping up and blowing my messy hair around like a cyclone. The sound of lit torches, etched against the wall as sconces, fades into the background as my thoughts take center stage. Can I trust Klen?

     'Why would he lie?' I retort to myself, digging my nails into my palms. This one manages to avoid my body, slapping into the tiled floor as I storm down the hall. With every step, doubt creeps into my mind. My mother is not the woman in this paper. She can't be.

     My body grinds to a halt as I find myself outside the door to my parents' room. My once steeled resolve shatters like an Al Kamaran ceramic as it hits me what I'm about to do. My hands begin trembling yet again, but not in fury - in fear. What if Klen is lying?

     I pull up the paper again, reading the last few lines.

     'I'm sorry I could never tell you sooner,' Klen's voice echoes through my head, so visceral it feels like it bounces off the sandstone walls. 'When I lost Suri, I tried to justify it by never losing you too.'

     'I could never tell you the truth because I was scared, Kali.' It reads. 'I'm terrified that I know of a crime but not the cause. I'm worried that telling you means I would lose you forever, and that it could lead to you losing your family, too. This note, I know, is a bombardment on your perfect life.'

     'Forgive me, Kali,' his handwriting scrawls at the end of the page. 'I don't deserve it, but maybe I can earn it back.'

     I nearly break into a sob, but manage to look at the door and knock. Or, more like pound. Loudly. "Mother!" I exclaim, trying to project my voice like Shuma taught me. "I'm coming in."

     "Kali, wai-" Alebi begins as I fling open the heavy wooden door. She lies in bed, a book in hand, as the door bangs against the wall. I see her eyes go wide as I step through and into the chamber. She places the book down lightly on the dresser, as if it will lessen the rage plastered on my face. She looks at me, bewildered.

     "Your hair!" She exclaims, almost horrified. "Kali, what the hell did you do?"

     "What did I do?" I fire back incredulously, feeling my cheeks flush as I exhale roughly. "Did you frame Suri?"

     The combative anger is cannibalized by shock as her eyes widen further. I watch her body tense up as her face cycles through emotion like torchlight across stone. Her slightly unkempt hair frames her face as it goes unnaturally pale. She squints at me, seemingly swallowing words before she even thinks them.

     "What?" She stammers, the exclamation in her voice neutralized by a quiet disbelief. It catches me off guard as I press on.

     "Did you frame my brother?" I repeat, my voice slightly shaky as I pose the question again. 

     "I-" she falters, caught completely off guard by my interrogation. Her robe drapes over the bed, almost like it wants to slither away from the tension in the room. The massive, regal bedroom suddenly feels small, as if it's a staged museum exhibit. Alebi sits mostly still, like a bird in a cage pretending not to be seen.

     "I know!" I bark, like I'm ordering her from outside that cage. "He was never going to kidnap me!"

     "Kali," she murmurs, looking like she wants to cry. Switches flip inside me as I watch a tear roll down her cheek as she sits there, mouth agape, like she wants to give a speech but has lost her voice. It breaks me inside, but my sheer anger and pent-up frustration keep me in control. "That didn't happen," she mumbles, sounding like even she doesn't believe it.

     "Why did you do it?" I press further, and she recoils slightly at that. "You've lied to your daughter for a decade, Mom! You owe me a truth!"

     "Where is this even coming from?" She snaps loudly, anger overtaking her face in unison. "How dare you accuse me of that?"

     "BECAUSE KLEN FUCKING TOLD ME!" I raise my voice, holding up the letter like a cross to a demon. The anger flushes from her face as quickly as it entered, and she hangs her head ever so slightly.

     "K-Kali," she stammers, tripping over her words like a jagged staircase. "I was protecting you."

     "Protecting me?" I repeat, my voice raspy from the intensity. "You lied to me for a decade to protect me? From what?"

     Her lips quiver as her breath hitches. "Kali, please," she says weakly.

     "From what?" I push, trying to break through her silent castle with a battering ram of anger.

     She looks down at her lap, shaking her head like she wishes she didn't exist. Her hands hold her head, and she claws into her hair. "Kali,"

     "FROM WHAT!" I scream, nearly at the top of my lungs. 

     She looks up, hair a mess, with bloodshot eyes as the dam breaks wide open.

     "YOU'RE NOT SHUMA'S!"

     The fury controlling my body crawls away in an instant as the words register in my mind. They feel physical, like the bricks that crushed Klen have found me. I stumble a bit, my mouth agape as my thoughts go silent. Suddenly, the room feels narrower, as if the size of the truth takes up the entire room. Now, I find myself trapped in the bird cage with her.

     "Kali, I didn't-" Alebi's voice competes with a ringing in my ears for attention as everything inside me crumbles. "No, Kali, please, listen to me, I didn't-"

     I look at her with nothing but numbness as my entire world cracks into pieces. It momentarily stops her stammering as I look at the grill marks etched onto my wrist forever. I wasn't rejected because I wasn't strong enough... I'm not royal. I don't even have the DNA. 

     "Did you know," my voice hitches, watching her tears fall. "When I wore it?"

     She seemingly staggers as she looks down in shame. "I didn't know if you... You were his, or not."

     The palace suddenly feels foreign to me as I clutch onto Klen's letter for dear life. "If Suri knew," she continues, sobbing. "...then I'd lose you. We would both be gone, or even dead."

     "You did the math," I whisper, all the energy gone from my body as she winces from my comment.

     "I love you, Kali," Mom cries, almost wailing. "Please don't..."

     I turn around, walking out of the room and running down the hall. I hear her screaming from her room behind me, wailing for me to come back. Terror runs through my body as I sprint through the palace halls, like I can outrun the truth breathing down my neck.