Drake faceclaim – Daniel di Tomasso (From his Instagram account) / Letter images from The Guardian (Charlotte Higgins on Culture) / Quote from Pinterest (Keltehue News)
All image rights belong to their owners,borrowed by me with love and admiration <3
Disclaimer – Characters are Pixelberry’s, not mine, this is just for fun & I don’t make any money from it.
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Drake’s hand trembled as he set the letter down on the arm of his chair. He felt like he’d been stabbed through the heart. He knocked back the remainder of the glass of malt and grimaced, refilling the glass before picking the letter back up and casting his eyes over it again and again:
You deserve the truth.
You are my son.
I wanted to be with your mother.
Our child would forever remain a secret.
You, Liam and Leo… None of you knowing the truth.
Jackson was a good man, and a good father to you.
Forgive me.
The words swirled around and around on the page in front of Drake’s eyes, the sound of his heart thumping as thought it may spring from his chest, the only sound that he could hear.
It couldn’t be true? It had to be some kind of a sick joke? Drake idolised his dad. A man who served in the Kings Guard his whole life. A fearless and honourable man who lay down his life for… ‘Oh god…’ Drake suddenly felt sick to the pit of his stomach. How could Constantine let that happen??
Drake knocked back the full glass, his nerves completely shot to pieces as his mind worked overtime trying to digest the content of Constantine’s message. His dark eyes filled with stinging tears as he thought of Savannah. His baby sister, he loved her more than anything. How could he tell her that they were only half siblings…? It would break her heart as much as the notion broke his… He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about how they never really looked much alike. She looked like his dad’s side of the family, petite features, her pretty heart-shaped face, while he always thought he looked more like his mother’s Uncle Jimmy back in Texas, broader, more angled.
He thought about Liam and Leo: did he actually look like them instead?? He shook his head, no… Plus they were actually only half-siblings… Both had their Father’s fair complexion… Leo’s mother was so blonde her hair was almost white; he remembered seeing pictures of the first Queen when he was younger. Leo had his mother’s nose for certain. Liam’s mother had been very beautiful, a Bohemian looking woman with wavy dark fair hair and piercing blue eyes, Drake had met her many times, when he was a child he remembered being enchanted by her. He always thought she looked like a beautiful forest fairy in her flowing gowns; she always wore a flower in her hair. She would laugh and hug the little boys as they played in the gardens, he remembered once she brought them picnic during a long summer’s day and played her guitar as they sat together, drinking juice and eating potato chips… Yes, Liam definitely looked more like Queen Ines than he did King Constantine: they had the same eyes… He thought back to himself; his own dark brown eyes, chestnut-coloured hair, but pale… Savannah had dark hair and dark eyes, but she had a beautiful olive complexion… Maybe he had taken his complexion from… ‘Urghhh…’
Drake poured another drink as he stood and paced the room, confusion and shock giving way to anger…
Anger at his mother. ‘Joanna Bianca Walker: an adulteress and a liar…’
Although deep down Drake loved his mom, they’d had a difficult relationship in the past few years: when she’d gone back to the US after his dad was killed, Drake had to admit that he felt abandoned. He’d already lost one parent and then the other had walked away and left him to ‘get on with it’ essentially… Maybe if his mom had stuck around, Savannah wouldn’t have gotten herself into a predicament with Bertrand Beaumont… Drake shook his head, he wouldn’t change his little nephew for the world, but maybe if Mom had been around for support, Savannah wouldn’t have felt the need to run off to Paris and disappear for over a year…
Swigging at the burning liquor, Drake balled his fist, how could she deceive his dad like that, for all those years? There was no way Jackson had known the truth, Drake knew that in his heart. Jackson Walker was a formidable and proud man, had he known that there was a little cuckoo in their nest, he couldn’t have continued to work at the palace… Drake doubted that Jackson would even have continued with the marriage had he been aware… Drake would have to confront her. Did she really think that this would never come out?? Drake concluded bitterly that what happens in the darkness always comes to light eventually…
He picked up the letter for a third time, draining the glass as he did so… This time a different part of the account jumped out at him, causing him to reach for the table to steady himself… He grasped for the bottle, taking it directly to his lips as the words leapt off the page at him…
my wife and my lover, both carrying my unborn sons…
Drake felt like his body would collapse under the weight of the realisation of what that sentence actually meant… He swallowed hard, his throat like sandpaper as every nerve in his body jangled:
Both his mother and Liam’s mother were pregnant at the same time…
Drake was born on May 19th, Liam’s birthday was a whole seven weeks later on July 10th…
He was the second son, not Liam…
If he hadn’t been some dirty, shameful little secret… Drake Walker would be the King of Cordonia…
TBC – VP 💖
