Chapter 7. Adopted

“Can you tell us your name?” said the elderly woman. I stubbornly held my tongue and didn’t reply. The woman turned to her female associate and sighed. “She’s been with us for a month but we’ve made no progress. She doesn’t eat much either. The counselor said that this child has been traumatized. I hope we can do something for her.”

The associate arranged her reading glasses against her nose. “She was bloody and dying when we found her. I wonder what happened. No child should have gone through that.” The associate tried to keep her voice low, but I could hear their conversation very well.

“We’ll try talking to her again later. For now, we should prepare. The Prescott’s will be arriving today from England. I want everything ready when they come over.” The associate nodded and with one last glimpse at me, both of them walked away.

I hugged my knees and placed my head against it. All the other children were in the dining area while I stayed in our room that housed more than 10 beds. I didn’t want to speak or be friends with anyone. My only wish was to get out of here and go back to the palace where I belonged.

I did speak to them the first time they got me. I told them I was the princess but they thought I was delusional. But how would they believe me when no other people outside the noble’s and palace guards and servants have seen their princess? The commoners knew of my existence though they have never seen my face.

The king and queen were fiercely protective of me so they didn’t want my image to be pasted in every newspaper. But now they were dead and no one could protect me but me.

I saw something move from the corner of my eye, grabbing my attention. When I looked up, the image of Henrieta greeted me. She was this mean kid who was taller and dumber than me. “Hello princess,” she sneered. I didn’t reply and just stared at the floor.

The other kids somehow found out that I was saying I was the princess and they thought it was funny. That was why Henrieta decided to bully me. To them I was an orphan who wanted to be royalty.

“Why won’t you talk to me princess?” she cajoled. “Are you mute? Or maybe the king and queen don’t allow you to speak?”

At the mention of my dead parents, I quickly stood up and twisted Henrieta’s arms behind her in a swift move. My training was not lost in me. “If you say that again I will break your arms and cut your tongue,” I said in a low voice. I didn’t want the adults to hear our little spat.

“I am the princess and I’m going to reclaim the throne someday. When that happens you will bow to me.” Henrieta struggled against my grip but she couldn’t. Sweat slowly trickled down her face and when she realized that she was no match, she finally succumbed. I let her go and watched as she cried and ran out of the room. I resumed my position in the corner and stayed like that until I fell asleep.

The next thing I knew, someone was shaking me gently. “Hey there kid,” said a woman’s voice. I opened my eyes and saw a kindly looking woman with a diamond necklace and earrings kneeling in front of me. She was brunette and had a lopsided smile.

“Won’t you hurt your back sleeping in that position?”

I didn’t answer and stared at the floor. Who was she and what did she want from me? Sensing that I wouldn’t answer, she said, “You’re a very pretty girl. The prettiest that I’ve seen in my life. Would you like to come with me and my husband?”

That got my attention. “Where?” I asked with a scratchy voice. I haven’t been using my mouth as much as I’ve used to and it seemed that it forgot its function. The kindly woman stood up and offered a hand. Her smile and posture was so much like my mother’s that I couldn’t help but take it.

I allowed her to walk me to the bed. “We’re looking for someone to adopt,” she said. “I know that they don’t always let us choose, but if you want to come with me, I will fight for you.” She grasped her diamond necklace and played with it. “I want someone just like you to be my daughter.” She turned to me. “So what do you say?”

“I can’t call you mother,” I said. Despite the kindly woman’s words, I needed to tell her the truth. No one could replace my mother the queen. Instead of moving away from me, the woman gave a sad smile. “I’m not here to replace your mother pumpkin,” she said. “My husband and I just want someone to love. We were never given any children.”

“Are you there dear?” a man’s voice called out. “Yes dearest,” said the woman beside me. “I’m here with her.”

Someone walked to us and I saw a man that resembled the kindly woman. They didn’t look alike at all when it came to appearance. But the way they carried themselves, that lopsided smile, and kind eyes made them seem like relatives.

“This is my husband Larry,” the woman said while pointing to the man. “And I completely forgot to introduce myself but I’m Samantha. You’ve been sleeping in that corner since we arrived and we just couldn’t help but ask the people here about you.”

She glanced to her husband before staring back at me. “We heard that you’ve been through some very rough stuff. They also said that you didn’t want to talk to them. If you allow us, we could take you far away from here where you’ll feel loved and cared for. Nothing bad will ever happen to you I promise.”

Larry who was wearing a well-pressed suit came nearer and kneeled in front of me on the bed. “You’re a very beautiful child,” he said gently. He tried to, but he had an intimidating voice. He kind of reminded me of father, I thought with sadness. “Do you want to come with us to a different land?” he asked. “We will give you all the toys you want. You will have beautiful dresses and a very large room.”

He spread his arms wide. “The room will be bigger than this. We will play with you every single day and we will love you very very much.” When I didn’t reply he added, “You can be whatever you want to be, a ballerina, a musician, a president. Anything! We have connections and we will use that to help you.”

“What if I want to become a princess?” I asked. He gave me a kind smile. “You’ll be a princess then. If you let me be your father you will be treated as a princess. What do you say?” The two stared at me hopefully while I made my decision.

I knew that nobody would believe me if I told them I was the future queen. The news told the commoners that I died with my mother and father. So for now, I should go with these two and let them take care of me. When the right time comes, I’ll come back here and reclaim my birthright.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll be your daughter.”

Days passed quickly after that. The Prescott’s- that was their surname- arranged everything. In a month’s time, they were able to settle the paper works that were needed for my adoption. During those days they visited me often in the adoption house to talk to me. I learned that they were millionaires and were a very influential family in England.

But whilst they were rich and had a lot of connections, the two were down-to-earth. They showed no signs of cruelty and were rather weird. They sometimes cracked weird jokes and would say something about physics, science, and different other things that a child like me barely understood.

Apparently, they were geniuses who were known worldwide for their works and theories. They have written many books and were big fans of Albert Einstein. I would learn a lot of things from them. The money they had could also help me with my revenge someday.

I hated to use them like that, but what could I do? A child like me was no match for the world. I needed influence, power, and money. And I could only get that with the couple. Besides, I liked them already. They were kind and reminded me of my parents.

The day that we were to fly to England finally arrived. I didn’t say goodbye to the other children or the people in the adoption center. Instead, I bid goodbye to my homeland. I’d be back, I swore after kissing the ground. Wait for your queen. I clutched the bookmark in my hand and let it calm me as the plane took off, taking me away from the country.

It was the bookmark that held a flower that Talia gave me before. I found it on the coat I was wearing when I escaped from the burning villa. It was all that was left of my previous life and of Talia. Holding on to it was something I’d do. When the opportunity presents itself, I would give it back to Talia together with my revenge.

We soon reached the mansion in England. It was going to be my home for a very long time. There was a circular driveway in front of the building where a fountain was located to greet guests. The property was vast and I saw grass, tree, and flowers- lots of them- all over the area. It would be a good place to study and grow up.

My new mum and dad introduced me to the maids. I was to have a personal butler named Chandra. The butler was weirder than my parents. One time, I woke up and saw her holding a magnifying glass near my face. When I asked her about it, she said she was looking for an imperfection and walked away.

She’d never see one. I was very careful not to screw up around my parents or people in the mansion. I was given everything I liked and I didn’t want to act like an ungrateful person. Years passed like that. Before I knew it, college was already here and I entered an Ivy League university. The best in the country. That was where I met Brooke.

“Miss Iris, you have a visitor.”

With a sigh, I placed the book I was reading on the bed and removed my reading glasses. “Who is it?” I called out.

“It’s Madam Brooke. Should I let her in?”

“Go ahead.” I waited for a few more minutes before I heard someone knocking on the door. When it opened, I saw Brooke in all her glory. She was wearing shorts, a cropped top, and her sneakers. I didn’t know how she was able to pull it off since it was chilly that day.

Her ebony eyes twinkled. The color closely resembled her midnight black hair. “Iris,” she said while heading to the bed. “How are you?”

“We’ve only seen each other yesterday Brooke,” I said with a poker face. “Not much have changed. I’m still the same boring college classmate you have.”

She tapped my shoulder playfully. “Don’t say that. You’re not boring at all. You’re just a little. . .” She paused and tried to search for the right word or phrase. I helped her and said, “Weird?”

“No. But you’re antisocial,” she retorted. “I don’t see why you keep on avoiding us. You’re always with your books and you never go to any parties we throw. You don’t have a boyfriend do you?”

I gave her a look. “I’m not the type to have boyfriends. I’m a loner lesbian.” She smiled in a discreet manner but it still caught my attention. “So you’re the type to have girlfriends instead?” she asked.

“I don’t do girlfriends Brooke,” I said with a smirk and placed the reading glasses back to my eyes. If she wanted to talk about those things then I’d rather get back to Dunham’s book about mathematics.

“I don’t get you,” she grumbled. “You’re gorgeous and yet you’d rather read those. What is that anyway? It’s so thick.” She took the book from my hand and examined it. “Journey through Genius,” she read. “We’re all studying in a good school but man your choices of books are mental. Who reads about math in their spare time?”

I grabbed the book from her and sighed. “My parents do that. I do that,” I added. “Math is a universal language Brooke. If you know it you will learn logic. And logic will help you with hacking.”

“Hacking? What are you going to hack?” she asked. “Nothing,” I mumbled. “It’s just a theory I was working on.” I didn’t tell her that I was studying math, science, and many other things not only to be a good queen someday, but to hack the main security server of the palace where Talia was. It was the only way I could kidnap her without outside help.

“You’re very strange Iris,” Brooke said with a frown.

“That’s me. Iris Strange Prescott,” I replied sarcastically.

“But you know,” Brooke said while leaning closer. “Even if you’re a loner, I still find you interesting. You’re a combination of beauty and brains.” I felt her hand travel from my arms to my neck, all the way to my face. She removed my glasses and placed it beside her.

“What are you doing Brooke?”

She cupped my cheek with her hand and moved nearer. I could smell her shampoo. It was a refreshing scent of mint. “I’m going to show you how amazing having a girlfriend is. Just let me kiss you,” she whispered.

I tried to move away but she held my head securely. I stared into her face as she got closer. A small gasp escaped from my lips. Talia’s image looked back at me. This time though, she was older, a teenager like me. It was just like the picture I saw in magazines when she had an interview a few months back.

She was breathtakingly beautiful and my heart ached for her despite being consumed with hate. Totally forgetting that it was Brooke instead of Talia, I let the girl touch my lips with hers. It was soft, needy, and made me want more. “Talia,” I whispered as I laid her on the bed and kissed her passionately.”