The Family’s Second Secret

  Elizabeth sat in what used to be her father’s chambers which were now Midas’s chambers.

  After dinner he’d invited her to his chambers though invited was just a nice way of saying he ordered her to his chambers.

  Midas sat in their father’s chair and gazed into the fireplace. 

  “Do you know our family’s greatest secret?”

  She held back that she already knew he’d killed their father, there was no pint bring it up again.

  “Is it that you’re adopted?”

  “You always did have a sharp tongue, Elaine think you were quite when we were young but we both know you had quite the mouth.”

  “So what is our family’s greatest secret?”

  Midas raised his hand which had been incased in a golden gauntlet.

  “You remember what this is don’t you?”

  “Father’s gauntlet, he wore it so that he never made the mistake of touching one of us like his father had done.”

  “Correct, now what if I were to tell you that all those beautiful women forever trapped in gold were here long before father or I ever took the throne?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Midas removed the golden gauntlet from his hand.

  Without warning he put his had on her face. She instinctively slapped it away.

  “What have you done?!”

  Elizabeth felt where he had touched expected to feel the smooth texture of solid gold but instead all she felt was her skin.

  She looked at her hands fearing that the cure would start from there, but her hands were just as they were a moment ago.

  “What are you playing at?”

  Midas held out his hand. “This is our family’s greatest secret.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Midas grabbed Elizabeth with both hands and pulled her close till their bodies were inches apart.

  “Understand now.”

  Touching her with either hand hadn’t turn her to gold.

  “You don’t have father’s golden touch.”

  “Close, father didn’t have his father’s golden touch. No men in our family are allowed possess it, not since our grandfather went mad and nearly turned everyone to gold.”

  “That can’t be, what about our pet griffin?”

  “What griffin?”

  “The one father gifted to us as a pet, you had father turn it to gold.”

  “Father could never let anyone know his secret, he’d have used any excuse to show off his pretend powers. He switched the griffin out with one that our grandfather had turned to gold.

  Elizabeth was stunned, she’d never known that her father had been keeping such a secret. Or how far he’d gone to keep that secret.

  “How did you find out?”

  “I’d always suspected but when I was at the age when I should have gained the power, father brought me to a secret vault that contained all the things our grandfather had turned to gold. He explained to me how after our grandfather hadn’t mastered the power but let it consume him. He started turning everyone to gold, it had gotten so bad that the gods were forced to strip him of  the power.”

  Her grandfather must have been a true terror of the gods themselves had to step in to remove his power. 

  “Our grandfather wouldn’t allow anyone to know that he had lost his power so he held onto all the gold that he could and lied that he had somehow masted the power. He said that the power would forever be passed down from father to child. And when father was old enough he’d instructed for him to do the same.”

  Elizabeth was finally starting to understand.

  “Is that why you did it?”

  Midas remained silent, he went back to gazing at the flames dancing in the fireplace.

  “He was a pathetic excuse of a king, too scared to let his kingdom know he was a fraud.”

  “Aren’t you any different?”

  Midas turned back to face Elizabeth, she’d said something she shouldn’t have.

  But she’d meant it, he was no different than their father, at least their father had shared a shred of kindness with her.

  The only things Midas had ever shared with her was violence and cruelty.

  “I more of a king than father ever was, and soon I will be the greatest king in all of Arion.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Why don’t I show you.”