Chapter 2
I had imagined meeting King Aldric many times.
In most versions, he was powerful.
Terrifying.
Untouchable.
The man I saw that afternoon was none of those things.
He looked old.
Not simply elderly.
Broken.
He lay beneath white blankets in a chamber larger than my entire childhood home, yet the size of the room only made him appear smaller.
Prince Adrian stood beside the bed.
Duke Harrow had been forbidden from entering.
That decision alone had sent rumors racing through the palace.
I remained near the door.
The king's eyes opened.
Cloudy blue.
Weak.
But intelligent.
He saw Adrian first.
"My son?"
"I'm here."
Then his gaze moved beyond him.
To me.
His breathing changed.
"Helena?"
I swallowed.
"No, Your Majesty."
The king blinked.
I stepped forward.
"I'm Elara."
His expression crumpled.
"Her daughter."
"Yes."
He stared at the silver seal on my dress.
A tear appeared in the corner of one eye.
Adrian saw it.
So did I.
"Father," Adrian said carefully, "why did you ask for Lady Helena?"
The king looked toward the physician.
"Out."
The man bowed.
Two guards remained.
Aldric pointed weakly.
"Them too."
Adrian hesitated.
"Father—"
"Out."
The guards obeyed.
Only the three of us remained.
The king looked at me.
"Is Helena alive?"
"Yes."
His eyes closed.
A sound escaped him.
Not quite a sob.
More like relief after holding pain too long.
"I knew it."
Adrian stared at him.
"You knew?"
"I hoped."
"Father, she was convicted of plotting to kill you."
The king opened his eyes.
"No."
Adrian went still.
"What?"
"She saved me."
My pulse roared.
I moved closer.
"From what?"
The king's fingers trembled against the blankets.
"Poison."
Adrian's face hardened.
"You were poisoned?"
"Years ago."
"By Helena?"
"No."
The king's gaze sharpened.
"Helena discovered it."
I remembered my mother's scars.
Thin white lines across her left forearm.
She always said they came from training.
Maybe they hadn't.
Aldric continued.
"She was one of the First Crown."
Adrian looked at me.
The seal.
"Her name was erased."
"Yes."
"By whom?"
The king said nothing.
He didn't have to.
I whispered, "Harrow."
Aldric closed his eyes again.
Adrian stepped back.
"No."
His denial sounded like mine had years ago whenever my mother called Duke Harrow dangerous.
Harrow had served the royal family longer than Adrian had been alive.
He helped govern the kingdom during the king's illnesses.
He advised the council.
He had practically raised the prince after Adrian's mother died.
Adrian looked toward me.
"This proves nothing."
I felt anger flare.
"Your father just said my mother saved his life."
"It does not prove Harrow framed her."
The king's hand struck the bed weakly.
"He did."
Adrian froze.
Aldric coughed violently.
I reached for the water before Adrian did.
The king drank.
When his breathing settled, he looked at his son.
"Harrow knew Helena discovered the poison."
"Then why wasn't he arrested?"
"Because I was a coward."
The room went silent.
Kings weren't supposed to say such things.
Aldric stared toward the windows.
"Your mother had just died."
Adrian's face tightened.
"I remember."
"You were eight."
"I remember."
"The kingdom was unstable."
Aldric's voice became rough.
"Harrow controlled half the council. The army was divided. Helena told me she needed time to find proof."
I leaned closer.
"What happened?"
"Harrow acted first."
My mother's arrest.
The trial.
The disgrace.
Aldric continued.
"He accused Helena of creating the poison herself."
"Why didn't you stop him?"
Pain crossed his face.
"Because the evidence looked real."
I stepped back.
"My mother lost everything."
"I know."
"My father died believing she was a traitor."
Aldric looked at me sharply.
"No."
My breath caught.
"What?"
"Your father knew."
I stared at him.
"He knew Helena was innocent."
"Then why didn't he defend her?"
"He tried."
My stomach tightened.
My father had died from a riding accident three months after my mother's exile.
At least, that was what I had always been told.
The king's next words changed the shape of my childhood.
"His death was no accident."
I stopped breathing.
Adrian whispered, "Father."
Aldric looked at me.
"I'm sorry."
My knees weakened.
I grabbed the chair beside the bed.
"My father was murdered?"
"I believe so."
"By Harrow?"
"I could never prove it."
I thought of my father laughing as he carried me through our orchard.
I remembered waiting at the window for him to come home.
I remembered my aunt kneeling to tell me his horse had thrown him.
All these years, I had mourned an accident.
Now rage burned through the grief.
"Where is the proof?"
Aldric studied the key around my neck.
"Helena kept it."
I touched the iron key.
"So this opens something."
"Yes."
"What?"
The king struggled to sit higher.
"Under the old chapel."
Adrian stared.
"There are no chambers under the chapel."
Aldric smiled faintly.
"Not on the plans."
My pulse quickened.
"What's there?"
"A vault."
"What kind of vault?"
"The First Crown kept records outside the official archives."
Adrian swore quietly.
I looked at him.
He ignored me.
The king continued.
"If Helena gave you the key, she believes the vault remains untouched."
"What is inside?"
"Evidence."
"Of my father's murder?"
"Perhaps."
"Of the poison?"
"Yes."
"Of Harrow?"
The king looked toward the closed door.
"Enough to destroy half the council."
I almost laughed.
Not from humor.
From disbelief.
My mother had sent me into the palace wearing a seal that could expose a conspiracy reaching through the highest families in Valoria.
And she hadn't told me.
Adrian paced away from the bed.
"Why now?"
I turned.
"What?"
"Why send you now?"
His suspicion had returned.
"Maybe because the king is dying."
The words sounded cruel.
Aldric didn't react.
Adrian did.
"My father is not dying."
Aldric gave a tired smile.
"Everyone is dying."
"Father."
"But I am doing it faster."
Adrian looked shattered for one second.
Then the prince returned.
Controlled.
Cold.
He faced me.
"If this vault exists, we'll open it."
"We?"
"Yes."
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"You think I'm giving you the key?"
"This is my palace."
"It's my mother's evidence."
"Our kingdom."
"My dead father."
That silenced him.
Aldric watched us.
Then he almost smiled.
"Good."
Both of us turned.
"What?" Adrian asked.
The king pointed between us.
"Neither trusts the other."
He took a painful breath.
"That may keep you alive."
I didn't like that sentence.
Neither did Adrian.
A knock came.
The physician's voice sounded through the door.
"Your Majesty, the council is demanding an update."
Aldric's eyes hardened.
"Of course they are."
Adrian moved toward him.
"I'll handle them."
The king caught his wrist.
"No."
"Father?"
"Do not trust Harrow."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"I heard you."
"No."
Aldric pulled him closer.
"You still think of him as family."
Adrian looked away.
The king's voice dropped.
"That is why he is dangerous."
A cold silence followed.
Then Aldric looked at me.
"Elara."
"Yes?"
"Your mother once told me you had your father's eyes."
Emotion hit me unexpectedly.
"She says that too."
His fingers loosened around Adrian.
"Tell Helena..."
He stopped.
His eyes closed.
The room went still.
"Father?"
Adrian leaned down.
"Father."
The king breathed.
Weakly.
Still alive.
Adrian exhaled.
The physician rushed in moments later.
We were forced from the chamber.
Outside, Duke Harrow waited.
He shouldn't have been there.
But there he stood.
Perfect black coat.
Silver hair.
Calm smile.
His eyes moved from Adrian to me.
Then to the key at my throat.
"How touching," he said.
Adrian stiffened.
Harrow bowed.
"Your Highness, the council awaits."
Adrian stared at the man who had helped raise him.
"What happened to Lady Helena Vale?"
Harrow's expression didn't change.
"She betrayed your father."
"The king says otherwise."
For the first time, Harrow's smile weakened.
Only slightly.
Then he looked at me.
"Ill men say strange things."
I stepped closer.
"And guilty men fear old keys."
His eyes dropped to my necklace.
A mistake.
Tiny.
But real.
Adrian saw it.
Harrow recovered instantly.
"I have no idea what you're suggesting."
"Good."
I smiled.
"Then you won't mind when we open what it belongs to."
His gaze became cold.
Adrian stepped between us.
"We're done."
Harrow bowed.
"Of course."
He walked away.
I watched him disappear around the corridor.
Adrian turned toward me.
"We open the vault tonight."
I looked at him.
"You suddenly believe me?"
"No."
May you like
His eyes followed Harrow.
"But I finally believe he's afraid of you."
