Chapter 5
I slapped Duke Harrow.
I didn't plan it.
I didn't regret it.
The sound cracked through the royal chamber.
Every guard stared at me.
Harrow slowly turned his face back toward mine.
"Say my mother's name again."
Adrian caught my arm before I could strike him twice.
"Elara."
"He knows where she is."
"I know."
Harrow smiled through a split lip.
"Temper."
"Careful."
I leaned toward him.
"My mother trained me to do worse than slap."
Rowan dragged Harrow away.
Adrian followed him with his eyes.
Then he turned toward the king.
"Father."
Aldric looked exhausted.
"You said Lucien is alive."
The king nodded.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Adrian's face tightened.
"How can you know he's alive if you don't know where he is?"
Aldric closed his eyes.
"Helena."
My pulse jumped.
Adrian looked at me.
"Your mother knew?"
I shook my head.
"She never mentioned Lucien."
The king struggled to speak.
"She took him."
Silence.
I stared.
"My mother took your son?"
"Saved."
Aldric breathed painfully.
"She saved him."
Adrian backed away.
"No."
The king reached toward him.
"Harrow wanted both heirs controlled."
Adrian stared at nothing.
"Why would Helena take Lucien and leave me?"
The question sounded less like a prince's.
More like a little boy's.
Aldric's face broke.
"Because she could only reach one of you."
Adrian looked at his father.
"What?"
"The palace was locked down."
Aldric's voice weakened.
"Harrow's men were everywhere."
"How old was Lucien?"
"Four."
Adrian's eyes closed.
He had been ten.
Old enough to remember a brother disappearing.
Young enough to believe the adults who said he died.
The king continued.
"Helena learned Harrow planned to stage Lucien's death."
"Why?"
"To control the succession."
Adrian looked toward the door where Harrow had vanished.
"If I became king, Harrow expected to control me."
Aldric nodded.
"And if he couldn't?"
I remembered the ledger.
Replace.
Lucien.
A hidden second prince could become a weapon.
Aldric whispered, "He would produce Lucien when useful."
My stomach turned.
"But Helena destroyed that plan."
"Yes."
Adrian stared at me.
"So your mother has been hiding my brother for seventeen years."
"I didn't know."
"How could you not know?"
Anger flared.
"I was a child too!"
He turned away.
I immediately regretted shouting.
But I wouldn't carry guilt for secrets adults created.
The king pointed weakly toward me.
"Helena protected you both."
"Then where is she?"
I asked.
Aldric shook his head.
"Only she knows."
Captain Rowan returned.
"Harrow is secured."
"Good."
Adrian's voice became princely again.
Cold.
Controlled.
"Question him."
"We already started."
"Find Lucien."
Rowan hesitated.
"There's more."
"What?"
"Harrow's supporters are leaving the palace."
Adrian's expression darkened.
"Seal the gates."
"Some already escaped."
The conspiracy was breaking apart.
That made it dangerous.
Cornered people didn't become reasonable.
They became desperate.
I looked at the king.
"My mother sent me here now because she knew this would happen."
Adrian turned.
"Then she expected us to find the vault."
"Yes."
"And Harrow."
"Probably."
"And Lucien."
I touched the iron key.
"Maybe."
We returned to my mother's letter.
There was more written on the back.
I hadn't noticed in the dark.
When the hawk shows its claws, go where the river runs beneath the mountain.
Adrian read it twice.
"That could mean anywhere."
"No."
I knew.
My mother used to take me riding north every summer.
There was one place she never allowed me to explore.
Blackridge.
A mountain split by an underground river.
"She used to disappear there."
Adrian looked at me.
"Your mother?"
"Once every year."
"How long?"
"Two days."
My heartbeat increased.
I had believed she visited an old friend.
Maybe she visited a prince.
"We leave tonight."
Adrian stared.
"You aren't coming."
I laughed.
"You really don't know me."
"The kingdom is unstable."
"It's my mother."
"And my brother."
"Then try keeping up."
He almost argued.
Then smiled.
Not cruelly.
For real.
"Fine."
We traveled with six guards under Rowan's command.
No royal banners.
No carriages.
Only horses.
Adrian had changed into plain riding clothes.
Without silk, jewels, and servants, he looked less like the arrogant prince who had mocked me in court.
More human.
I wasn't sure I preferred it.
Human men were easier to care about.
That was dangerous.
We reached Blackridge after dawn.
The mountain rose above pine forests.
A narrow path led toward the river.
I remembered it.
At thirteen, I had followed my mother halfway up before she caught me.
She wasn't angry.
She was terrified.
Now I understood why.
We found the entrance behind a waterfall.
Rowan wanted to go first.
I refused.
The cave opened into a hidden valley.
A house stood there.
Smoke rose from the chimney.
My heart hammered.
"Mother."
I ran.
Adrian followed.
The door opened before I reached it.
A tall woman stepped outside.
Silver threaded through her dark hair.
A scar crossed her left eyebrow.
My mother.
Helena Vale.
She looked at me.
Then at Adrian.
Her face changed.
"You found the vault."
I stopped in front of her.
"You knew I would."
"I hoped."
I wanted to hug her.
I also wanted to scream.
Instead, I said, "You could have told me I was carrying the fate of the kingdom in my dress."
She almost smiled.
"Would you have gone?"
"Probably."
"Then the result is the same."
I threw my arms around her.
For one moment, I was nine again.
She held me.
Strong.
Warm.
Alive.
Then Adrian spoke.
"Where is my brother?"
My mother released me.
She looked at him for a long time.
"You have Aldric's eyes."
Adrian's jaw clenched.
"Where is Lucien?"
A man's voice came from inside.
"Here."
We all turned.
He stepped into the doorway.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Broad-shouldered.
He looked so much like Adrian that Rowan actually inhaled sharply.
But Lucien's expression was different.
Less guarded.
More curious.
He stared at Adrian.
Adrian stared back.
Seventeen years vanished between them.
Lucien spoke first.
"You got taller."
Adrian's mouth opened.
No sound came.
Lucien smiled weakly.
"You used to steal my blankets."
Adrian's eyes filled.
"You remember me?"
"Some things."
Adrian crossed the distance in three steps.
Then stopped.
He seemed unsure whether he was allowed to touch him.
Lucien solved it.
He embraced his brother.
Adrian broke.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
His shoulders simply collapsed.
He held Lucien like someone holding back seventeen years of grief.
I looked at my mother.
Tears stood in her eyes too.
But the reunion lasted only a moment.
Hoofbeats thundered beyond the waterfall.
Rowan drew his sword.
My mother went pale.
"Inside."
Adrian turned.
"Who is it?"
Helena grabbed a bow from beside the doorway.
Her voice became the one I remembered from training.
Calm.
May you like
Deadly.
"Harrow's men."
