Chapter 29
The Palace of Levernia
Lara
I shut the door behind me gently, but still loud enough for Lance to hear. He turned from where he stood at a desk, twirling a small knife between his fingers. Lance was wearing his crown.
The study was cold and there was a hint of dust in the air, enough to make my nose wrinkle. It had taken longer than I wanted to find Lance, but once I had established he was not already apprehended, I asked the captured servants to tell me where he was.
“Come to kill me, have you?” There was a menacing tone in his voice.
“No,” I said earnestly. “Though I’m surprised no one else has.” I didn’t even have a weapon on me. My only dagger was in the leg of some poor guard I had to fight on the way here. Maybe I had lost my mind. “I have come to right the wrongs.”
He barked out a laugh. “I was wrong about you. You’re not like me — I understand what it takes to stay in power. Even if it requires sacrifice.”
My hands clenched to fists at my sides. “You’re wrong,” I protested. “An uprising was bound to happen. If it wasn’t Arthur, it would have been someone else.”
“Arthur.” He sighed. Then, jabbing the small knife into the desk, his smile was as sinister as I’d always known it to be, but that didn’t exactly do anything to calm my frantic pulse. Though I don’t quite know what unnerved me so when it came to Lance. After all, I had the upper hand now. Lance’s family was dead or missing. His palace was overthrown and I had simply made an effort to have this conversation with him so there would be a reckoning. This was my little revenge. This was me telling him that he would spend the rest of his life in misery.
“Arthur,” he said. “Our uncle did always have a more violent side, though he hid it well. But you would know better than I do, wouldn’t you, Elara?”
Elara.
My birth name. The name no one knew except my uncle.
I thought I was going to be sick, felt the breakfast I didn’t even have slowly rising up my throat. “How do you know my name? Why would you call Arthur your uncle?”
Lance smirked and I shivered. “I knew from the very moment I met you that you... that you were very clever, and yet you hadn’t managed to see the single most obvious thing in front of you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Exactly what you’re thinking.”
“You’re drunk, Lance,” I spat out. “You’re lying.”
“Drunk? Yes,” he said. “Lying, no. I’m afraid your worst fears have come true, dear sister.”
“I don’t believe you.” Lance was a maniac. He’d lost his mind.
“Look at the painting behind you and tell me I’m lying again.”
Somehow I knew I would regret turning around. But at the same time, I had to know. I moved my eyes away from him, slowly turning to face the wall behind me. And there it was... hanging above the door, a portrait of the prince and princess of Everness. A painting of Lance and Eloisa. Only Eloisa’s face was practically the spitting image of my own.
It was as if I could feel my blood turn ice-cold inside my body.
“Mother had two daughters.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“One was stillborn. Not the youngest, but the eldest. And the second resulted in Mother’s death.”
“No.”
“Only—”
“No!”
“She wasn’t stillborn.”
He looked me dead in the eye, and no matter how hard I searched for it, there wasn’t a hint of a lie on his face.
“But that is what the kingdom was told. That the child died along with our mother. To hide the fact that the eldest princess had been kidnapped on the day of her birth.”
I had forgotten how to breathe.
“Magnus’s younger brother, Arthur, had kidnapped his niece in a desperate attempt to get at his brother.”
I couldn’t say anything. Could not and would not believe a word that left his mouth.
“The King searched for his eldest daughter and his brother for years, but they could not be found. Until my father placed me in charge of hunting the masked bandit who had been pestering our kingdom. I sent my most trusted guard, Rhen, to go and find her, only to have him report she looked exactly like Princess Eloisa.”
He dropped into a reading chair and took the knife from the table. “I wanted to tell Father immediately, but it was too late. He was a sleeping corpse. And then I caught word of a rebellion. It took me some time to put all the pieces together but I finally figured it out. I assumed Uncle wouldn’t tell you the truth about your heritage, because you not knowing would aid him in his rebellion. Arthur was only Magnus’s half-brother and thus it was impossible for him to be king. But he’d always believed Magnus was never fit to rule the kingdom. And now he had an heir to the throne. Once he killed me and Father, he could rule through you and use you like his obedient little puppet.”
“You’re wrong,” I continued protesting. “He knew that this kingdom needed a leader who understood the will of the people.”
“You know why our army didn’t come to our defence?”
I didn’t answer.
“They’re across the northern seas, fighting alongside our allies in their own wars. I’d told Father not to send so many of our men. They’ve been there for months now.”
Uncle Arthur knew as much. It was one of the many reasons he chose to attack now.
“But everything you did?” I asked. “With Cai and the necklace?”
“It was a convenient way to meet you. We might be bound by blood but I had no knowledge of the kind of person you are or the relationship you have with Uncle. I figured in the worst-case scenario I could use the necklace against Arthur in some way.” He sighed. “But I guess there is no point now.”
“You’re telling me you had it all planned from the start?”
He stopped twiddling the knife between his fingers.
“Cai was the unfortunate soul that got caught in the middle. The bad blood has always been between our fathers. I knew you would eventually find your way back to Arthur, counted on it, in fact. I wanted him to think he’d won. Arthur had done a good job of staying in the shadows for the past two decades. I wanted to lure him out here so I could finally get rid of him. This was never going to end without blood.”
“He has won!” I shouted. “Look at you, your palace is overthrown, your crown is gone, you’re as good as dead.”
“I never wanted the crown,” he admitted. “But I cannot have that man take over everything my family has fought so long to protect.”
This was too much to take in. I didn’t know what to do with all this information.
“You used me,” I finally said. “You used me, and you hurt me and you killed people.”
“If you’re talking about the young guard who was punished for letting you get away, that was actually a scare tactic. I only had him on kitchen duty for a few days.”
And what about Rhen? I couldn’t get the words out.
“I never claimed to be a good man,” he continued. “And we both know you would smile happily upon my grave.” I couldn’t argue with him there. “But as I’ve told you many times, this life requires sacrifice in order to survive, and sometimes, the sacrifice is your soul.”
“Well, I want nothing to do with it or any of you. I never wanted this.”
He tilted his head slightly, inspecting me. “You might no longer have a choice.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant but I didn’t want to consider it. I wanted to be far away from this place and these people.
“For a while I thought Cai might have told you,” Lance continued and it felt as though my heart had stopped beating.
“What?” I said softly.
He sucked his teeth. “Oh yes, Cai has known for a while now, actually. Didn’t think he’d be smart enough to figure it out and I’m still not sure what gave it away.”
I opened my mouth, but the library doors burst open and a few of Uncle’s men stormed in. They grabbed Lance but he didn’t fight back.
“What should we do with him?”
I was surprised they looked to me for an answer. I almost responded that we should ask Uncle Arthur but decided against it.
“Take him to the prison. Everness no longer has a king.”
* * *
I sat with my back against one of the stone pillars in the throne room, head in my hands. Lance’s words kept ringing inside my head, over and over like a nightmare that would not stop. He was a horrible person who’d done horrible things and yet...
He was my brother and I’d been lied to my entire life by the one man I called my family.
“Lara?” I looked up at the sound of a voice that had haunted my dreams. He stood facing me in the throne room, with a somewhat confused expression.
“Rhen?” I wiped something from my face. I wasn’t sure if it was tears, sweat or blood.
“Rhen, I thought you were dead.” I wouldn’t have put it past myself to start seeing ghosts at this point.
“No, who told you that?” He helped me into a standing position.
“Lance did. He said he was going to hang you.” But Rhen was there, standing in front of me and very much alive.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but Lance only put me in prison.” Why did Lance say he was going to kill Rhen if he didn’t? And why did he appear to want to be my ally against Uncle? It didn’t make sense at all. Nothing made sense anymore.
“I don’t even know what’s going on. I need to speak with my uncle.”
I made for the entrance of the throne room, but Rhen held me by my shoulders.
“Didn’t you hear?” he asked.
“Hear what?” I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Arthur’s dead, Lara. I’m sorry, but he didn’t make it past the courtyard.”
I froze. “No, that can’t be right. Look again.” I went for the door, but Rhen held me.
“I’m sorry, Lara.”
A tear rolled down my cheek. “He can’t be gone. I need to talk to him.”
“Did Lance tell you?”
“The truth? Yes.”
Rhen looked me dead in the eye. “Lara, listen to me. Arthur’s gone, Lance is in prison and likely to abdicate the throne, and Eloisa is still missing.”
I dropped to the floor from exhaustion or shock, maybe both. Rhen bent down to my level. “You are the heir to the throne of Everness now.”
* * *
I was lying on a bed in one of the rooms, my face streaked with tears. It could have been hours or minutes or days, I didn’t care. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, to look at anyone. I just wanted to lie on this bed while I wished the world would disappear. The rebels had taken charge of the palace, Lance was in a cell and Uncle was dead. More importantly, I was a princess, and I didn’t know what to make of any of it.
There was a soft knock on the door and I groaned out, “Go away.”
When the person knocked again, I turned my head away from the pillow so that I could call out. “Rhen, I said I didn’t want to see any—”
The door opened and Cai stood there with a worried expression. I sat up quickly. In the chaos of everything I didn’t have time to consider what this meant for his kingdom but, of all people, I wasn’t particularly eager to see him at this moment. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
“I came to see how you were doing. Rhen said you’d been in here for a couple of hours.”
And I had no intention of leaving any time soon.
I wiped my palms across my wet cheeks.
“I thought you’d be gone by now.” Cai frowned at my words. “I heard about your mother,” I explained, part of me wanting to say I was sorry about the sad news, but I was overwhelmed by my anger and frustration.
“Yes.” Cai let out a heavy sigh. “But I wasn’t going to leave before making sure you’re okay.”
When I didn’t respond, he walked over to the bed. “Did I do something? You look angry.”
“Angry doesn’t begin to cover it,” I blurted out, standing up. “How long have you known, Cai?”
His skin was pale and his beautiful blond hair was covered in specks of blood and dirt. He wasn’t having a much better day than I was but that didn’t mean I was going to excuse him.
“What?”
“How long have you known?” I asked, louder this time. “How long have you been lying to me about my family?”
“Who told—”
“Lance told me, of course.” I considered for a moment that Lance could have been lying but he had no good reason to lie about something like this. “How could you?” I asked with a hint of desperation. “How could you keep something like that from me? How did you even find out?”
“There is a painting, in Woodsbrook Manor, of the royal children when they were young. Because you and Eloisa look so much alike, I wouldn’t have noticed the difference if it had not been for the lack of a birthmark on her portrait.” He gestured to the place on my neck. “I considered that maybe the artist had done it on purpose, so I asked you questions about Eloisa, pretending that we’d corresponded, and I realised you were lying about who you are.”
It made sense. He’d started acting strangely at Woodsbrook and practically interrogated me when we’d been on the hunt.
“And then I began to wonder why you would lie to me. But Lance confirmed it that night in the cellars. I thought you knew who you were and that you were just pretending to be your sister for whatever reason. But then we fled, and it became clear you had no idea you were related to the royal family. It’s why I’d always been so suspicious of Arthur, knowing he must have had something to do with it.”
“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me.” Especially if he’d suspected it since Woodsbrook.
“I didn’t know if I could trust you, in the beginning. And once I did, there never seemed to be a good time.”
“No, I don’t think there’s ever a good time to tell somebody something like that but it gave you no right to hide it from me,” I said sternly.
“You would never have believed me!” Cai cried out. “And you hate the monarchy. You wanted nothing to do with this life.”
I rubbed my eyes with my hands, trying to keep the tears at bay. “It doesn’t matter now, what I wanted.” Turning my back to Cai, to face the window, I asked him, “Do you have any idea what it’s like to be told your entire life has been a lie?”
“I’m sorry, Lara—”
“Just go, Cai,” I said quickly, before I started crying again. “Go to your mother and your kingdom. They need you now.”
He sighed. “I hope you can forgive me.”
I heard the door close behind him.
* * *
The following morning, I was up bright and early, having not slept much the night before. There was a half-empty vase and ceramic basin in the room I’d occupied. I splashed my face with some cold water, hoping to scrub away the dirt and blood from the day before.
Cordelia walked into the room as I was retying my hair. She must have come to the palace once the commotion had died down. I could only imagine how overjoyed she was upon finding out her brother was unharmed.
“How are you doing?” she asked carefully.
“You know, I’ve been better.”
“His Highness and his soldiers are leaving.”
It was as if my heart skipped a beat. Cai was actually leaving. Of course, I knew he had to and I was still too furious to talk to him. But after spending every day in each other’s presence for so long, it wasn’t easy to imagine him being in a different kingdom again.
“I know what he did wasn’t right. But I think you should say goodbye to him.”
“I should,” I agreed. Or at the very least see him off. I headed for the door but Cordelia stepped in my way.
“There’s one more thing.” She hesitated for a moment. “I’m going with them.”
“What?”
“I’m going to Norrandale with Jack.”
I shouldn’t have been so surprised. Jack and Cordelia had been infatuated with each other long before any of us had the brains to figure it out.
“What does your brother say about this?”
“He’s not overly fond of the idea but he knows it will make me happy.”
The past few weeks had been a whirlwind. It felt as though Cordelia and I had barely had time to talk to each other. She had been there for me in many more ways than I deserved.
“I’m going to miss you,” I admitted. “You were a good lady-in-waiting, but more than that, you’re a good friend.”
She gave me a tight hug. “I’m going to miss you too.” Cordelia pulled back and held me at arm’s length. “Promise me we’ll write to each other?”
“Promise.”
“Very well,” she said with a sad smile. “Come and see me off then.”
We made our way to the front of the palace where a few horses had already been saddled, ready for their journey.
Cai and Jack made sure all their weapons were in place while Alastor checked one of the horse’s reins.
Jack looked up with a smile when he saw Cordelia approach.
“Are you ready?” he asked her.
She nodded with a wide grin and after greeting her brother, Jack helped her onto one of the horses.
I remained standing at the bottom step, unsure of what to do with my hands.
Cai walked over and my chest tightened.
“Well, goodbye then.”
I cleared my throat, unsure how to respond. There were too many things running through my head.
“Have a safe journey.”
There was something like hurt in Cai’s eyes, and I wanted to tell him it wasn’t fair. He didn’t get to be hurt or sad when he was the one who’d lied to me, regardless of what his reasoning might have been.
I’d been too overwhelmed the previous day to have a proper discussion and now it was too late.
“Thank you. Best of luck with—” He gestured with his head to the palace behind me and I suppressed a sigh, not wanting to be reminded of my predicament.
“Goodbye, Cai.”
Once everyone had mounted, the party heading for Norrandale was off. Cordelia gave a little wave over her shoulder to which I waved back. I watched their horses walk further and further away until the prince of Norrandale disappeared from my sight.