Chapter 12
Elara
I rummaged through a drawer filled with books.
After going through the library, the study and the books that lined the parlour walls, I had yet to find anything resembling an old diary.
I’d never once thought this was going to be easy, but the more I looked, the more I doubted the diary even existed at all.
It was a long shot to begin with, but for the first time in what seemed like months, I felt something other than overwhelming fear or anger.
I felt hope, and it was difficult not to cling to it with every morsel of my being.
After signing a few documents and doing my correspondence that morning, I decided it was time to explore a room I’d purposely avoided since moving into the palace.
King Magnus’s sleeping chambers. The monarch’s rooms.
I’d grown up hating the man who I later discovered was my father.
I’d been taught to hate him by my uncle, who believed his brother was not fit for the throne.
And while many people suffered under Magnus’s rule, I’d never taken the time or spared the effort to get to know more about the man who’d spent years looking for me.
Maybe it was because I was afraid that I would discover something that would change my mind about him, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that.
But desperation does funny things to people sometimes and so I found myself venturing to the locked rooms of the old king.
It was much like I’d expected — expensive furnishings now covered in white sheets.
Large tapestries by fine artists, with long golden candlesticks placed about the room, gathering dust.
I’d opened one of the curtains, allowing just enough light to creep in so that I could see what I was doing.
Then, I started looking through everything.
There was a chest at the foot of the bed, another next to the fireplace, and a small desk in which I found nothing but some writing quills and blank pages.
No drawer or cupboard would escape my search, but so far, I’d yet to turn up anything worthwhile.
There was a knock at the door, causing me to jump and drop one of the books.
“Sorry.” Cai stepped into the room.
“You keep doing that.” I bent down to pick up the book.
“Doing what?” He closed the door behind him.
“Scaring me.” I started placing all the books back in the drawer.
“I don’t mean to.”
“I know. I guess I just don’t expect you to show up outside your rooms so out of the blue.”
After all, it had taken weeks just to get him to come out of his chambers in the first place.
Cai’s face contorted a little. “You’re right,” he said sheepishly.
“What are you doing here?” I pulled open the next drawer.
“I heard a ruckus, so I thought I’d come take a look.” Gosh, then I really must have been quite loud.
“I’ve been looking for the diary,” I informed him, inspecting the next drawer. It had a few hunting knives and some other knick-knacks inside.
“Any luck?”
I let out a sigh. “It would appear not.”
“Do you mind if I help you look?”
I turned to meet his eyes. “Of course not.” Ever since the kiss we’d had in his room, I felt like something in Cai had changed.
Nothing extraordinary, but I could see him trying, and I knew it must have taken a lot for him to get to that point.
I just wasn’t sure how to let him know that I appreciated it.
“What have you checked so far?”
“The chests, that desk.” I pointed to it. “That cupboard and these drawers.”
Cai made his way to another little side table that had a small drawer in it.
I shoved the drawer shut with some frustration, unsure of where to look next, when I noticed Cai running his hands along the fireplace.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for secret doors.”
“Secret doors?” I replied. “Do you really think there are secret doors in here?”
“Why wouldn’t there be?” He moved away from the fireplace and to the wall panels.
I knew about the passage in Norrandale’s palace that led away from the throne room. It was built for the safety of the kings and queens. But I couldn’t believe I hadn’t considered any other passageways in the palace.
“Wait, do you have a secret door in your rooms in Norrandale?” I asked, temporarily forgetting about my search for the diary.
Cai hesitated. “Not in my room, no, but there is a hidden passage from the king’s rooms, yes.” I’d forgotten that Cai had never moved into King Erik’s chambers, even long after he’d been crowned.
“And where does it lead?” I questioned, somewhat idiotically.
Cai looked over his shoulder for a moment before continuing his search. “The queen’s rooms,” he said softly.
Right.
“Any other secret hallways or rooms I should know about?” If we made it out of this mess alive, then Mistwood would be my home as well.
“There are a few in the palace but not many. Most of them just lead to the catacombs or the servants use it for . . . other activities.”
He cleared his throat, and I felt myself grow a little red. Being alone with him now, having this conversation, had my head running wild with ideas that were not going to help either of us in the moment.
“Well, let me know if you find something.” I walked to the other side of the room, when suddenly the wood underneath my feet made an odd sound. Almost like the panel was loose.
I stopped walking, taking a step back to see if it made the sound again, and it definitely did.
Cai looked at my little back-and-forth dance questioningly.
“What is it?”
“I think this piece of wood can be removed.”
I quickly bent down, and Cai hurried over, dropping onto his knees next to me. It took some effort but eventually we wiggled the wooden panel out of place and lifted it away from the floor.
Sure enough, hidden beneath the floor of the king’s room were many envelopes and folded letters.
“It’s not a diary,” Cai admitted with some defeat.
“But if he’s hidden it, it has to be valuable.”
We each picked up a piece of paper and I started scanning through.
To His Majesty, the King of Everness
I will not forget what happened last night. I can still feel your—
I quickly folded the letter, wishing I could unread what I just saw.
“This is not—”
“Political correspondence, no,” Cai said, going through one of the other papers. “These are letters between your father and his apparent mistress. Quite explicit letters, if I may say so.”
“Well, stop reading it.” I was so embarrassed I could bury myself under one of the floorboards.
“It’s not bad actually. Some of it is even quite poetic.”
“Put it away!” I hit him over the head with one of the envelopes I had in my hand and felt a chill crawl over me. This was something I’d really not like to think about. Much less read about in so much detail.
Cai let out a chuckle and it practically made me freeze. It had been months since I’d heard him laugh. I’d almost forgotten what it sounded like. I managed to forget my morbid embarrassment. After what we’d been through, I’d have given anything to keep seeing him smile.
Cai helped me put the letters back before returning the floorboard to its rightful position.
“I could have lived without knowing that. And we’re not at all closer to finding the diary.”
He looked around the room. “It has to be here somewhere in the palace.”
“Do you really think so?” I asked earnestly.
“I want to believe it but I’m afraid to . . .” He trailed off.
“Hope?” I asked and Cai nodded.
“I know. I’m afraid of getting disappointed again. But I know I have to try and do something. Even if it’s looking for some old diary that may or may not still exist.” While Everness was preparing its defences, I couldn’t sit and wait.
“Beating Aries on a battlefield won’t be enough. Not if he finds what he’s looking for.”
“He’s not going to stop until he finds the Myrgonite objects — just the thought of what he’ll do with them absolutely terrifies me.
Aries doesn’t have a morsel of sympathy or mercy in his heart.
He thrives on greed and power.” And there had been nothing but warnings regarding the magic used on the objects. I feared what Aries might do with it.
“I wonder what made him like that.” Based on my life experience, I had the tendency to believe monsters were made and not born.
“Do you know how Aries inherited his throne?” Cai asked and I shook my head.
“From what I heard, his father was a horribly cruel man. Apparently, he would beat Aries and his brother often.” The thought made me feel sympathy for Aries as a child, but that did not in any way justify the choices he’d made since.
“The pride in the kingdom of Argon lies in their army, in their men being the strongest warriors one could ever come across. So, when the heir to the throne turns eighteen, he is to fight the current king to prove his strength.” I had a bad feeling about where this was going.
“But Aries decided to kill his father that day, proving he was the stronger leader.”
I’d been betrayed by the people I cared about the most but never had it crossed my mind to end their lives. As if Cai could read my mind he said, “Hate makes people do desperate things sometimes.”
“We’re not beating Aries on a battlefield as long as we don’t have the numbers he does.” Just admitting it aloud sent a spiral of fear through my body. “We have to find those objects before he does, Cai. We need to make sure he never gets them.”
“In the story that I read about the king and queen, it said that the gemstones protected her, through assassination attempts and other attacks. In a way, it was like she’d become immortal. Until, of course, the very same stones killed her.”
“Aries wants to become undefeatable.”
Cai’s expression told me he knew I was right. “We have everything to lose. This is dangerous.”
“Yes, we do, but it’s like you said, Aries is not going to stop and we owe it to the people who have given their lives for us to be here.” I reached for where he sat on the floor next to me, and placed my hand atop his.
“For Jack?”
“For Jack.”