Chapter 30
Bear could feel nothing but a burning rage invading every fibre of his being as he paced the dining room.
Raven, Wynter, Cary, Trinn, Elbar, and Scarlen were all sitting at the long oak table awaiting Lancen’s explanation.
She lied. She fucking lied to me. He could barely breathe, let alone look at the one he thought was his fated mate.
It was hard enough her being the general’s daughter, but the king’s?
The fucking king. He was sure if he didn’t calm soon, he would explode.
Lancen stood and cleared her throat, her soft smile fixed on her sister while Wynter used her hand to try to coax Bear into one of the ornate chairs.
Bear was way too agitated to sit for a chat, even if he did want answers. ‘You knew,’ he spat at Scarlen, unable to hold in his temper any longer.
Scarlen said nothing, and it was clear her mind was occupied with Lancen.
‘You knew in prison how much hate I have for the king,’ continued Bear. ‘So why didn’t you stay away from me? I can see why you couldn’t have anyone knowing your truth, but you knew, so why make friends with me?’ He slammed his fist into his chest. ‘Me!’
He had every right to be angry, but Scarlen set the record straight. ‘You claimed me. Remember?’
Bear scoffed, almost choking himself on the many things he wanted to say all at once. ‘Only because the general told me you were his daughter and if I looked after you, my sister would get a king’s pardon.’
Wynter covered her mouth with her fingertips. ‘Oh, Bear. Why didn’t you tell me?’
Raven gave her arm a gentle squeeze. ‘We wanted to keep you out of it. We hoped we would escape so wouldn’t need the pardon, but Bear took on Scarlen in case things went wrong.’
Scarlen was quite sure her heart ran away to hide. All that time she thought Bear cared, and there he was keeping up his end of a deal. She wasn’t sure who she was angrier at, him or her father for orchestrating the whole thing. ‘Just a deal, was I?’
Bear huffed. ‘That’s how it started.’ Then he turned away from her.
‘Horstal?’ Lancen questioned Scarlen.
‘I ran away from home. Lost my money to a pickpocket, then got arrested for stealing food when I got hungry.’
Lancen reached for her hand. ‘And Father left you in prison?’
‘Don’t sound so surprised, Lanni. You know what he’s like. He sent Milon there for six months. He was going to send me anyway at some point.’
Wynter asked the question most were thinking. ‘Why would your father do that to you?’
How could she reply? There was so much to say, and none of it welcome, as trauma ran deep in all the king’s children.
Lancen spoke on her behalf. ‘Our father is a complicated man.’
Scarlen scoffed. ‘She’s being polite.’ Turning to her sister, she added, ‘I don’t want to speak about him. Tell me about you. They only found Mother’s body. I was told you were washed out to sea.’ The memory tightened her lungs as though she were the one drowning.
Bear perched upon a window seat, his gaze on the violet tapestries, the thick gilded frames on the wall, the clear pane, anything but Scarlen.
‘What I’m about to say involves you all.’ Lancen sat, her voice a little wobbly. ‘I don’t know where to start.’
‘Try the beginning,’ snapped Raven, and Wynter nudged him.
‘I’m not sure where that is,’ Lancen told him honestly. ‘But let me start with the book.’
‘What book?’ asked Scarlen.
Lancen inhaled deeply. ‘The House of Knight book.’
All eyes were upon her as the old story of knights and wyrmocs stirred.
‘I’ll explain,’ added Lancen. ‘I used to love exploring the palace, especially the areas I wasn’t allowed.
One day, I found a secret passageway that led to a room where I found the House of Knight book.
Curious, I read some and quickly realised its power, so I ran and got my mother.
I read some to her, and she told me not to speak of it, but then my father appeared, livid with me.
It got so bad, my mother had to hold him off me, and I ran, finding myself on the clifftop, but he came after me, yelling that I couldn’t tell a soul what I had read.
I said I wouldn’t tell, but he didn’t want to take any chances, so he pushed me off the cliff. ’
Scarlen gasped in horror, her insides shaking at the image.
‘My mother jumped into the sea to rescue me.’ Lancen swallowed hard, then straightened her shoulders. ‘It was a stormy evening, dark with fierce waves. I saw her only once, the moment her head hit the rocks, killing her on impact, then I was swept away.’
Scarlen cuddled her sister close. Tears threatening again. ‘I’m so sorry, Lanni. So sorry.’
Lancen pulled back, her sweet smile in place, eyes wide as if blinking would break a dam. ‘I woke on a boat, then blacked out and woke again in a bed. A kind healer had taken me to his home in Borough Mids. I was there until I was well enough to travel north to find Ranola.’
‘I’m sorry your father tried to kill you,’ said Raven, ‘but this is the part I’m interested in. Why did you seek out Ranola?’
‘The book showed me her name. Her husband’s name, Blyton. That he was the bookkeeper.’ Lancen sighed, looking sorrowful. ‘Wyrmocs are real, and so are the knights who can slay them.’
Silence fell for a long moment.
Lancen continued. ‘The book writes itself as the story unfolds, so it documents each knight and the bookkeeper. There are five knights, all shapeshifters, and when each one was born, the bookkeeper knew where to find them. He brought them here, told their parents the truth, but he wanted their identity to stay hidden until all five knights were together and old enough to train.’
Trinn glanced around the table. ‘Are you telling us these mythical knights are here in our village?’
Lancen shook her head. ‘Four of them are right here in this room.’ Everyone looked at each other, then Lancen continued with the story.
‘Ranola kept her husband’s wishes after he died and didn’t tell you.
But she wanted to. She just needed to find the fifth knight before the wyrmocs arrived, hoping the five knights could fight them together. ’
‘Who are the knights?’ asked Wynter.
Lancen pointed at each one in turn. ‘Raven, Trinn, Cary, and Bear.’
Wynter seemed to be the only one able to form words. ‘And what do you know of the fifth?’
‘All I know is your father was murdered on his way from the fifth knight’s home, bringing the family here, the day of your birth, Wyn. He was found dead with the parents, but the baby was missing.’
Wynter was still the only one to speak. ‘Your father has my father’s book, so it’s safe to say it was the king who killed him, right?’ The confirmation was needed, and Lancen nodded. ‘So the king stole the baby?’
‘Yes, because a witch told him he could use a knight’s power to rule wyrmocs. Apparently, she found such a statement in some old scriptures. It’s what he told me when he caught me with the book. He tried to get me onside at first, but I was too afraid and ran.’
Wynter glanced around the table before returning her eyes to Lancen, who looked a thousand ways sorry. ‘The king actually believes he can control wyrmocs?’
‘With a knight, he can raise them from the ground before they are due to wake.’
‘So why hasn’t he?’ asked Wynter.
‘I don’t know why. I didn’t get to read all of the book. But I assume he has to wait until she is older.’
Wynter quirked a brow. ‘She?’
‘Yes, the book said a baby girl was born to the north. A dragon shifter.’
Raven finally found some words. ‘But there has never been a dragon shifter before. Dragons are just as mythical as wyrmocs.’
Lancen smiled softly. ‘Ranola said the same thing.’
‘What else did Ranola say?’ asked Cary, his arm muscles flexing in anger, the dark, intricate tattoos on his pale skin almost dancing.
‘With my help, she planned to break into the palace and take back the book, then she would know where the girl was, as the book would have documented her journey. Then Ranola was going to save the knight.’
Scarlen looked to Bear, who was still staring blankly out the window. ‘So that’s why they were at the palace. Not to kidnap me.’
Lancen bobbed her head, then turned to Raven. ‘And Ranola only told a few of the elders. You weren’t supposed to follow her. The book writes about your life as it takes place. With one look, the king would have known you were on your way to his home.’
Bear stood abruptly. ‘I killed them.’
‘It wasn’t your fault,’ said Wynter.
‘But it was my idea to follow them, help them. Try to be the hero. I had Rav and Ox and Harlex join me, and if I’d just stayed home after overhearing my mother’s plan to steal something from the palace, she would have succeeded.’
Raven scowled at Lancen. ‘Or if this wasn’t kept from us, we wouldn’t have followed.
’ Before she could respond, he added, ‘I know it was Blyton’s wish for us to remain in the dark until the five of us were united, but we could have been training from childhood, been ready to help save the fifth knight, done something.
’ He slammed his fists on the table. ‘I’ll not have Bear carry such guilt. We should have been told.’
Bear stormed out the room, and Scarlen stood, not knowing whether to go after him, but Wynter gave a subtle shake of the head in warning to leave him alone, so Scarlen slid back to her seat, feeling useless and afraid for her sister being so mixed up in their father’s cruelty.
Elbar filled the silence. ‘As there have been no reports of dragons soaring the sky, we know the king has a Ring on the knight.’ She huffed loudly. ‘I curse my ancestor who invented those Rings.’
Scarlen frowned at her friend. ‘Rings anyone can use?’
‘No, not anyone. You’d have to be part of our bloodline.’
‘Wait, is Jesserlie a relative of yours?’ asked Scarlen, eyes wide with shock.
‘I don’t like your tone, Smithson. We can’t choose our family. I’m sure if we could, you wouldn’t have picked your father.’
Scarlen found she had no argument.
Trinn was the next to stand. ‘This is a lot for us to take in all at once. We will talk again at dinner, but for now, let’s take a breath and figure out our next move later.’ Cary and Raven followed her out of the room.
Elbar asked the ones left to gather close. ‘Scarlen could go back to the palace and retrieve the book easily. She knows her way around better than most.’
‘Actually, I was confined to my quarters.’
‘We have a reveal day on our twentieth birthday,’ explained Lancen. ‘Until then, our father likes to keep his children out of sight.’
‘Why?’ asked Wynter.
‘So we look fresh and untouched by life for our future spouse,’ said Lancen. ‘There is a huge masked ball in our honour, where we have the unveiling, then our father chooses three men he thinks suitable to court us for two months, then we marry one. That’s the life of a princess.’
Scarlen wrinkled her nose at the tradition. ‘Another reason I ran away.’
‘Princes can choose their own partners,’ added Lancen. ‘Not that my brother has. Well, there’s been no word of an engagement.’
‘He’s too busy fighting Father’s wars, that’s why.’
Lancen turned to Elbar. ‘And now you want my sister to join the battle. That’s what you’ll be doing, Ria, if you go home. I can tell you where he has the book, but if he catches you, he’ll kill you to keep his secret safe. Look what he did to me.’
Scarlen fiddled with the bottom of Bear’s sweatshirt, keeping her warm as thoughts of returning to the palace overwhelmed her. ‘If I went back, said I parted ways with all who escaped, it’s possible my father will send me straight back to prison to finish my sentence.’
Lancen gasped with excitement, her hand covering her mouth as a moment of realisation occurred. ‘He would have taken you out of prison in a few days, Ria. It’s your twentieth birthday next week, and there’s no way he’d risk not showing that off to the kingdom.’
Scarlen had completely forgotten about her birthday, what with everything going on around her.
‘So she’d be safe?’ asked Wynter.
Elbar chuckled. ‘More than safe, I would say, because if there’s a ball to be planned, then there’ll be a lot of fuss going on, and what a perfect time to go book hunting unseen.’
Scarlen agreed. ‘I could do it. Go back, pretend I’ve changed, grab the book and run.’
Lancen didn’t look convinced. ‘He knows you well, Ria. He might not believe you’ve changed.’
‘Horstal changed Milon. Stripped him of his personality and turned him into one of Father’s warriors.
So why not me? I can fool him. All I need is for you to tell me where he has the book hidden, a boat ready to take me away the night of the ball, and some way to get there before my birthday so we can have the ball. ’
‘I’ll fly you there,’ said Raven, appearing in the doorway. ‘Right now, but Bear isn’t to know.’
Scarlen frowned. ‘But if my father reads the book, he’ll know we’re there together.’
Lancen shook her head. ‘It will just show that Raven flew over, then left, as it will only record his movements, not yours. Besides, Father probably doesn’t check the book daily.’
Scarlen wasn’t sure about keeping any more secrets from Bear, but perhaps it was for the best if he was left out of their plan.
He was hurting for many reasons, and the last thing she wanted was for him to be involved in another dangerous scheme.
Once she brought the book back, they could all get together and find a way to save the fifth knight.
‘Okay,’ she replied. ‘Just let me get dressed.’
‘The king could have the knight hidden anywhere in the kingdom,’ said Wynter.
Elbar grinned. ‘Let’s think like him for a moment. He’s crazy enough to think he can control wyrmocs, and he kidnapped a baby to help do so, which means, he wouldn’t want his precious prisoner to be too far from him. I know I wouldn’t.’
A shiver ran the length of Scarlen’s spine as she turned to Wynter. ‘That poor girl. He’s had her trapped somewhere for years. Blyton was on his way home with the fifth knight at the time of your birth, so she has to be your age.’
‘What if she doesn’t have a Ring?’ Lancen asked. ‘What if he trapped her as a dragon. Would that be possible?’
‘No,’ replied Elbar. ‘She’s a shifter. She would change when she wanted, and it’s far safer to bind her with a Ring. Remember, think like him. What would the king do? That’s what you have to ask yourself whenever in doubt.’
Lancen looked to Scarlen. ‘Our father can be a little unpredictable.’
Raven scoffed. ‘You mean crazy.’
‘Well, whatever he is,’ said Elbar, ‘we’re going to outsmart him and find his buried treasure, then steal it right from under his nose.’
‘I just hope the knight is okay.’ Scarlen knew what her father could be like. What if he tormented his prisoner as well? What kind of state would she be in when found?
‘Stop overthinking things, Smithson,’ said Elbar. ‘I can hear your cogs turning. We have a simple plan, and we’re going to take it one step at a time.’