Part 18

Rig and I made our way silently along the secret passageway.

The space which had seemed so large when I was a child was now just barely wide enough to allow an adult to walk sideways. I heard a light scuffle in the distance, and wondered if we would see rats within the walls. I shuddered, thinking of the last time I had been here.

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"I hope there isn't rats." I muttered, trying not to breath too much of the dust that was kicked up by my passage. Rig had taught me to walk silently, leaving barely any trace of my passing, but I was too weak to manage it.

It felt like the final betrayal. Not only was I the last survivor of his group, but I couldn't even carry on his legacy.

Useless. I chided myself silently.

I was tired, hungry, wishing desperately to sleep, but I kept moving forward, hoping desperately no one would notice the sound within the walls.

I had to find the Queen.

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"Lenora!" Rig whispered in my ear. I started, realizing with a shock that I had stopped moving, too caught in my memory of this passageway. Waving a hand to show I was fine, I moved forward once again, navigating the turns that would lead to the secret room next to the King and Queen's suites

Rig didn't look convinced at my silent reassurance, but followed along without further complaint. Finally we came to a slightly more open space, at least enough for us to sit on the floor side by side. I motioned to the small peep holes, and Rig took a look in one of them. Sitting back with an astonished expression, he leaned over to speak as quietly as possible.

"I can't believe you got us here! How could you...?"

"An escape tunnel, for the royal family, long forgotten. The Queen only discovered it by reading old journals. She took me back here... a long time ago."

"I can't believe she trusted you with this..." He looked at me closely. "I thought you told me the Queen  was just keeping up appearances, and didn't really care about you?" Glancing at the unused passage around us, he murmured. "Doesn't seem like it to me."

"I don't want to talk about it." I stared through the peephole, watching the empty room.

"Of course not." He muttered, settling in down next to me to wait.

Fortunately we didn't have long to wait. Only a brief amount of time had passed before the king entered the room. Even alone, in a casual robe, a stranger would have recognized him as a king. He had a presence, a sense of power, control around him.

He scared me.

Sitting in a chair next to the fireplace, he sipped on a drink, motioning towards the door, likely instructing the servant there. He waited patiently, watching the fire and drinking, while we spied behind the wall, barely daring to breathe so we wouldn't be discovered.

"Father," Ronan stepped in the room, looking unsure for the first time I had ever seen in two lifetimes. "What did you call me about?"

The king smiled, the expression making me nervous at the clear anger concealed within. "I wanted to talk to you about the... interesting... decision you made at your birthday party."

Ronan chuckled at that, clearly thinking that his father's smile was genuine. "Oh that. Well, I didn't think you'd mind. I mean... Lenora's so boring! There's no way she would make a good queen anyways. I think you'll really like the woman I've chosen instead, this young lady named Edith..."

CRASH!

The glass from the king's hand went flying across the room, smashing into the wall just a short distance from Ronan's head. He shrieked, jumping away, his tunic already stained with some of the wine that had splashed as the king had thrown it.

"You idiot." The king didn't yell, didn't stand up or scream despite the fury lacing every word. It was unnerving, his words were so quiet we had to strain to hear him. "Why do you think I allowed the engagement in the first place?"

"Because mother wanted it!" Ronan was pale, but he regained some of his former confidence, rolling his eyes. "She's always doted on that dull girl, who knows why?"

The king sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "Your mother requested the engagement, yes, but why did I say yes?"

"I- I..." stuttering to a halt, the prince simply shook his head.

"The Duchy of Armeny is the largest in the kingdom. Their leaders have always posed a significant threat to the monarchy. Do you know how many times when the king was questioned in past centuries? And each time they always considered placing the Duke of Armeny as the replacement. They have wealth, they have power, and they have influence. "

"But... they don't seem..."

"Under incompetent leadership, the balance is held. The current Duke of Armeny was perfect. Lazy, overly trusting. It took only spending a few crowns in the right places to completely corrupt their system." He rubbed his face. "But even then I wanted insurance, as there was no guarantee his heir would be similarly weak. Thus your engagement. It would have tied our family to the duchy's for the next few generations, negating most of the risk."

Ronan sat down, shocked. "But, it doesn't make sense. If they are so weak now, let's just crush them!"

"Idiot." The King, pouring himself another drink, paused as if considering throwing this glass as well. "That girl completely overhauled the entire duchy. She threw out the corrupted officials, reorganized their economic structure, and started schools and charities everywhere, making the people indebted to her. "

"Lenora did? I don't believe it! The only things she cares about are marrying me and her pretty dresses." Prince Ronan smirked as he spoke, making me wish I could punch him. "She's probably just being used as a front."

"I considered that, but she seems to be the one in control of things as far as I can tell. I can't corrupt any of her current government, and I can't discredit her ability as a ruler, the people love her too much." The King frowned, looking around the room as if searching for answers. I forced myself to hold still, even as my skin crawled when his eyes passed over our hiding spot. "It would have been fine if I could control her as my daughter-in-law, but you... you ruined everything with your foolish little stunt."

CRACK.

The glass cracked in the king's hand with the force of his grip. Setting the leaking glass down, he cleaned his hand with a handkerchief, staring silently at his son.

"Well, it's too late now!" Ronan shrugged. "I've broken the engagement and I'm marrying Edith. There's nothing to be done."

"No." it was practically a whisper. "You will fix this, now."

"But..." The prince's words choked off as the father walked over, reached out and grabbed him by the throat. Lifting him out of the chair, the king smiled at his gasping son, and leaned forward.

"If you want to see the throne, you will get Lenora back as your fiancé. I don't care how you do it, what methods you have to use. Just get it done."

THUD. He opened his hand, dropping the prince to the ground. Ronan rubbed his throat, struggling to catch his breath.

"Or I will."

The prince ran out of the room, leaving the king alone, except for us, his unknown observers.

"Maybe it would be simpler if Lenora were dead." He muttered. I blinked at the words, caught off guard.

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"LENORA IS DEAD!"

The scream didn't sound like the queen at all. It sounded as if her throat had been scraped with sand, rough and barely understandable.

CRASH!

The loud sound startled me in my hiding place behind the wall. Trembling, tired, barely able to think straight due to hunger, I forced myself to look through the peephole. Queen Amerande's face was twisted in rage as she stared at the silent, unreactive servant. To my shock I recognized Hallers. I chided myself for being surprised. I knew he had gone to work for the palace after my family's fall from grace.

"Your Majesty, if I may... Lady Edith simply wished..."

"NOTHING SHE SAYS WILL CHANGE MY MIND! SHE'S DEAD, AND SO I'M STAYING RIGHT HERE!" She sat down unsteadily into a chair, staring moodily into a fire. The Queen then muttered something intelligible under her breath. I leaned into the wall, desperately trying to hear, but I could only hear a few garbled words.

"...wish... dead."

I stumbled backwards, my tired and starved brain trying to make sense of what I heard. Edith was right. She tried to warn me but I didn't listen, couldn't believe that I was dead to her.

There was something strange about how she was acting, though... Something wasn't right. If only I could think more clearly.

I shook my head. No. Anything else was fantasy. The reality was clear:

Love was a lie.

Ronan had betrayed me. My best friend had betrayed me. My parents had never loved me. Anyone who cared for me since had come to ruin.

And the woman I thought loved me like a daughter. The woman I had loved as my family, more than anyone else?

It was all a lie.

I headed silently back down the passageway, wishing I could steal some bread from the kitchens before giving up, heading back to the streets.

To die.

Alone.

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A hand grasped my arm, bringing me out of the terrible memory. I let out a gasp of shock, before clapping my hands over my mouth. Rig and I stared at each other, dismayed.

Had the king heard?

He had definitely sensed something. His head turning to the wall we hid in, he stepped closer, his expression quizzical. The king listened closely near the wall, and Rig and I held our breath, terrified.

Finally he sighed. "Must be rats. They need to set out traps again."

With that he was gone.

Silently, Rig and I escaped the tunnels, not stopping until we reached our meeting point in the center of town. Now sitting down on the ground to catch our breath, he finally spoke.

"That... wasn't good."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I made noise..." I started to apologize, but he waved a hand, silencing me.

"Not that, girl! I'm talking about the king!" He cursed loudly. "And his idiot son! Do they really think we'll stand by and take it while they threaten you?"

I put a hand on his arm, smiling. "Well, at least we know they're coming."

"But..."

"And they have no idea who they're messing with."

Rig grinned. "You're insane."

"Learned from the best." We both laughed at that.

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The next day I was working in my office, going over some paperwork with Henry, when Hallers knocked on the door, his professional mask firmly in place.

"Nathaniel..." He paused looking over at Nate who shrugged at the implied question. "... Mr. Nathaniel here to see you miss." He didn't seem impressed by Nate's secrecy.

I stood up with a smile. "Nate! I'm glad you could make it!"

Sitting down next to Henry after shaking his hand, he sighed with relief. "Not nearly as happy as I am to be here! Do you have any idea what it's like to be stuck on a week long hunting trip with that idiot Ronan?"

"Imagine having to marry him." I shook my head, pretending to be sad. "Poor Edith."

"She'll get exactly what she wants, which is more than she deserves after betraying your trust!" Nate grumbled. I noted that Hallers looked on the young man with a more favorable light as he complained against the girl.

"I'm just happy it's not me."

"Of course. Did you hear the song they're singing in town?" Nate laughed. "Ronan the Ridiculous? Whoever wrote it was a genius!"

A smile flashed across Hallers face, disappearing before I could truly believe it was there. "Would you like some tea, sir?" He offered to the surprised visitor.

"Thank you, Hallers, I'm would be delighted to have some!" He waited until the butler left and then looked over to me, shocked. "I thought he didn't like me?"

I shrugged. "Must have been something you said?"

Henry turned to Nate, his eyes bright with curiosity. "Did you see any good plants on your trip?"

"Henry..." I groaned. "Leave poor Nate alon..."

"Well, I saw an abundance of rosemary, which was great, as it doesn't grow nearly as well in Tilendria! What I really need though is some mint. I found a small patch near a pond on our trip, but it wasn't nearly enough to harvest and bring back..." He paused at my flabbergasted expression. "What?"

"You like plants?" I asked, confused.

He shook his head. "I like cooking. I keep a herb garden at home, but it's pretty sparse."

Henry was visibly shaking with excitement. "You like herbs?!"

"Y-yes?" Nate leaned back slightly in his chair, obviously unsure of why Henry was reacting this way.

"COME WITH ME!" Grabbing the young man's arm, he pulled him out of the chair and towards the door. "TO THE GREENHOUSE!"

"WHa..." Nate shot me a confused glance to which I spread my hands helplessly.

"When you get back I need help arranging paperwork for two people to move to Tilendria, open up a new store there!" I called after them. I saw Nate wave an arm, indicating he heard me, before he was pulled around the corner and out of sight.

"...I have the tea." Hallers stepped into the room, and looked around in shock. "Where...?"

"Henry kidnapped him."

"Ah. I'll take the tea to the greenhouse then. If Master Henry is excited about something plant related, it could take quite some time." With an understanding smile, he headed out, expertly balancing the tray.

I looked down at my paperwork, rubbing my head as I tried to balance the accounts. Hearing someone enter the room again and assuming it as Hallers, I spoke without looking up.

"Actually, I will take some more tea as well."

"I'm not your servant." The haughty voice caught me off guard and I looked up to see Prince Ronan standing in front of my desk.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, not bothering to greet him properly or curtsey. He frowned at the insult, but brushed it off, making me even more curious as to his purpose here.

Taking a deep breath, he fell on one knee in front of him, an arrogant smile on his face.

"I love you, dear Lenora. Marry me!"