Chapter 4: The Prince Who Was Her Father
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Sophie stared at the note in her hand.
Your father is the man who will inherit the throne if Gabriel dies.
Across the room, Prince Victor stood motionless.
His eyes moved from the note to Sophie, then to King Gabriel.
"No," he whispered.
Gabriel's revolver remained pointed toward Sophie.
"Put that paper down.""
Victor took a step forward.
"Father, tell me this isn't true.""
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"Victor, you don't understand what you're reading.""
"Then explain it!""
Madeleine pressed a trembling hand against her chest.
"Gabriel, is this why you took Elizabeth's child?""
The king said nothing.
Sophie looked at Victor.
He was only six years older than her. She had spent the last eleven months cleaning his rooms, carrying his drinks, and listening to him complain about the palace staff.
He had once ordered her to retrieve a cufflink from beneath his bed while he watched.
Now she was supposed to believe he was her father?
"That's impossible," Sophie said.
Victor shook his head.
"You're twenty-four. I'm thirty.""
"Exactly.""
He looked toward his mother.
"Mother, say something.""
Madeleine's lips parted, but no words came.
Gabriel finally lowered his weapon.
"Enough. This conversation ends here.""
Victor stepped between him and Sophie.
"No. It doesn't.""
"Move.""
"Not until you tell me who she is.""
Gabriel looked at his son with an expression Sophie had never seen before.
Disappointment.
Not anger.
Something colder.
"She is the reason your mother nearly destroyed this family.""
Madeleine slapped him.
The sound echoed through the underground room.
"Don't you dare blame her!""
Gabriel touched his cheek.
"You have no idea what you have done.""
Madeleine stood straighter.
"For twenty-four years, I believed my daughter was dead. I buried an empty coffin. I spent every birthday lighting a candle for a child you had stolen from me.""
Her voice broke.
"And now you stand here holding a gun, as though she is the criminal?""
Gabriel looked away.
Sophie clutched the note.
"Who is my father?""
Nobody answered.
Then Victor spoke.
"Is it me?""
The question sounded almost childish.
Gabriel looked at him.
"No.""
Victor's shoulders dropped slightly.
Then the king continued.
"But your mother was not the only woman Elizabeth loved.""
Madeleine closed her eyes.
Sophie looked at her.
"What does that mean?""
The queen opened her eyes again.
"It means there is something I never told anyone.""
Twenty-five years earlier, before her marriage to Gabriel, Madeleine had been promised to a foreign prince.
His name was Adrian Vale.
He was the youngest son of the neighboring kingdom's royal family and had been sent to Bellgrave as part of a political alliance.
But Adrian had not been interested in the crown.
He had fallen in love with Elizabeth.
The younger princess was rebellious, intelligent, and fascinated by the ancient history of Bellgrave.
She spent her afternoons in the royal library and her evenings riding horses beyond the palace gates.
Adrian often accompanied her.
Madeleine remembered seeing them together.
She remembered Elizabeth laughing.
She remembered the way Adrian looked at her sister.
And she remembered the night everything changed.
"He was supposed to marry me," Madeleine whispered.
"But Elizabeth loved him.""
Sophie stared.
"And I was their daughter?""
Madeleine nodded slowly.
"I believe so.""
Victor rubbed his forehead.
"Then why does the note say he will inherit the throne if Gabriel dies?""
Gabriel answered.
"Because Adrian was the last surviving male heir of the old Bellgrave bloodline through his mother.""
Sophie frowned.
"Then why isn't he king?""
"Because he disappeared.""
"Where?""
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"That is something I have spent twenty-four years trying to discover.""
Madeleine turned toward him.
"You know exactly where he went.""
The king didn't respond.
Victor approached the table and picked up another document.
It was a royal birth register.
He read the first line.
Then stopped.
"Father...""
Gabriel turned.
"What?""
Victor held out the paper.
"This says Elizabeth gave birth to a girl in December 2001.""
Sophie stared.
"That's not my birthday.""
"No," Madeleine whispered.
"It isn't.""
Victor examined the following line.
His face drained of color.
"There's another birth record.""
He looked at Sophie.
"December seventeenth, 2002.""
Sophie felt her stomach tighten.
"Whose?""
Victor turned the document toward her.
The name had been scratched out.
But beneath the damaged ink, one word remained.
Alexandra.
Madeleine covered her mouth.
"Two children?""
Gabriel's expression became unreadable.
For the first time, he looked genuinely unprepared.
Sophie looked at the king.
"How many babies were involved?""
Gabriel said nothing.
Then a loud alarm began ringing somewhere above them.
A guard's voice echoed through the underground passage.
"Your Majesty! We have an emergency!""
Gabriel turned sharply.
"What happened?""
"Someone has entered the royal archive!""
Gabriel looked toward Sophie.
Then toward the pendant in her hand.
And finally toward the two birth certificates.
"Lock every entrance," he ordered.
The guard hesitated.
"Your Majesty, there's another problem.""
"What?""
The guard swallowed.
"The intruder left a message.""
Gabriel's face changed.
"What message?""
The guard looked directly at Sophie.
"He says the real princess is already inside the palace.""
They returned upstairs in silence.
The royal ballroom had been emptied, but the palace was no longer peaceful.
Guards stood at every corridor. Servants whispered behind half-closed doors. Somewhere in the western wing, a telephone rang repeatedly.
Victor walked beside Sophie.
He had not spoken since leaving the underground chamber.
Finally, he stopped near a tall window.
"Did you know?""
Sophie turned.
"Know what?""
"That my father had done something like this?""
"No.""
"Did your mother ever mention the royal family?""
Sophie hesitated.
"She told me never to trust people who wore crowns.""
Victor gave a bitter laugh.
"That's quite a coincidence.""
Sophie looked at him carefully.
"Do you remember your childhood?""
"Of course.""
"Do you remember your mother?""
He looked toward the ballroom.
"I remember her being sad.""
Sophie frowned.
"Why?""
"She used to lock herself in her room every December. Father said it was because she suffered from depression.""
He paused.
"Now I know she was mourning someone.""
Sophie lowered her eyes.
Victor looked at her.
"If this is true, I owe you an apology.""
"For what?""
"For how I've treated you.""
Sophie didn't answer immediately.
Then she said, "An apology doesn't change what happened.""
"I know.""
He looked genuinely ashamed.
Before he could say anything else, a young guard hurried toward them.
"Your Highness! The king requests your presence.""
Victor frowned.
"Where?""
"The council chamber.""
The guard glanced at Sophie.
"And Her Majesty has instructed that Miss Sophie accompany you.""
Victor nodded.
"Then let's go.""
As they walked away, Sophie noticed something strange.
The guard was carrying a small envelope.
It bore the royal seal.
But beneath the wax was a second symbol.
A broken sword.
The same emblem they had seen beneath the nursery.
Sophie stopped.
"Where did you get that?""
The guard looked confused.
"This?""
"Yes.""
He hesitated.
"It was delivered to the king's private office.""
"By whom?""
The guard looked toward the council chamber.
"A woman named Elizabeth.""
Sophie felt her knees weaken.
"My mother?""
The guard shook his head.
"She said she was your grandmother.""
Sophie stared at him.
And suddenly, she understood something.
Elizabeth had never been her mother.
At least, not the woman in the photograph.
The real identity of the woman who had raised her was still hidden.
May you like
But someone in the palace knew the truth.
And that person had just returned.
