Chapter 7: The Brother Hidden in Plain Sight
Nobody moved.
The king's final words seemed to hang beneath the golden chandeliers.
"He's standing among you.""
Prince Adrian looked around the ballroom.
The royal council stood frozen. Queen Eleanor clutched the edge of the table. Elia stared at the birth certificate in Mr. Whitmore's hands.
Then Adrian noticed something.
The young palace guard who had delivered the recording was standing near the entrance.
He was perhaps twenty-two, with fair skin, short chestnut hair, and unusually bright blue eyes. His uniform was slightly oversized, and his hands were trembling.
Adrian pointed toward him.
"You. Step forward.""
The young man swallowed.
"Your Highness?""
"Your name.""
"Thomas Reed, sir. Royal security division.""
"How long have you served here?""
"Three years.""
"Who recruited you?""
Thomas glanced toward Mr. Whitmore.
The old official looked away.
Adrian noticed.
"Thomas, come here.""
The guard approached slowly.
When he reached the table, Elia noticed a small silver chain around his neck. Something round hung beneath his uniform.
"Remove that," Adrian ordered.
Thomas instinctively covered it.
"It's personal, Your Highness.""
"I wasn't asking.""
Queen Eleanor stepped forward.
"Adrian, please. Don't frighten the boy.""
Adrian looked directly at Thomas.
"Show us.""
Thomas hesitated before pulling the chain from beneath his collar.
A silver medallion appeared.
It carried the royal crest.
The same crest engraved on Elia's pendant.
Elia stared.
"Where did you get that?""
Thomas looked at her.
"My foster father gave it to me.""
"Who was he?""
"Captain Daniel Reed. He passed away when I was sixteen.""
Mr. Whitmore suddenly spoke.
"Your Highness, there is something you need to know.""
Adrian turned.
"You knew about him.""
Whitmore lowered his head.
"Yes.""
"For how long?""
"Since the night he was born.""
A wave of whispers swept through the room.
Thomas took a step backward.
"What?""
Whitmore approached him slowly.
"Your name isn't Thomas Reed.""
The young guard's face tightened.
"Sir, that's the only name I've ever known.""
"Your birth name was Nathaniel Edward.""
The medallion slipped from Thomas's fingers.
It struck the marble floor.
Queen Eleanor gasped.
Adrian stared at the young guard.
"You're telling me this is my brother?""
Whitmore nodded.
"Your father's second child with Evelyn Brooks. He was born seventeen minutes before Elia.""
Elia stopped breathing.
She turned toward Thomas.
Her brother.
The word felt strange. Impossible.
Thomas looked at her, then at Whitmore.
"Why did nobody tell me?""
"Your father believed you would be murdered if your identity became known.""
"By whom?""
Whitmore looked toward Margaret.
The elderly woman stood between two guards, her expression unreadable.
"By the same people who ordered your sister's disappearance.""
Thomas turned toward her.
"Did you know?""
Margaret smiled slightly.
"Of course I knew.""
"Then you knew who I was every time you saw me?""
"Yes.""
Thomas's expression broke.
"You watched me stand guard outside your private chambers.""
Margaret raised her chin.
"And you performed your duties admirably.""
Thomas lunged forward.
Adrian caught his arm.
"Don't give her another excuse to hurt you.""
Thomas looked at the prince.
"She let me believe my parents were dead.""
"Your foster parents loved you.""
"They raised me. But they weren't my parents?""
Whitmore's voice softened.
"They were the people your father trusted most. Captain Reed had served the king for thirty years. His wife raised you as her own.""
Thomas wiped his face.
"Did they know?""
"Your foster father knew. Your foster mother discovered the truth shortly before her death.""
"Why didn't they tell me?""
"Because your father made them promise that you would have an ordinary childhood.""
Thomas laughed painfully.
"I became a palace guard.""
"Your father would have been proud.""
Adrian looked toward Whitmore.
"Why did you bring him into the palace?""
"Because I needed to protect both children. Elia was hidden with Ruth Brooks. Nathaniel was raised by Captain Reed. When he turned nineteen, he applied for palace security.""
"You let him work under your nose for three years?""
"I kept him where I could protect him.""
Margaret suddenly laughed.
"How touching. A family reunion.""
She tapped her walking stick against the marble.
"Unfortunately, none of this changes the law.""
Adrian turned toward her.
"Both children carry the king's blood.""
"And neither was born to a queen.""
Elia stepped forward.
"Why does everything have to be about a crown?""
Margaret looked at her.
"Because you are standing in a palace, child.""
"I didn't build it.""
"No. But you intend to claim it.""
"I don't!""
Serena watched the exchange from behind Victoria.
Her eyes were fixed on Thomas.
"Then why does he have the same necklace?"" she asked.
Whitmore turned.
"Because the twins were given matching medallions on the night of their birth.""
Serena looked at Elia.
"Twins?""
Elia nodded slowly.
Serena swallowed.
"Then Evelyn really had three children?""
"Yes," Whitmore answered.
"Serena, Elia, and Nathaniel.""
Serena looked down at her emerald necklace.
For years, she had believed it was an ordinary family heirloom. Margaret had told her that her mother had died during childbirth and that her father had been a nobleman who preferred to remain anonymous.
Now she discovered that the woman who had mocked her most cruelly for being a servant was her younger sister.
And the young guard standing beside the prince was her brother.
Serena began to cry.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?""
Ruth Brooks moved closer.
"Because Margaret wanted you separated from your family.""
Serena turned toward her.
"Why would she do that?""
"To make sure nobody could challenge her plans.""
Victoria stepped forward.
"That's enough. This entire story is becoming absurd.""
Serena turned sharply.
"Stop defending her!""
Victoria looked startled.
"Serena—"
"You knew.""
Victoria shook her head.
"I knew you were adopted. I didn't know about the twins.""
"You knew enough to keep me quiet.""
Victoria lowered her eyes.
Serena laughed bitterly.
"I spent my entire life trying to become the daughter Margaret wanted. I wore the gowns she chose. I learned the manners she demanded. I laughed when she told me certain people were beneath me.""
She looked at Elia.
"And you were the person she spent twenty-two years trying to erase.""
Elia didn't know what to say.
Adrian stepped toward Thomas.
"Do you have any memories of your biological mother?""
Thomas shook his head.
"Not really. I have a recurring dream about someone singing. That's all.""
Ruth covered her mouth.
"Your mother used to sing the same song every night.""
Thomas looked at her.
"What song?""
Ruth hummed softly.
Three gentle notes, followed by a longer fourth.
Elia suddenly froze.
She knew that melody.
She had heard it in her dreams since childhood.
"That's the song Mrs. Brooks used to sing when I was sick.""
Ruth nodded through her tears.
"Evelyn taught it to me.""
Thomas closed his eyes.
Then he began humming the melody himself.
For a moment, the ballroom disappeared.
Three children, connected by a woman they barely remembered, stood together beneath the chandeliers.
Then a palace officer rushed forward.
"Your Highness!""
Adrian turned.
"What happened?""
"We searched Lord Malvern's private residence. We found a locked medical file containing records of the king's final days.""
"Bring it here.""
The officer placed a thick folder on the table.
Adrian opened it.
Inside were hospital reports, prescription records, and a handwritten note.
He read the first page.
"Repeated doses of a cardiac medication were administered to King Edward over eleven days.""
Queen Eleanor frowned.
"My husband was never prescribed that medication.""
Whitmore examined the report.
"These doses would have caused severe heart damage.""
Adrian turned to the final page.
There was a signature.
*Queen Eleanor.*
The queen staggered.
"That's not mine.""
Margaret remained silent.
Adrian looked toward the old woman.
"Did you arrange the medication?""
"No.""
"Then who did?""
Margaret slowly lifted her eyes.
"Your mother.""
Adrian turned toward Eleanor.
"Mother?""
Eleanor shook her head.
"She's lying.""
Margaret smiled.
"Ask her what happened on the night your father died.""
The queen's hands began trembling.
Adrian approached her.
"Mother, what happened?""
Eleanor looked at her son.
Then at Elia.
Then at the recording device.
"I was in his room that night," she whispered.
The ballroom fell silent.
"I was the last person to see your father alive.""
Margaret smiled.
And before anyone could ask another question, the queen collapsed against Adrian's arms.
"Get a doctor!"" he shouted.
As the court rushed forward, Elia caught sight of a small folded paper slipping from Margaret's sleeve.
She picked it up.
Only four words were written on it.
*ELEANOR REMEMBERS EVERYTHING.*
May you like
Elia looked toward the queen.
And suddenly, the woman who had spent twenty-two years mourning a child seemed to have a secret of her own.
