Chapter 4: The Arrow Meant for a Ghost
“Not the princess! Kill the witness!””
The words cut through the chapel just as the arrow left the crossbow.
Queen Eleanor threw herself in front of Elia.
A sharp cry escaped her lips.
The arrow struck her upper arm, tearing through the sleeve of her golden gown. She stumbled against the altar, knocking a silver candlestick onto the marble floor.
“Mother!””
Prince Adrian lunged toward her, catching her before she fell.
Elia stared at the blood spreading across the queen's sleeve.
“Your Majesty!””
“Get down!”” Adrian shouted.
He pulled his sword and positioned himself between the women and the balcony.
Another arrow flew.
This time, it struck the physician's wooden instrument table, splintering the polished surface.
Master Edmund dropped behind the altar.
“Guards!”” Adrian roared.
“Seal the balcony!””
Two royal soldiers rushed toward the staircase, but a masked figure appeared from behind the stained-glass window.
He wore a black cloak and leather gloves. A narrow silver serpent was embroidered across his chest.
He was not alone.
Three more armed men emerged from the side entrance.
The chapel descended into chaos.
Noblewomen screamed and rushed toward the pews. Lord Malcolm pulled Serena behind a stone pillar, while Duke Ashbourne dragged Victoria toward the rear exit.
“Stay behind me!”” Malcolm ordered.
Serena grabbed his arm.
“Father, what are they doing?””
“Something we should have prevented.””
He glanced toward the altar.
His expression was unreadable.
Adrian swung his sword as the first attacker approached.
Steel struck steel.
The sound echoed through the chapel.
The attacker tried to slash toward Adrian's ribs, but the prince twisted aside and drove his shoulder into the man's chest. The masked figure stumbled backward.
Adrian struck his wrist.
The crossbow fell.
“Who sent you?”” the prince demanded.
The attacker laughed.
“You're asking the wrong question, Your Highness.””
He reached beneath his cloak.
Adrian recognized the movement and kicked the weapon away.
Behind him, Elia was helping Queen Eleanor toward the stone steps beside the altar.
“Please, Your Majesty. Lean on me.””
“Leave me,” Eleanor whispered.
“I won't.””
The queen looked at her.
For a fleeting moment, her expression was almost maternal.
“You have your father's stubbornness.””
Elia froze.
“My father?””
But before the queen could explain, a second attacker rushed toward them.
Elia pushed Eleanor behind the altar.
The man grabbed Elia's wrist.
“Where is the physician?””
She struggled.
“Let me go!””
He twisted her arm hard enough to make her gasp.
A sharp pain traveled through her shoulder.
Then something strange happened.
The golden marks on her palm began to glow.
The attacker looked down.
His grip loosened.
“What is that?””
Elia wrenched her hand free and grabbed a heavy bronze candleholder from the altar.
She struck his forearm.
The man cried out and dropped his dagger.
Elia stepped back, trembling.
She had never struck anyone before.
But she refused to let him touch the queen.
“Behind me!”” she shouted.
Eleanor stared at her in disbelief.
Adrian heard the cry and turned.
“Elia!””
He crossed the distance between them, driving his sword against the second attacker's weapon.
A royal guard tackled the man from behind.
Another soldier seized his legs.
Within seconds, the attacker was pinned against the marble floor.
“Take off his mask!”” Adrian ordered.
The guard tore away the black cloth.
The man was young, perhaps twenty-five, with a scar running from his left eyebrow to his chin.
Adrian leaned down.
“Who hired you?””
The prisoner spat blood onto the floor.
“You'll never know.””
The prince grabbed his collar.
“Try me.””
The man began to laugh.
Then he looked past Adrian.
His eyes found Elia.
“Enjoy your borrowed life, little princess.””
Adrian struck him across the face.
“Don't speak to her.””
The prisoner spat again.
“You should ask your mother what happened to the other cradle.””
The prince froze.
“What did you say?””
But the man bit down hard.
A strange bitterness filled his mouth.
His face twisted.
The guard immediately grabbed his jaw.
“Poison!””
Master Edmund hurried over, but it was too late.
The prisoner's body convulsed once.
Then he went still.
“Damn it!”” Adrian shouted.
Across the chapel, the first attacker had reached the physician.
Master Edmund was crawling toward the sanctuary door when a black-gloved hand seized the back of his robe.
“You were told to keep silent.””
The physician turned.
His face went white.
“I kept my promise.””
“You kept the wrong one.””
The attacker raised a dagger.
Elia saw him.
“Master Edmund!””
She ran toward them.
The man glanced at her, distracted for one second.
That was enough.
Adrian's sword flashed.
The attacker released the physician and staggered backward.
A guard rushed forward and drove a spear into the man's cloak, pinning it against the wooden pew.
The assassin tore himself free, leaving a piece of black fabric behind.
He bolted toward the balcony.
Three soldiers chased him.
A moment later, the sound of breaking glass rang through the chapel.
The man disappeared into the darkness beyond the stained-glass window.
“After him!”” Adrian commanded.
The soldiers ran.
Silence slowly returned.
Only the queen's uneven breathing and the distant cries of the injured interrupted it.
Adrian dropped beside Eleanor.
“Mother, look at me.””
She forced a faint smile.
“I'm perfectly capable of looking at my own son.””
“Your arm is bleeding.””
“Then perhaps you should ask the physician to do something useful.””
Master Edmund knelt beside her.
He examined the wound and carefully removed the broken arrow shaft.
“The injury is serious, but the arrow missed the bone,” he said.
“Her Majesty needs to be taken to her chambers.””
Adrian looked at the physician.
“And you?””
Edmund hesitated.
A thin line of blood ran down his temple.
“I am unharmed.””
“That's not what I asked.””
The prince glanced toward the dead attacker.
“You were their target. They said they wanted the witness.””
The physician's hands began to tremble.
“I don't know what they meant.””
Elia looked at him.
“Yes, you do.””
Everyone turned.
She stood beside the altar, holding the bronze candleholder.
Her faded uniform was torn at the shoulder. A thin line of blood marked her wrist.
“You were frightened when the queen asked about the royal birth records,” Elia continued.
“You recognized the symbol above the basin. And the men came specifically for you.””
Edmund lowered his head.
The queen closed her eyes.
“Adrian,” she whispered.
“Bring him to my private chambers.””
The physician looked up sharply.
“Your Majesty—”
“Enough, Edmund.””
She rose with assistance from two guards.
“You have been silent for seventeen years. I will not allow you to remain silent another night.””
An hour later, the physician stood before Queen Eleanor's bed.
Her wound had been cleaned and bandaged. A thick robe covered her damaged sleeve, but her face remained pale.
Adrian stood near the fireplace.
Elia sat in a chair beside the bed.
Master Edmund remained standing.
“Begin,” Adrian commanded.
Edmund looked toward the queen.
“May I speak freely?””
“You should have done so seventeen years ago,” Eleanor replied.
The physician lowered his eyes.
“On the night Princess Liora disappeared, I was summoned to the royal nursery.””
Elia stopped breathing.
Edmund continued.
“The king believed the child had been killed in the fire. But when I examined the cradle, I found no body. Only a blanket and a small amount of blood.””
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“Then why did you sign a death certificate?””
“Because I was ordered to.””
“By whom?””
Edmund hesitated.
“By the king's closest adviser.””
“His name.””
“Lord Chancellor Varrick.””
Queen Eleanor's fingers tightened around the bedcovers.
Adrian knew the name.
Chancellor Varrick had served his father for more than twenty years. He had died six years ago, supposedly of a sudden fever.
“That doesn't explain the attack tonight,” Adrian said.
Edmund shook his head.
“No. But it explains why they wanted me dead.””
“Why?””
The physician finally looked at Elia.
“Because I wasn't the only person who saw the empty cradle.””
He reached inside his coat and produced a small, folded piece of parchment.
“There was another witness. A servant who escaped the palace that night.””
Elia leaned forward.
“Who?””
Edmund unfolded the paper.
The name was written in faded ink.
*Mara Venn.*
Elia felt the room tilt.
“That's the woman who raised me.””
The physician nodded.
“Yes.””
He paused.
“Lady Mara did not find you by accident, Elia. She carried you out of the palace herself.””
Queen Eleanor covered her mouth.
Adrian stepped forward.
“Then why did she tell everyone she found Elia near the abbey?””
Edmund's answer came slowly.
“Because she was trying to hide her from the person who ordered the princess's disappearance.””
A heavy silence followed.
May you like
Then the physician added something that made the queen grip her son's hand.
“The person who ordered it is not dead, Your Majesty.””
