Chapter 9: The Man Who Never Died
The news spread through the palace like fire.
Chancellor Varrick was alive.
For seventeen years, the kingdom had believed he died from a fever while being held under royal protection.
His body had been buried in the northern cemetery.
His estate had been seized.
His name had been removed from the royal council records.
But now the truth was unfolding.
The man who had arranged the disappearance of the royal children had never been punished.
He had been living under a false identity.
And someone inside the palace had helped him.
Prince Adrian stood in the command chamber, surrounded by maps and military reports.
“Every road leading out of the capital must be blocked,” he ordered.
“No private carriage leaves the city without inspection.””
Commander Voss's replacement, Captain Roderick, bowed.
“Yes, Your Highness.””
“Search the northern estates. Every abandoned house, every storage cellar, every property that once belonged to Chancellor Varrick.””
“And Lord Malcolm?””
Adrian looked toward the prisoner sitting between two guards.
Malcolm's face was expressionless.
“Keep him alive.””
Roderick hesitated.
“Your Highness, the duke may refuse to cooperate.””
“Then remind him that his daughter is no longer under his protection.””
Malcolm raised his head.
“Leave Serena out of this.””
Adrian turned.
“Why? You never hesitated to use her.””
The duke looked away.
For the first time, he appeared old.
Across the palace, Serena sat alone in the queen's private sitting room.
Her red gown had been replaced with a plain dark dress.
Her hands were clasped together.
Elia entered quietly.
Serena looked up.
“Come to laugh at me?””
“No.””
“Then why are you here?””
Elia placed a cup of tea on the table.
“You haven't eaten.””
Serena stared at the cup.
“You should hate me.””
“I don't know what I should feel.””
“I humiliated you in front of the entire court.””
“Yes.””
“I called you a servant.””
“Yes.””
“And I tried to make everyone believe you were a thief.””
Elia sat opposite her.
“You did.””
Serena's eyes filled.
“Then why are you being kind?””
Elia looked down at her hands.
“Because I know what it feels like not to know where you belong.””
Serena shook her head.
“You have a family now.””
“I have questions. A mother who doesn't remember seventeen years of my life. A brother I barely know. And a name that keeps changing every time someone tells me another secret.””
She looked directly at Serena.
“I don't feel like a princess.””
Serena stared at her for a long moment.
Then she laughed weakly.
“I used to spend hours imagining what it would be like to become queen.””
Elia said nothing.
“I practiced curtsying in front of the mirror. I memorized the names of foreign kingdoms. My father made me learn the royal family tree.””
Serena looked at the window.
“I thought he was preparing me because he loved me.””
Elia reached across the table.
“Perhaps he did love you.””
Serena looked at her.
“Then why did he lie?””
“Sometimes people love something more than they love the people around them.””
Serena lowered her eyes.
A long silence followed.
Then she reached inside her dress and pulled out the silver key.
“I know what it opens.””
Elia sat forward.
“What?””
“An underground chamber beneath the old royal observatory.””
“Why would you have its key?””
“My father gave it to me when I was twelve. He told me it belonged to my mother.””
She placed it on the table.
“He said that one day I would understand.””
Elia studied the key.
Five stars were engraved around its handle.
The same five stars that appeared on the Crystal Hand.
Serena swallowed.
“I think my father was preparing me to meet someone.””
“Who?””
“The man who never died.””
That night, Queen Eleanor, Adrian, Elia, Margaret, and Serena entered the abandoned royal observatory.
It stood behind the eastern garden, separated from the main palace by a narrow bridge.
The building had not been used in decades.
Dust covered the astronomical instruments, and the roof was partially open to the night sky.
Serena approached a circular stone platform.
She inserted the key into a small opening.
A mechanical click sounded.
The platform shifted.
A spiral staircase appeared beneath it.
Adrian drew his sword.
“Stay behind me.””
They descended.
At the bottom was a chamber containing dozens of wooden cabinets.
Most were empty.
One held a collection of royal birth documents.
Another contained military orders.
At the far end stood a large portrait covered by a black cloth.
Elia approached it.
Her palm began to glow.
Adrian noticed.
“Don't touch anything yet.””
But the light was growing stronger.
She reached toward the cloth.
The fabric slipped away.
A portrait of King Edward appeared.
Beside him stood three children.
Adrian.
A little girl wearing a crescent bracelet.
And a second little girl with five stars embroidered on her dress.
Elia gasped.
The three children were unmistakably the royal family.
Below the portrait, an inscription read:
Three lives. One bloodline. One promise.
Queen Eleanor touched the painted face of the girl wearing the crescent bracelet.
“Liora.””
Then she looked at the other child.
“Isabelle.””
Elia stared.
“Which one was I?””
Margaret moved closer.
“You were Isabelle.””
“Then why does the letter call me Liora?””
The midwife's eyes filled.
“Because your sister's name was changed after you were taken. Chancellor Varrick wanted both girls to be impossible to identify.””
Adrian frowned.
“Where is Liora now?””
Margaret shook her head.
“I don't know.””
A slow clap sounded from the staircase.
Everyone turned.
A man stood in the entrance.
He was tall, with silver hair, a black walking stick, and an elegant dark coat.
His face was older than the portrait in the royal archives, but his eyes were unchanged.
Queen Eleanor staggered.
“Varrick.””
The man smiled.
“Your Majesty.””
Adrian raised his sword.
“You should be dead.””
“I have been many things, Your Highness. Dead was merely the most convenient.””
Two armed men stepped behind him.
Adrian moved in front of his mother and sister.
“Drop your weapons.””
Varrick laughed.
“Still giving orders as though they matter.””
He descended one step.
“Look at you, Eleanor. After all these years, you finally found one of your daughters.””
The queen's voice trembled with fury.
“What did you do to my children?””
“Nothing they did not deserve.””
Adrian advanced.
Varrick raised his walking stick.
A small silver mechanism clicked.
A hidden blade emerged.
“Careful, boy.””
“You killed my father.””
“No. Your father died from believing that people could be trusted.””
Queen Eleanor took a step forward.
“You stole my daughters.””
“I protected the kingdom.””
“You murdered innocent people!””
Varrick's smile disappeared.
“Do you remember the first royal prophecy?””
Margaret went pale.
“Don't listen to him.””
Varrick looked at her.
“Still alive, Margaret? I had begun to think the grave had finally claimed you.””
Elia stared at him.
“What prophecy?””
Varrick turned toward her.
“The Crystal Hand was created by the first queen. It was never a test of noble blood or royal ancestry. It was a test of the first promise.””
Adrian tightened his grip on the sword.
“Explain.””
“Every generation, one royal child is born carrying the ancient mark. That child can awaken the crystal, but there is a condition.””
Varrick approached the portrait.
“The child must choose to protect the kingdom without demanding the throne.””
Queen Eleanor whispered.
“That's why the inscription says the first promise.””
Varrick nodded.
“Exactly.””
He looked at Elia.
“Your sister was born first. She possessed the ability to awaken the crystal. But you were born with something far more dangerous.””
Elia's golden marks began to glow.
“What?””
“The ability to command it.””
A sudden vibration traveled through the walls.
The observatory lights flickered.
Varrick smiled.
“Your touch can awaken the Crystal Hand. But your voice can awaken the ancient gates beneath the palace.””
Margaret grabbed Elia's wrist.
“Don't listen to him.””
Varrick continued.
“Those gates hold the original royal archive. Every secret of the first dynasty. Every treaty.
Every hidden heir. Every betrayal.””
Adrian stepped forward.
“You want the archive?””
“I want what your father hid.””
“What?””
Varrick's expression became almost tender.
“The truth about the throne.””
He raised one hand.
One of his soldiers moved toward the queen.
Adrian lunged.
Steel struck steel.
The chamber erupted into violence.
Serena screamed as a soldier grabbed her arm.
Elia pulled her free and pushed her toward Margaret.
“Get behind the portrait!””
Margaret reached for the old midwife's knife hidden beneath her cloak.
Varrick struck Adrian's sword with his hidden blade.
The prince stumbled.
The chancellor brought the walking stick down against his shoulder.
Adrian fell to one knee.
“Adrian!””
Elia rushed toward him.
Varrick grabbed her wrist.
“Come with me.””
She fought him.
“Let go!””
“You have spent your life believing you were ordinary. I can show you what you truly are.””
“I know what I am.””
Varrick tightened his grip.
“Then tell me your name.””
Elia stared at him.
For a moment, the entire chamber seemed to grow still.
“My name is Elia.””
The golden lines beneath her skin began to shine.
Varrick's expression changed.
“Wrong.””
He leaned closer.
“Your name is Isabelle.””
The floor trembled.
A deep sound echoed from beneath the observatory.
Then the ancient mechanism inside the portrait began to turn.
One of the painted stars illuminated.
Then another.
Then all five.
Varrick released Elia.
“What have you done?””
Elia looked down.
She hadn't moved.
The five marks on her palm were shining brighter than ever.
The portrait split down the middle.
Behind it stood a narrow stone doorway.
An inscription appeared above the entrance.
The rightful heir shall enter. The false crown shall fall.
Queen Eleanor stared.
“That's the entrance to the original royal archive.””
Varrick's face twisted with fury.
He shoved one of his soldiers aside and rushed toward the doorway.
But before he reached it, a woman emerged from the darkness beyond.
She wore a long white dress.
A silver crescent bracelet rested on her wrist.
Her face was almost identical to Elia's.
Adrian froze.
The queen stopped breathing.
“Liora?””
The woman looked at Eleanor.
Then at Elia.
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
“Mother.””
Queen Eleanor began to cry.
“My daughter…”
But Liora raised one hand.
“Don't come closer.””
The queen stopped.
Liora looked at Varrick.
“You promised me that when the crystal awakened, I would finally learn why you took me.””
Varrick lowered his weapon.
“Liora. Listen to me.””
She shook her head.
“You told me my family had abandoned me.””
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Liora turned toward Elia.
“And you told me my sister was dead.””
Elia took one uncertain step forward.
“I'm your sister?””
Liora's eyes filled.
“Yes.””
She reached toward the crescent bracelet.
Then she looked at the golden marks on Elia's hand.
“But there's something else you don't know.””
Varrick stepped backward.
Liora's voice dropped to a whisper.
“I'm not the only one he kept hidden.””
She turned toward the darkness behind the stone doorway.
“Bring them in.””
Two guards appeared, escorting a frail old man.
Queen Eleanor stared at him.
The man slowly raised his head.
His face was thin, his hair completely white, but the royal signet on his finger was unmistakable.
Adrian's sword slipped from his hand.
“Father?””
King Edward looked at his son.
Then at his daughters.
And finally at Varrick.
His voice emerged as a broken whisper.
“Forgive me.””
May you like
He took one trembling step forward.
“I was the one who ordered the children taken.””
