Chapter 2: The Queen's Forgotten Secret
When the lights returned, Sophie was lying on the marble floor.
Her right hand was trembling.
The crystal had stopped glowing, but its surface was no longer transparent. Thin emerald veins ran through the stone like living branches.
A large crack divided the pedestal.
Nobody spoke.
Then Alexander found his voice.
"Get her away from it!""
Two royal guards rushed forward.
Sophie tried to stand, but her knees buckled.
"I didn't do anything," she whispered.
"I swear.""
One guard reached for her shoulder.
"Don't touch her!""
Queen Elizabeth's command stopped him.
She hurried down the remaining steps, gathering her long silver gown in one hand.
"Your Majesty," the captain of the guard began, "we should secure the object.""
"Secure the room. Nobody leaves.""
The king approached the broken pedestal.
"Elizabeth, I demand an explanation.""
She ignored him.
Instead, she knelt beside Sophie.
"Are you hurt?""
Sophie stared at her.
The queen was asking whether she was hurt.
A moment earlier, half the court had laughed while the crown prince dragged her across the ballroom.
"I think... I think my hand is burning.""
Elizabeth gently examined her palm.
There was no burn.
But a strange mark had appeared beneath her skin.
Three small curved lines surrounded a tiny circle, resembling the ancient symbol carved into her pendant.
The queen's breath caught.
"Where did you say you got this necklace?""
"My mother gave it to me.""
"When?""
"When I was a child. She always told me never to take it off.""
"Did she ever tell you why?""
Sophie shook her head.
"She said it was the only thing she had left from before I was born.""
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
Before she could ask another question, Alexander stepped forward.
"Mother, this is absurd. She's obviously done something to the crystal.""
Sophie looked up.
"What?""
Alexander pointed at her.
"She might have used some kind of trick. A chemical, perhaps. Or a hidden mechanism.""
Princess Charlotte stared at him.
"Alexander, did you actually see her put anything on the crystal?""
"No.""
"Then stop accusing her.""
He turned toward his sister.
"Stay out of this.""
Charlotte folded her arms.
"You embarrassed a servant for entertainment, and now you're frightened because she did something you couldn't explain.""
A few nobles lowered their heads.
Alexander's jaw tightened.
"Watch your tongue.""
King William raised one hand.
"Enough! We will settle this in the council chamber.""
He turned to the captain.
"Take the girl into custody.""
Elizabeth rose immediately.
"No.""
William looked at her.
"What do you mean, no?""
"She will come with me.""
"Elizabeth, that is not a request you can make without an explanation.""
The queen's expression hardened.
"Then perhaps it's time I gave you one.""
For the first time that evening, King William looked genuinely unsettled.
He knew that expression.
It was the one Elizabeth wore whenever someone mentioned the final winter of her father's reign.
The queen turned to Sophie.
"Can you walk?""
Sophie nodded.
Elizabeth offered her hand.
The young maid hesitated before taking it.
Behind them, Alexander watched with narrowed eyes.
As his mother led Sophie away, he leaned toward his closest friend, Lord Marcus.
"Find out everything about that girl.""
Marcus frowned.
"Everything?""
"Her family. Her birthplace. Her mother's name. Every servant she's ever spoken to.""
"And if we discover something?""
Alexander looked at the damaged crystal.
"Then we make sure nobody else discovers it first.""
The queen's private sitting room was smaller than the ballroom, but every object inside it seemed more valuable than the entire village Sophie had grown up in.
Portraits of dead monarchs covered the walls.
A fire burned beneath a carved marble mantelpiece.
Elizabeth dismissed the attendants and locked the door herself.
Sophie stood near the entrance, uncomfortable in her stained uniform.
"Your Majesty, I should return to the kitchens.""
"Sit down.""
"But—"
"Please, Sophie.""
The queen's voice softened.
Sophie slowly lowered herself onto a velvet chair.
Elizabeth poured two glasses of water.
Her hand shook so badly that some spilled onto the silver tray.
Sophie noticed.
"Are you feeling unwell, Your Majesty?""
Elizabeth gave a faint, humorless smile.
"I have spent twenty-two years hoping I would never have to answer the questions you're about to ask.""
She walked to an antique writing desk.
From its lowest drawer, she removed a small wooden box.
The lock was old and tarnished.
Elizabeth opened it with a tiny brass key.
Inside lay a faded photograph.
She carried it to Sophie.
"Do you recognize this woman?""
Sophie took the photograph.
Her breath caught.
The woman in the picture had dark hair, soft eyes, and a delicate smile.
She wore a simple blue dress.
And around her neck hung the exact same emerald pendant.
Sophie looked closer.
The woman was holding a newborn baby.
"I know her," Sophie whispered.
Elizabeth sat opposite her.
"Who is she?""
Sophie swallowed.
"My mother.""
The queen looked away.
"Her name was Eleanor, but she was not born Eleanor.""
Sophie stared.
"Then what was her real name?""
"Princess Eleanor Elizabeth Valmont.""
The photograph slipped slightly in Sophie's fingers.
"Princess?""
"She was my younger sister.""
Silence filled the room.
Sophie looked from the photograph to the queen.
"That isn't possible.""
Elizabeth nodded slowly.
"That's what I told myself when I was informed that my sister had died.""
"But my mother never said she was a princess.""
"She had good reason.""
Elizabeth walked toward the fireplace.
Twenty-two years earlier, the kingdom had been on the edge of civil war.
The old king, their father, had died suddenly, leaving behind two daughters and a disputed succession.
Elizabeth had been the elder child.
But the ancient law of Eldoria did not determine succession by birth order alone.
The Bloodstone recognized the rightful heir.
And Eleanor had awakened it.
Not with a faint glow.
Not with a flicker.
She had filled the entire throne chamber with emerald light.
The court had been terrified.
The old king had been furious.
And a powerful group of nobles had decided that Eleanor's existence threatened everything they controlled.
"Your mother was supposed to become queen," Elizabeth said.
Sophie stared at the photograph.
"Why didn't she?""
"Because the night she was meant to be crowned, the palace was attacked.""
Elizabeth's voice broke.
"People died. The royal guard was divided. Your grandfather ordered Eleanor hidden, and I helped her escape through the eastern passage.""
Sophie stood.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?""
"I didn't know you existed.""
Elizabeth turned toward her.
"The last time I saw your mother, she was carrying a bundle beneath her cloak. I thought it was a collection of clothes. She told me she was going somewhere safe.""
Sophie looked down at the pendant.
"She never spoke about this palace.""
"She wanted to protect you.""
"From whom?""
Elizabeth didn't answer immediately.
She went to the desk and removed another object.
A sealed letter.
The paper was yellow with age, and the royal crest had been pressed into the wax.
"Your mother left this with me before she disappeared. I was supposed to open it only if the crystal ever awakened again.""
Sophie reached for it.
But Elizabeth pulled it back.
"Before I give this to you, I need to know something.""
"What?""
"Did your mother ever tell you who your father was?""
Sophie shook her head.
"She said he was a good man who died before I was born.""
The queen's eyes filled with tears.
"Did she give you his name?""
Sophie hesitated.
Then she remembered something.
A sentence her mother had repeated whenever Sophie asked about her family.
Your father loved the kingdom more than his own life.
Sophie looked at Elizabeth.
"She said he was the man who was supposed to protect the throne.""
The queen went completely still.
Outside the sitting room, footsteps approached.
Someone knocked three times.
"Your Majesty," the captain called.
"The king requests your immediate presence.""
Elizabeth opened the door a fraction.
"What is it?""
The captain looked nervous.
"Your Majesty, the royal physician has examined the crystal.""
"And?""
He swallowed.
"Your Majesty... the crystal has begun producing a second inscription.""
Elizabeth's fingers tightened around the letter.
"What inscription?""
The captain lowered his voice.
"An inscription bearing the name of the rightful heir.""
Sophie rose.
"Whose name?""
May you like
The captain looked directly at her.
"Princess Sophie Eleanor Valmont.""
