Chapter 2 - THE PRINCESS WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED

King Aldric ordered the throne room sealed.

Nobody was allowed to leave.

Unfortunately, Severin already had.

Celestine paced near the throne.

“This is madness.”

Aldric turned toward the royal physician.

“Bring the birth records.”

“Your Majesty—”

“Now.”

Elara stood alone beneath the chandeliers.

Nobody knew whether to bow to her.

Ten minutes earlier, she had been treated like garbage.

Now nobles were whispering that she might inherit the kingdom.

Elara hated every one of their frightened faces.

Only one person approached her.

An elderly woman named Lady Beatrice.

She had served Queen Marianne.

She stopped several feet from Elara.

Then tears filled her eyes.

“You have her eyes.”

Elara stiffened.

“My mother's?”

“The Queen's.”

Elara looked away.

“My mother was Mara.”

Beatrice nodded.

“And perhaps Mara saved your life.”

Before Elara could ask what she meant, the doors opened.

The royal physician returned carrying a leather-bound book.

Aldric opened it himself.

The entry was dated twenty-three years earlier.

Princess Aurelia Marianne Valorian.

Born at 2:17 in the morning.

Weight recorded.

Eye color recorded.

And beneath identifying marks were five words.

Red solar mark, left neck.

The room exploded into whispers.

Celestine grabbed the book.

“That proves nothing.”

Aldric stared at her.

She dropped it.

Elara noticed something.

Celestine was not merely angry.

She was terrified.

“Why are you afraid of me?”

Elara asked.

Celestine froze.

“I'm not.”

“You are.”

Celestine stepped closer.

“You walk into my home wearing rags and suddenly expect everyone to call you princess?”

“I never asked anyone to call me anything.”

“You didn't have to.”

Celestine lowered her voice.

“You know exactly what you're doing.”

Elara stared at her.

Then she noticed a ring on Celestine's hand.

A black stone surrounded by gold.

She had seen that symbol before.

Not in the palace.

At home.

On the final night of Mara's life.

A man had come to their cottage.

He had worn the same ring.

Elara's expression changed.

“Where did you get that?”

Celestine covered the ring.

“My father gave it to me.”

Aldric frowned.

“I did not.”

Silence.

Celestine realized her mistake.

She quickly corrected herself.

“I mean Chancellor Severin.”

“He gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday.”

Elara's blood went cold.

“Who is Severin Vale?”

Aldric looked toward the place where the Chancellor had been standing.

The space was empty.

At that exact moment, the palace bells rang.

Not ceremonial bells.

Alarm bells.

A soldier burst through the doors.

“Your Majesty!”

Aldric turned.

“What happened?”

“The eastern archive is burning.”

Beatrice gasped.

“The birth records.”

Aldric looked at the book in his hands.

Someone was destroying evidence.

Elara immediately thought about the black ring.

Then another soldier ran inside.

“Your Majesty, Chancellor Vale has disappeared.”

Celestine went pale.

Elara saw it.

“You know where he went.”

“No.”

“You're lying.”

Celestine slapped her again.

The sound cracked through the room.

But this time, Elara did not fall.

She slowly turned her face back toward Celestine.

Aldric's expression became ice.

“Celestine.”

The false princess finally realized what she had done.

“I—”

“Take her crown.”

Celestine stared at him.

“What?”

Aldric stepped forward.

“Until I know who my daughter is and what happened twenty-three years ago, you have no royal authority.”

Two guards approached.

Celestine grabbed her crown.

“No.”

“Princess—”

“Don't touch me!”

The guards removed it.

Celestine watched the diamond crown leave her hands.

Then she looked at Elara.

Pure hatred filled her eyes.

“You'll regret coming here.”

Elara stepped closer.

“Someone already tried to make sure I never did.”

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Celestine's confidence cracked.

And Elara knew she was right.