A Name For A Crown

The Old Agreement

Four years had taught Viktoria many things.

Patience was one of them.

But patience had never been her favorite.

She sat behind her desk the following morning, staring at the documents Elias Wells had left behind.

The marriage proposal remained at the top.

She had read it several times.

Not because the words were difficult to understand.

Because she couldn't understand why they felt like a warning.

A soft knock came at the door.

"Come in."

Alexander entered carrying a thick folder.

Viktoria looked up.

"That was fast."

"I didn't sleep."

"Neither did I."

Alexander placed the folder on the desk.

"I found something."

Viktoria immediately reached for it.

"What?"

"The Wells family."

She opened the folder.

Inside were reports, financial records, maps, and photographs.

Alexander sat across from her.

"I started with Elias."

Viktoria turned the first page.

"His business interests are larger than I expected," Alexander said.

"How large?"

"Large enough that I don't think his position comes entirely from his family."

Viktoria looked at him.

"Meaning?"

"Elias built part of his influence himself."

She continued reading.

Several companies were listed under his name.

Some operated within the Draven territories.

Others had connections outside the empire.

"He has been building quietly," Alexander continued.

"Quietly?"

"Very."

Viktoria frowned.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Because he doesn't appear to want attention."

She looked at the photograph attached to the report.

Elias stood beside several members of his family.

He looked younger.

But even then, his expression was composed.

Viktoria stared at the photograph for a moment.

There was something about him she couldn't place.

"There's something else."

Alexander slid another document toward her.

"The Wells family has financial connections with three territories currently controlled by your father."

Viktoria stopped.

"Three?"

"Yes."

She read through the information.

The more she read, the more the pieces began connecting.

Marcus's territory.

The Wells family.

Elias's proposal.

Her grandfather's mysterious file.

None of it seemed accidental anymore.

"If Elias marries me," she said slowly, "the Wells family's influence could move directly behind my claim."

"Yes."

"And that would make it harder for Father to keep those territories."

"Much harder."

Viktoria closed the folder.

"So that's the real reason."

"Partly."

"Partly?"

Alexander looked at her.

"We still don't know what Elias personally wants."

Viktoria leaned back.

"He's already told us."

"He told us what his family wants."

"And you think there's something else."

"I think a man doesn't propose marriage to the heir of a divided empire without having a reason beyond business."

Viktoria gave him a look.

"That's exactly what I thought."

Alexander stood.

"There is one more thing."

He placed an old envelope on the desk.

Viktoria stared at it.

"What is that?"

"It was inside your grandfather's records."

Her expression changed.

"You went through his private records?"

"Only the ones you authorized me to access."

She picked up the envelope.

There was no name.

Only an old seal.

The Wells family crest.

Viktoria's fingers stopped.

"Why was this in Grandfather's records?"

"I don't know."

She broke the seal.

Inside was a single sheet of paper.

The handwriting was her grandfather's.

Viktoria recognized it immediately.

Her eyes moved across the page.

Then stopped.

Alexander watched her carefully.

"What does it say?"

Viktoria didn't answer.

She read it again.

Then she placed the paper on the desk.

"There was an agreement."

"Between the Draven and Wells families?"

"Yes."

"What kind?"

She looked at him.

"An inheritance agreement."

Alexander's face changed.

"Explain."

Viktoria picked up the paper.

"It says that if the Draven Empire is ever divided between competing heirs, the Wells family has the right to intervene in the succession."

Alexander frowned.

"Intervene how?"

Viktoria continued reading.

"It doesn't say."

"There's more?"

She turned the page.

Nothing.

Only a faded signature.

Her grandfather's.

And beneath it—

A Wells family signature.

"Who signed it?"

Viktoria's eyes narrowed.

"I don't recognize the name."

Alexander leaned closer.

"That's strange."

"Very."

She looked at the date.

Her eyes widened.

"This was signed before I was born."

"How long before?"

"Twenty-three years."

Alexander went silent.

Viktoria slowly put the document down.

Her grandfather had made an agreement with the Wells family before she had even been born.

Why?

And why had nobody told her?

She suddenly remembered the words Elias had spoken.

Your grandfather knew the empire had problems that couldn't be solved by succession alone.

Viktoria stood.

"Bring me the nameless file."

Alexander looked at her.

"Now?"

"Now."

He nodded and left.

Minutes later, he returned with the folder.

Viktoria placed it beside the Wells agreement.

For a long moment, she simply stared at both.

Then she opened the file.

She turned through the pages again.

The history of the Draven Empire.

Old territories.

Old alliances.

Old names.

She reached the section concerning the Wells family.

There was very little.

Almost too little.

Someone had deliberately removed pages.

Viktoria frowned.

"These pages are missing."

Alexander looked over.

"How many?"

"At least six."

"Are you sure?"

She pointed to the numbering.

"The pages jump."

Alexander examined it.

"You're right."

Viktoria closed her eyes.

Her grandfather had hidden information from her.

Someone had removed pages from the file.

And Elias Wells had appeared immediately after she discovered the proposal.

The timing was too perfect.

"I need to know what happened between our families," she said.

Alexander nodded.

"We'll find out."

She looked at him.

"What if we don't?"

"We will."

"You sound certain."

"I've been working for your grandfather for more than twenty years."

Alexander's voice softened.

"And I've spent the last four years working for you."

He looked directly at her.

"I won't stop now."

Viktoria looked away.

She didn't say thank you.

She didn't need to.

Alexander understood.

That afternoon, Viktoria stood alone in the library.

She had ordered the staff to leave her undisturbed.

The shelves around her contained generations of Draven history.

Books.

Records.

Ledgers.

Family documents.

Everything she had once believed she understood.

She pulled an old history book from the shelf.

Then another.

She searched for the Wells name.

Nothing.

She searched again.

Still nothing.

It was as though someone had erased the family's involvement from history.

A sound came from behind her.

Viktoria turned.

Alexander stood in the doorway.

"You're still searching."

"Yes."

He held another document.

"I found something."

She walked toward him.

"What?"

"A record from your grandfather's private office."

He handed it to her.

Viktoria read the first line.

Then stopped.

It was a letter.

Addressed to the head of the Wells family.

Her grandfather had written it shortly before his death.

The message was brief.

But one sentence caught her attention.

When the time comes, Elias must speak to Viktoria himself.

Viktoria's heart sank.

She looked at Alexander.

"He knew."

Alexander nodded.

"He knew Elias would come."

She looked back at the letter.

Her grandfather hadn't simply left a mysterious clue.

He had arranged something.

Something that was now unfolding exactly as he had expected.

Viktoria folded the letter.

"Arrange another meeting."

"With Elias?"

"Yes."

Alexander studied her.

"Are you considering the marriage?"

Viktoria looked toward the tall windows.

"I don't know."

Then she looked down at her grandfather's letter.

"But I'm considering the possibility that refusing it could cost me the empire."

Alexander said nothing.

Viktoria's fingers tightened around the paper.

She had spent four years fighting to reclaim what was hers.

Now, for the first time, she was beginning to wonder whether the crown her grandfather had promised her could only be reached through the very family she had never understood.

The Wells family.

And Elias.

She looked at the closed door.

"Find him."

Alexander nodded.

"I will."

Viktoria turned back toward the shelves.

Somewhere in the forgotten history of the Draven Empire was the answer.

And she intended to find it.

Before Elias asked her to become his wife.

Before her father could make the division permanent.

Before the council had another chance to decide her future for her.

She would uncover the truth herself.