The Queen They Betrayed

CHAPTER SIX: THE BLOODLINE

Darkness swallowed the chamber.

For several seconds, I couldn't see anything.

I couldn't hear Kesean.

I couldn't see Lucien.

I couldn't even tell whether I was still standing.

Then something grabbed my wrist.

I nearly screamed.

"It's me."

Kesean.

I released the breath I'd been holding.

"Where's Lucien?"

"I don't know."

A spark of golden light appeared in the distance.

Then another.

The chamber slowly became visible again.

The black stone was no longer cracked.

It was completely open.

Inside was a small chamber glowing with pale gold light.

Lucien stood several feet away, staring at it.

His soldiers were gone.

I looked around.

"What happened to them?"

"They ran," Kesean said.

"Ran?"

He nodded.

"They were afraid."

I looked at Lucien.

For once, he had no smug expression.

He looked genuinely shaken.

"What is inside?"

He didn't answer.

I stepped toward the opening.

"Aurelia, wait."

Kesean caught my arm.

I pulled free.

"No."

"Aurelia—"

"I've spent my entire life being told what I can and cannot know."

I looked at him.

"My father is imprisoned. My mother is missing. My kingdom thinks I'm a traitor."

I turned toward the glowing chamber.

"I'm done waiting."

I stepped inside.

The air changed immediately.

Everything became strangely quiet.

At the center of the room stood a stone pedestal.

On it rested a small golden crown.

Not the royal crown.

Something older.

Simpler.

A thin band of gold with a single black stone in the center.

I approached it.

The moment I came within a few steps, the stone began glowing.

A voice whispered through the room.

"Aurelian."

I stopped.

The voice continued.

"Daughter of the blood."

My heart hammered.

Images suddenly appeared in the air.

A king standing before this very chamber.

A queen beside him.

Armies kneeling.

Then fire.

War.

Betrayal.

Generation after generation of rulers.

I watched as each monarch placed their hand over the black stone.

Then the image changed.

A young woman stood before the crown.

She looked familiar.

Very familiar.

I stepped closer.

"Grandmother."

Kesean entered the chamber behind me.

"What are you seeing?"

I couldn't answer.

The image of my grandmother turned toward me.

Then she spoke.

"If you have reached this chamber, then Elaria has already fallen into the hands of those who seek its destruction."

The image flickered.

"There is only one thing you must remember."

The young woman raised her hand.

"The throne does not belong to the strongest."

She looked directly at me.

"It belongs to the one who chooses to protect the kingdom when power would be easier."

The vision disappeared.

Silence returned.

I stared at the crown.

"What is this?"

Lucien finally spoke from the doorway.

"The First Crown."

I turned.

"You knew about it."

"Yes."

"Then tell me the truth."

Lucien hesitated.

"The First Crown chooses the next ruler."

I frowned.

"I am already the heir."

"Not anymore."

The words hit me harder than I expected.

"What?"

"Your father changed the succession before tonight."

Kesean stepped forward.

"Why?"

Lucien looked at him.

"Because he knew the Council would eventually move against Aurelia."

He looked back at me.

"He planned to remove your name from the succession records."

I stared at him.

"Why would my father do that?"

"To protect you."

I shook my head.

"No."

Lucien took a step closer.

"Your father knew what would happen if the Council discovered that you were the rightful bearer of the First Crown."

"And what would happen?"

"They would kill you."

The chamber fell silent.

I looked at the golden crown.

Then at Lucien.

"Why?"

His expression changed.

"Because whoever wears the First Crown doesn't simply rule Elaria."

He paused.

"They control the ancient power beneath it."

My heart sank.

Kesean looked toward the floor.

"That's what the Council wants."

Lucien nodded.

"And they need Aurelia."

I stepped backward.

Suddenly everything made sense.

The attack.

The accusation.

The soldiers.

My mother's warning.

They hadn't wanted me dead.

Not yet.

They wanted me alive.

They needed my blood.

I looked at the First Crown.

"What happens if I refuse?"

Lucien's face went pale.

"Then the kingdom goes to war."

I stared at him.

"And if I accept?"

He didn't answer.

Kesean did.

"Then they come for you."

I looked between them.

For eighteen years, I had believed being queen meant wearing a crown.

Now I understood.

The crown had never been the prize.

It had always been the weapon.

I reached toward it.

Kesean stepped forward.

"Aurelia."

I looked at him.

"Don't."

"Why?"

"Because once you touch it, there may be no going back."

I looked at the crown again.

Then I thought of my father.

My mother.

My people.

My kingdom.

I reached out.

My fingers touched the gold.

The entire chamber exploded with light.

And somewhere far above us, every bell in Elaria began to ring.