ECHOES OF FORGOTTEN

Chapter 10: The Hand Behind the Curtain

King Cassian Valeborn of Caladryth POV

Three days before the entrance exam.

I hated academies. I hated examinations. And at this precise moment, I especially hated the people in this room. My brother-in-law, my nephew, my secretary, King Cedric Everhart of Vareth, his son, and the headmaster of this Academy.

"Your Majesty," Headmaster Verdan said carefully, "I don't understand why you want to change the combat exam."

I looked at him for several seconds. That usually solved my problem. Unfortunately, Verdan has spent twenty years dealing with nobles and another twenty dealing with teenagers. He was largely immune to intimidation. A tragic quality in a headmaster.

"Because," I said slowly, and before I could finish, my nephew Kael had to murmur something everyone heard.

"Because he thinks that Lilith isn't my sister. His sister's daughter." Kael said.

I looked at Kael. The traitorous boy didn't even have the decency to appear guilty.

"Can you really blame me, Kael?" I asked

"Yes."

"I wasn't finished."

"That has never stopped me before."

I sighed. "Kael."

"Yes, Uncle?"

"One day, a woman came to your door with a baby and said it's your sister. And your dad believed it and married that woman. No trace of my sister's body. That kid has none of her parents' power and doesn't even look like my sister. "

"Uncle," Kael started, very annoyed. "You can't keep doubting Lilith and pushing her away."

"Never!"

"Never?" Kael repeated.

The single word carried enough disbelief to make several people suddenly interested in the ceiling.

I pointed at him. "Never."

"Uncle-"

"No."

"You literally refuse to call her your niece."

" I refuse to call her my niece until she shows signs she's my sister's daughter."

"She's been part of the family for sixteen years!"

"Exactly!"I slammed my hand onto the table hard enough to rattle the papers. The room immediately went silent. "You accepted her because it was convenient. No questions. No investigation. A woman appears carrying a child, claims she's Elyra's daughter, and everyone simply decides that's the truth."

I pointed at Kael.

"You accepted it."

Then I turned toward Bartholomew.

"And you married that woman before anyone had answers."

The room grew colder. Nobody liked where this conversation was going. Unfortunately for them, neither did I.

"My sister vanished." My voice echoed through the chamber. "Years passed. No body. No explanation. No witnesses. Nothing."

I looked directly at my brother-in-law. " And then one day a woman appears carrying a child and claiming to know what happened."

Silence. "You all accepted her story. Without proof. Without questions. Without even considering the possibility that something was wrong."

My jaw tightened. "I seem to be the only person who loved Elyra enough to ask."

The chair scraped loudly against the floor. Bartholomew stood. Slowly. Dangerously. For the first time, genuine anger crossed his face. "Don't"

The single word cut through the room. Even Kael went quiet. Bartholomew took one step forward. "I have tolerated many things from you, Cassian." Another step. "But i will not tolerate that. You think you loved her more than I did?" His voice shook. Not from fear but from grief. Old grief. "I spent years searching for her body with hopes she was still alive."

Before he could continue, King Cedric raised his hand. "Enough." Cedric exhaled slowly. "Bartholomew, let him have his doubts."

The room went still.

"What?" Kael asked.

Cedric leaned back in his chair. "Telling Cassian to stop questioning things is like telling the sea to stop making waves."

"I dislike how accurate that is," I muttered.

"You dislike accuracy in general."

A few smiles appeared around the room. Bartholomew wasn't smiling. Neither was I.

Cedric looks between us. "You know your truth." His gaze settled on Bartholomew. "You raised Lilith. You love Lilith. Nothing Cassian says can change that." Then he looked at me. "And Cassian knows his truth."

"I know something is wrong." The words escaped before I could stop them. "Not with Lilith. With everything."

Cedric looked at me for a long moment. He sighed. "Then let's do the combat exam your way and end this argument here."

The Day of the Examination.

I stood in the observation chamber high above the arena. Below me, thousands of spectators filled the stone seats. The massive illusion screens floated above the areba, already displaying images from inside the forest. Students moved through ancient trees. Some confidently. Some cautionsly. Some very obviously regretting their life choices.

My gaze drifted from screen to screen. Searching, waiting, for any type of sign. Because, despite all my certainty, I still didn't know exactly what I expected to find.

"Your Majesty," My secretary's voice came from behind me.

I didn't turn around."Yes?"

There was a pause. An unusual one. My secretary rarely hesitated. "That girl!"

My attention sharpened instantly. "What girl?"

"The silver-haired one."

Now I turned. My secretary was staring at one of the screens. Specifically screen twelve. I followed her gaze and immediately understood.

My secretary's words echoed through the observation chamber. "She looks just like her."

No. Not exactly. But enough. Enough to make old memories stir. Enough to make seventeen years suddenly feel like yesterday. I stepped closer to the screen. The silver-haired girl was currently arguing with another candidate. Even from a distance, I could tell she was being ridiculous.

My secretary looked at me. "I think she said something about seeing ghost tulips."

"Tulips?" I repeated quietly.

My secretary nodded. "I overheard part of the conversation. She mentioned seeing ghost tulips."

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe. The observation chamber vanished. The crowd vanished. The academy vanished. All I could hear was the echo of a voice from twenty years ago.

"Cassian, look"

A field of blue flowers stretching endlessly beneath a summer sky. My sister is laughing. Blue petals caught in her hair.

"Are you certain?" I asked.

My secretary hesitated. "No, Your Majesty. I only heard a fragment."

The arena went silent. Every conversation in the observation chambers stopped. Every eye turned toward screen twelve. Toward the silver-haired girl.

"I thought you couldn't touch ghosts, or what they hold?"

My pulse quickened. I looked toward Bartholomew. For the first time since this examination began, he wasn't pretending to be calm. Watching. Really watching. His eyes never left the screen. Neither did mine.

No one could fight back his ghosts. Even him. But that girl...

That girl has stopped one.

My secretary swallowed. "It's like she has both powers."

We kept watching. The moment she emerged in the arena, she stopped. Not for the cheering crowd. Not for the announcer calling her name. She looked back. Back toward the closing doorway. Towards something none of us could see. The arena continued roaring around her, but she seemed completely unaware of it.

Then it happened.

"Your Majesty.." My secretary whispered.

I didn't look away from her. "I can see it."

A single strand of silver hair near her temple slowly turned blue. The color spread through it like ink through water. A moment later, something appeared in her hands. A flower. A blue tulip. Fresh blood stained its petals.

The silence lingered for several moments. Then I finally spoke. "Find out everything about that girl."

My secretary straightened immediately. "Everything, Your majesty?"

"Everything," I repeated. "Her family. Her teachers. Her friends. I want everything."

My eyes remained fixed on the silver haired gilr clutching a bloodstained tulip. "And tell him to watch her now that she has entered the academy."

"Discreetly?"

"No." A faint smile touched my lips. "Discreetly enough that she doesn't notice. Thoroughly enough that nothing escapes us."

"Understood, Your Majesty." My secretary bowed. The hesitated. " She looks exactly like Elyra when she was her age."

For a long moment, I said nothing. I watched the flower, then that girl. "Yes."