THE CURSED BLOODLINE

Chapter 12

The Girl Beneath the Crown

The scream followed me all the way to Blackthorne Palace.

It slipped through the morning wind, trembling between the ruined towers and the blood-red sky. I knew that voice. I had never heard it before, yet something deep inside me recognised it as intimately as my own reflection.

My sister was alive.

And Adrian's heartbeat had disappeared.

I ran through the palace gates, clutching the silver ring on my finger. The guards who had once hunted me now stood frozen beneath the entrance arch, their faces pale as the crimson light spread across the courtyard.

“Princess Evelina,” one whispered.

I barely heard him.

“Where is the entrance to the ancient sanctuary?”

The older guard crossed himself. “Your Highness, that place was sealed centuries ago. No living person has entered it.”

“Then today, someone will.”

I hurried past him into the great hall. The silver crown lay shattered upon the marble floor, and black roses had begun growing between the tiles. Their petals opened as I approached, releasing a sweet, suffocating fragrance.

At the far end of the hall stood Lord Lucien Vale.

He held a long iron key in his hand.

“I thought you might come,” he said.

I stopped abruptly. “How did you get here before me?”

“Your father was not the only person who knew about the sanctuary.”

His expression carried an exhaustion I had never noticed before. The polished adviser who had manipulated court affairs was gone. In his place stood a man who seemed to have spent his entire life waiting for a disaster he could neither prevent nor escape.

“Give me the key.”

He closed his fingers around it. “First, you must understand what lies beneath this palace. The Heartstone was created by the first Ashbourne queen. She divided her power between her children, believing their descendants would protect the kingdom together. Instead, one bloodline sought control over the other.”

“The Blackthornes.”

“Yes. And the Ashbournes retaliated. Their hatred awakened the creature you met in the ruins.”

I remembered Lucian's shattered mask and Adrian's fading body.

“Why did the curse choose Adrian?”

“Because he was born with two souls fighting for one body. His brother's spirit was trapped within the curse, while Adrian became its living prison.”

My stomach tightened. “Then why did he disappear?”

“Because the prison opened. The Heartstone may be the only thing capable of restoring him.”

I stepped closer. “And my sister?”

Lucien looked at my ring.

“Your twin was sacrificed to strengthen the original binding. Her soul became part of the Heartstone, just as Adrian's brother became part of the curse. If you awaken her, you might free Adrian. Or you might release everything the ancient queens sacrificed themselves to contain.”

The key suddenly felt heavier in his hand.

“Why are you helping me?”

For the first time, Lucien looked genuinely ashamed.

“Because I helped your father conceal the truth. I believed the kingdom needed its secrets to survive. I was wrong.”

He placed the key in my palm.

“Whatever happens below, do not trust the voice that calls you sister.”

Before I could question him, the floor beneath us trembled.

A crack split the marble, revealing a narrow staircase spiralling into darkness.

From somewhere below came the sound of a child crying.

I descended alone.

The air grew colder with every step. Strange symbols covered the walls, glowing whenever my fingers brushed them. At the bottom, I found a circular chamber containing a crystal suspended above a pool of black water.

Inside the crystal floated a girl with long dark hair and violet eyes.

My eyes.

A red star marked her wrist.

She looked exactly as I might have looked at eighteen, except her face was peaceful, untouched by grief.

I approached the crystal, tears blurring my vision.

“I'm Evelina,” I whispered. “I'm your sister.”

Her eyelids opened.

The entire chamber shuddered.

“Finally,” she said, her voice echoing inside my skull. “You came back for me.”

I reached toward the crystal.

Her expression changed.

“Wait.”

I froze.

“Why?”

She pressed both hands against the crystal walls. Beneath her skin, black veins began spreading like cracks through glass.

“Because I'm not the sister you remember.”

I stared at her, confused.

“I don't remember you.”

A sad smile touched her lips.

“Exactly.”

The ring on my finger burned. Adrian's heartbeat returned, faint but unmistakable, and the black water began rising around my ankles.

My sister's eyes filled with tears.

“Evelina, listen carefully. The creature isn't trying to escape anymore.”

A shadow moved behind the crystal.

“It's already inside you.”