CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
The road winds upward, the convoy slicing through the mist like a procession from another world.
I press my palm against my thigh to stop the restless tapping, but it doesn’t help. The closer the Grand Castle grows in the distance, the tighter my nerves pull.
I lean slightly toward Nina.
“Please… tell me what I should know before I walk into that place.”
Nina folds her hands carefully, as though choosing her words with precision.
“To understand the palace,” she says softly, “you have to understand the royal bloodline.”
I nod for her to continue.
“His Majesty is the only child of the late King Arthur and late Queen Eleanor. The queen died during childbirth, so he grew up without her.”
My eyes widen.
“He never met his mother?”
“No,” Nina replies. “And it shape
