Chapter 8: The Queen in Hiding
2016 Words
“My queen.”
The words seemed to echo through the room.
I stared at Lydia.
She remained on one knee, her head bowed.
My mother looked horrified.
“Lydia, get up.”
Lydia didn't move.
“Please.”
Her voice trembled.
“I have waited twenty years to say those words.”
My heart hammered against my ribs.
“Get up.”
This time, I wasn't asking.
Lydia slowly rose.
She looked at me differently now.
Not like the little girl she had helped raise.
Not like the daughter of the Valerians.
Like something sacred.
Something lost.
Something found.
I hated it.
“Don't look at me like that.”
Lydia's eyes filled with tears.
“I am sorry.”
“For what?”
“For pretending.”
I felt something cold settle in my stomach.
“How many of you were pretending?”
Nobody answered.
I laughed bitterly.
“That's becoming a very familiar answer.”
Caelan stepped closer.
“Sera…”
I turned toward him.
“Did you know?”
He shook his head immediately.
“No. Not this.”
“But you knew something.”
“Yes.”
His expression tightened.
“I knew our parents were protecting you from something. I didn't know you were a queen.”
The word sounded absurd coming from him.
Queen.
I looked at my hands.
I had spent twenty years learning how to behave like a proper daughter.
How to smile at the right people.
How to sit through council meetings.
How to dress.
How to negotiate.
How to make my father proud.
And apparently, all that time, I had been something else entirely.
A hidden heir.
A queen without a kingdom.
A girl whose own wolf had been locked away because someone was afraid of what would happen if she woke.
I looked at my mother.
“Tell me everything.”
She took a slow breath.
“I can't.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Not again.”
“I mean it, Seraphina. There are things you need to know now, and there are things that would put you in greater danger if you knew them before you were prepared.”
“You've spent my entire life deciding what I'm allowed to know.”
“And I would make the same decision again if it meant keeping you alive.”
“That decision didn't exactly work the first time.”
Mother flinched.
Father closed his eyes.
Lucien looked away.
I hated seeing their reactions.
Because every time I mentioned my death, someone looked at me as though I had brought a ghost into the room.
Maybe I had.
I stepped toward Mother.
“Then give me something real.”
She was quiet for a long moment.
Finally, she nodded.
“The kingdom you belong to was called Elaria.”
The name meant nothing to me.
“It was hidden from the human world and from most of the wolf territories. Elaria was ruled by a royal bloodline unlike any other.”
She looked at the ring.
“Your bloodline.”
“Who ruled it?”
“Your grandfather.”
I froze.
“My grandfather?”
“Your mother's father,” she said.
I stared at her.
“My grandfather is dead?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Mother's eyes darkened.
“He was murdered.”
The room became colder.
“By whom?”
“We never discovered the full truth.”
Lucien spoke quietly.
“We did.”
Everyone looked at him.
Mother's face hardened.
“Lucien.”
“They deserve to know.”
“You don't get to decide that.”
“No,” he replied calmly. “But neither do you.”
There was an edge between them that I had never seen before.
I looked from one to the other.
“You two know more than you're telling me.”
Lucien's eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
At least he was honest.
I almost appreciated it.
Almost.
“What happened to Elaria?”
Mother's voice dropped.
“It fell.”
“How?”
“Someone betrayed the crown.”
“Who?”
She hesitated.
“People inside the royal court.”
My jaw tightened.
“So my family was betrayed from within.”
“Yes.”
“And my grandfather was murdered.”
“Yes.”
“And everyone else?”
Mother looked at me.
“Most of them.”
The answer was deliberately vague.
I caught it immediately.
“Most?”
Silence.
“Mother.”
She swallowed.
“We believed there were no survivors.”
“But there was me.”
“Yes.”
“And that's why you took me.”
Mother's eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
The word came softly.
“We didn't take you.”
I frowned.
“Then what happened?”
She looked at Father.
He nodded.
Mother came closer.
“You were brought to us.”
“By whom?”
She didn't answer immediately.
Then—
“Your mother.”
I stared at her.
“My… other mother?”
She nodded.
The room seemed to stop.
“You're telling me my biological mother is alive?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
My heart dropped.
“She died shortly after bringing you to us.”
I couldn't speak.
Mother reached for me.
I stepped back.
“Why?”
“She knew they were coming.”
“Who?”
“The people who had destroyed Elaria.”
Mother's voice cracked.
“She knew they would search for you.”
“So she gave me to you.”
“Yes.”
“Why the Valerians?”
Father answered this time.
“Because our family had enough political power to hide you.”
I looked around the room.
“All this time…”
I whispered.
“You weren't pretending to be my parents.”
Mother shook her head.
“We became your parents.”
Her voice broke.
“We were supposed to protect you until you were old enough to protect yourself.”
I looked at her.
“And then what?”
“You were supposed to choose whether you wanted your crown.”
I laughed softly.
“That's the part nobody thought to mention.”
Mother looked down.
“We were afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Of what would happen if you knew.”
I glanced toward Lucien.
“And he knew.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Mother didn't answer.
Lucien did.
“Since before you could walk.”
I looked at him.
“You've known me that long?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let me believe I was ordinary?”
His face tightened.
“Because I was ordered to.”
“By whom?”
“My king.”
I frowned.
“Your king?”
Lucien's gaze shifted to my ring.
“You.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“In Elaria, the royal heir was not merely protected by guards.”
His eyes returned to mine.
“The heir had a sworn protector.”
My breath caught.
“You.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew me in my first life.”
“I did.”
“You knew I was going to die.”
His jaw clenched.
“Yes.”
I stepped closer.
“Then why didn't you save me?”
The room went silent.
Lucien's expression changed.
For the first time, I saw something break through his control.
Regret.
“I tried.”
“Not hard enough.”
The words came out viciously.
His eyes hardened.
“You think I don't know that?”
His voice was suddenly rough.
“You think I haven't replayed that night every time I've closed my eyes?”
I froze.
Lucien took a breath.
“I heard them inside the room. I broke through two doors. The final one was sealed with blood magic. I couldn't enter.”
He looked directly at me.
“I heard you scream.”
My throat tightened.
“I heard Adrian tell you he never loved you.”
My stomach twisted.
“I heard Selene laugh.”
Mother covered her mouth.
Caelan looked away.
Lucien continued.
“And then I heard your heartbeat stop.”
The room disappeared around me.
For a moment, I was back there.
Cold marble.
Silver chains.
Blood beneath my fingers.
Adrian's face.
Selene's laughter.
My own wolf waking too late.
Remember.
I staggered.
Lucien reached for me.
I pushed his hand away.
“Don't.”
He stopped immediately.
I pressed my fingers against my temples.
“Why didn't I know you?”
“You weren't supposed to.”
“Why?”
“Because your bond with me had been suppressed too.”
I looked up.
“What?”
Lucien nodded.
“Your enemies didn't only silence your wolf. They interfered with your ability to recognize your true mate.”
My heart stopped.
“Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“The bond I felt with him…”
“Wasn't real.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
I remembered the first time Adrian had touched me.
The warmth.
The certainty.
The belief that fate itself had chosen him.
All of it had been a lie.
My wolf stirred.
He was never ours.
I closed my eyes.
For the first time, I believed her completely.
A sudden pain tore through my chest.
I gasped.
The ring in my hand burned.
“Seraphina!”
The floor beneath my feet vibrated.
A low growl rolled through the room.
Not from outside.
From me.
The candles flickered.
The windows rattled.
Lucien stepped forward.
“Don't fight it.”
“I can't control it!”
“Then stop trying to control it.”
“What?”
“Listen to her.”
My wolf surged forward.
For one terrifying second, I thought she would take over.
Instead, I felt her settle around me.
Not behind me.
Not beneath me.
With me.
My breathing slowed.
The pressure in the room disappeared.
The ring cooled.
I stared at my hand.
A faint golden light pulsed beneath the metal.
Mother whispered:
“It's responding to you.”
“What is?”
“The crown.”
I looked at her.
“What crown?”
She pointed toward the ring.
“Not the physical crown.”
Her face had gone pale.
“The royal seal.”
Lucien's expression darkened.
“That shouldn't be happening yet.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because it means the throne has recognized you.”
A sound came from outside.
A horn.
Low.
Deep.
Every wolf in the estate went silent.
My father's expression changed instantly.
“What is that?”
Another horn sounded.
Then a third.
Father walked toward the window.
His face became grim.
“Someone is at the eastern gate.”
Caelan moved beside him.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
I felt it before anyone answered.
Hundreds of presences.
Wolves.
Approaching.
My wolf lifted her head inside me.
They found us.
I whispered,
“Who?”
She answered with absolute certainty.
The ones who killed us.
My blood ran cold.
Father turned toward everyone.
“Lock the estate.”
Lydia immediately ran for the door.
“Seal every entrance.”
Caelan drew his weapon.
Mother grabbed my arm.
“You need to leave.”
“No.”
“Seraphina—”
“I've spent twenty years being hidden.”
I pulled my arm free.
“I'm done running.”
A howl erupted outside.
Then another.
Then dozens.
The entire estate trembled.
Lucien stepped beside me.
His eyes had turned completely gold.
“Then stay behind me.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
His brows furrowed.
I held up my hand.
Golden light curled around my fingers.
“I think they've spent twenty years looking for the wrong girl.”
Lucien stared at me.
A slow smile appeared on his face.
“That,” he murmured, “is the first thing you've said tonight that sounds like a queen.”
The eastern gates exploded.
And the wolves came pouring in.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD