CHAPTER SEVEN - THE BLOOD OF A STRANGER
1859 Words
Olivia couldn’t breathe.
The courtyard seemed to disappear beneath her.
The soldiers.
The palace.
Lucas.
Everything blurred until there was only one sentence echoing inside her head.
Olivia is my daughter.
She stared at the man below.
Lord Cassian.
The man who had arrived with an army and claimed a throne that Lucas had fought to reclaim.
Her father?
No.
It couldn’t be true.
“My daughter,” Cassian repeated.
His voice carried across the courtyard.
“She was taken from me twenty-four years ago.”
A murmur moved through the soldiers.
Olivia stepped backward.
Lucas turned toward her.
His expression was unreadable.
“Don’t listen to him.”
Olivia looked at him.
“How do you know he’s lying?”
Lucas didn’t answer immediately.
Cassian laughed from below.
“Ask him.”
His eyes remained fixed on Lucas.
“Ask your king what happened the night you were born.”
Lucas’s jaw tightened.
Cassian smiled.
“You see?”
Olivia’s heart pounded.
“You know something.”
Lucas finally looked at her.
“I know enough to tell you that Cassian is dangerous.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“You asked whether he’s your father.”
“Yes.”
“And I don’t know.”
The honesty in his answer frightened her more than a lie would have.
Olivia swallowed.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
Cassian stepped forward.
“But I do.”
He reached beneath his cloak and removed a small wooden box.
“Twenty-four years ago, your mother gave birth to a daughter.”
Olivia froze.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Queen Elena?”
Cassian’s smile faded.
“Elena was not always the queen you know.”
Lucas stepped toward the edge of the balcony.
“Enough.”
Cassian ignored him.
“She loved your father.”
Olivia’s voice trembled.
“Who was my father?”
Cassian looked directly at her.
“Me.”
Silence.
Lucas suddenly drew his sword.
“Guards!”
The palace soldiers surrounded him.
Cassian’s army immediately raised their weapons.
For one terrifying moment, it looked as if the entire courtyard would erupt into war.
Then Cassian lifted his hand.
His soldiers lowered their weapons.
“I didn’t come here to fight you today, Lucas.”
Lucas’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why come?”
“To give Olivia the truth.”
Lucas laughed coldly.
“You’ve never cared about the truth.”
Cassian’s expression hardened.
“You’re right.”
He looked toward Olivia.
“I care about what the truth will do to this kingdom.”
Olivia stepped forward.
“What do you want from me?”
Cassian’s gaze softened.
“Nothing.”
She almost laughed.
“You brought an army to my home and say you want nothing?”
“I want what was stolen from you.”
“What was stolen from me?”
“Your name.”
Olivia’s heart thudded.
Cassian pointed toward the palace.
“You were born a princess.”
Lucas’s eyes flickered.
Cassian continued.
“But your existence threatened people who wanted the throne.”
Olivia remembered the words from the parchment.
The princess knows nothing.
Someone had written them.
Someone knew.
Someone had been watching.
“Why was I taken away?” she asked.
Cassian’s face changed.
“Because the royal family was betrayed.”
“By whom?”
Cassian looked at Lucas.
“That is the question your king has spent twenty years trying to answer.”
Olivia turned toward Lucas.
“Is it true?”
Lucas remained silent.
“Lucas.”
He slowly lowered his sword.
“I was told you died.”
Cassian scoffed.
“You were told many things.”
“No,” Lucas said. “I was shown your grave.”
Cassian’s expression darkened.
“A false grave.”
Lucas’s eyes became colder.
“I searched for your body.”
“And found nothing.”
“Because there was nothing to find.”
Cassian smiled bitterly.
“Exactly.”
Olivia looked between them.
“What does this have to do with me?”
Cassian answered.
“Everything.”
He opened the wooden box.
Inside was a small silver pendant.
Olivia’s breath caught.
She knew it.
She had seen it before.
Around Queen Elena’s neck.
The pendant had been broken when Elena was taken.
Cassian held it up.
“Your mother gave me this the night you were born.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“Let me see it.”
Cassian nodded.
A soldier approached the palace steps and carried the box toward her.
Lucas immediately blocked the man’s path.
“No.”
Olivia looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know what’s inside.”
“It’s a pendant.”
“It could be poisoned.”
Cassian laughed.
“Still paranoid.”
Lucas ignored him.
“Search it.”
A guard examined the pendant carefully before handing it to Olivia.
The moment she touched it, something inside her shifted.
A strange warmth moved through her fingers.
She turned it over.
On the back were three letters.
O.E.C.
Olivia stared.
“What does this mean?”
Cassian answered.
“Olivia Elena Cassian.”
Her knees nearly gave way.
Lucas caught her arm.
“Easy.”
She pulled away.
“No.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“No, this doesn’t prove anything.”
Cassian nodded.
“It doesn’t.”
Olivia looked at him.
For the first time, he seemed completely serious.
“It proves your mother knew me. It proves I was involved in your birth. But it doesn’t prove I am your father.”
Lucas looked at him sharply.
Cassian smiled.
“Did you expect me to make it easy?”
Olivia’s frustration boiled.
“You claim I’m your daughter, then admit you can’t prove it?”
“I know who your father is.”
“Then tell me!”
Cassian’s eyes moved toward Lucas.
And that was when Olivia understood.
The answer was connected to Lucas.
Cassian said quietly,
“Your mother loved two men.”
Olivia’s heart stopped.
“One was me.”
His gaze settled on Lucas.
“The other was his father.”
The world went silent.
Lucas stared at him.
Cassian continued.
“King Alaric.”
Olivia’s lips parted.
“No.”
Lucas’s face had gone completely still.
Cassian nodded.
“Your mother was carrying a child when Alaric discovered her relationship with me.”
Olivia shook her head.
“Stop.”
“He believed the child was his.”
“Stop!”
Cassian’s voice softened.
“Your birth became the most dangerous secret in Valoria.”
Olivia couldn’t process it.
If Cassian was telling the truth—
If King Alaric was her father—
Then she wasn’t merely a lost princess.
She was connected to the throne through the dead king.
And Lucas—
Lucas would be her half-brother.
The thought made her stomach turn.
She looked at him.
Lucas had gone pale.
He looked as disturbed as she felt.
“That’s impossible,” he whispered.
Cassian smiled without humor.
“Now you understand why they wanted her hidden.”
Lucas shook his head.
“No.”
Cassian raised an eyebrow.
“You think I haven’t spent twenty-four years looking for the truth?”
Lucas stepped forward.
“You’re lying.”
“I may be.”
Cassian shrugged.
“But you can’t prove that I am.”
Lucas turned toward Olivia.
“Come with me.”
She didn’t move.
“Olivia.”
“I need answers.”
“And you’ll get them.”
“From you?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“Then tell me why your father was involved in my birth.”
Lucas looked away.
“I don’t know.”
“Tell me why my mother was hiding me.”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell me why you knew about my royal blood before I did.”
Silence.
That one hurt.
Lucas finally admitted,
“Because your father told me.”
Olivia’s breath caught.
“King Alaric?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before he died.”
The courtyard seemed to tilt.
“What did he tell you?”
Lucas looked directly at her.
“He told me there was a girl in Valoria whose blood could destroy the kingdom.”
Olivia’s eyes widened.
“Me?”
“I didn’t know it was you.”
“Then why were you investigating my family?”
“Because Alaric gave me one instruction.”
“What instruction?”
Lucas’s voice dropped.
“Find her before the council does.”
Olivia stared at him.
“And what were you going to do when you found me?”
Lucas didn’t answer.
“Lucas.”
He looked at her.
“I hadn’t decided.”
That answer frightened her.
Before she could say anything, a horn sounded from the western tower.
Lucas immediately turned.
A guard came running toward them.
“Your Majesty!”
“What?”
“The eastern wing is on fire.”
Olivia’s heart dropped.
“My mother.”
Lucas grabbed his sword.
“Get everyone out.”
They ran.
Smoke was already filling the corridor.
Guards rushed past them carrying buckets.
The fire was spreading rapidly.
Olivia covered her mouth.
“Where’s Elena?”
“We don’t know!”
Lucas pushed through the smoke.
“Find her!”
They reached the hidden chamber.
The room was burning.
The curtains were gone.
The cradle lay broken.
Olivia searched desperately.
“Mother!”
No answer.
Lucas kicked open a burning wooden cabinet.
Nothing.
Then Olivia saw something on the floor.
A trail of blood.
It led toward the secret passage behind the fireplace.
“She escaped through there.”
Lucas followed the trail.
The passage was narrow and dark.
They moved quickly.
After several minutes, they reached a stone door.
It was open.
Outside, the forest stretched beneath the evening sky.
Olivia stepped through.
A piece of blue fabric was caught on a thorn bush.
She recognized it immediately.
Her mother’s dress.
“She was here.”
Lucas picked up the fabric.
Then he noticed something else.
A small piece of parchment had been pinned to the tree with a dagger.
He removed it.
Olivia read the message over his shoulder.
There were only two lines.
THE KING IS NOT YOUR ENEMY.
And beneath it:
BUT THE MAN WHO CLAIMS TO BE YOUR FATHER IS.
Olivia’s blood turned cold.
She looked toward the forest.
Cassian was still inside the palace.
He had an army.
He had a claim.
And now someone was warning her that he was lying.
Lucas folded the note.
“Back to the palace.”
Olivia stopped him.
“Lucas.”
He turned.
“If Cassian isn’t my father…”
Lucas waited.
“…then who is?”
He stared at her for several seconds.
Then his eyes moved toward the palace.
“I think we just found the reason your mother was taken.”
“What reason?”
Lucas’s expression darkened.
“Because whoever your real father is…”
He looked at the blood trail disappearing into the forest.
“…he may still be alive.”
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