CHAPTER FIVE - THE TRAITOR IN THE PALACE
1792 Words
“And they want their princess back.”
The words hung in the room.
Olivia stared at the man standing in the doorway.
Sir Cedric.
Lucas’s most trusted royal guard.
The same man who had escorted Olivia through the palace that morning.
The same man who had sworn loyalty to the crown.
A traitor.
Lucas stepped in front of Olivia.
“Put down your sword.”
Cedric laughed.
“You’re still giving orders?”
“I’m giving you one chance.”
“And if I refuse?”
Lucas slowly drew his own sword.
“Then you die.”
Cedric’s smile disappeared.
“Just like your father?”
The room went silent.
Lucas’s eyes turned terrifyingly cold.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Cedric raised his sword.
“You still don’t know what happened that night, do you?”
Olivia looked at Lucas.
His face had gone completely still.
Cedric laughed again.
“Twenty years, Lucas. Twenty years of hunting the wrong people.”
Lucas took a step forward.
“Who sent you?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Cedric suddenly lunged.
Lucas blocked the strike.
Steel crashed against steel.
Olivia stepped backward.
“Mother!”
Elena pulled the baby against her chest and moved toward the far side of the room.
Lucas and Cedric fought across the chamber.
Cedric was fast.
Much faster than Olivia expected.
But Lucas was stronger.
He forced Cedric backward.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” Cedric said.
Lucas struck his sword aside.
“I wasn’t given the chance.”
“Exactly.”
Cedric smiled.
“You were supposed to die with your family.”
Lucas froze for half a second.
That was enough.
Cedric kicked him backward and ran toward Olivia.
She screamed.
Lucas turned.
“Olivia!”
Cedric grabbed her arm.
“Come with me.”
“Let go!”
Olivia struggled.
Cedric pressed his sword against her throat.
“One more step, Your Majesty.”
Lucas stopped.
Cedric smiled.
“That’s better.”
Olivia could feel her heartbeat in her ears.
Lucas slowly lowered his sword.
“Let her go.”
“You know I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the council needs her.”
Olivia stared at him.
“What do they want from me?”
Cedric looked at her.
“You really don’t know.”
“No.”
His expression became almost sympathetic.
“Poor princess.”
Lucas’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t call her that.”
Cedric laughed.
“Why?”
He looked at Lucas.
“Afraid she’ll remember who she is?”
Olivia’s breathing stopped.
Lucas didn’t answer.
Cedric continued.
“She isn’t just the lost heir.”
Olivia swallowed.
“What am I?”
Cedric leaned closer.
“You’re the reason this kingdom has been bleeding for twenty-four years.”
Lucas suddenly threw his sword.
It flew past Cedric’s shoulder and struck the wall.
Cedric instinctively turned.
Lucas moved.
In a single motion, he grabbed Olivia and pulled her away.
Cedric stumbled.
Lucas struck him across the face.
The traitor fell.
Guards rushed into the room.
“Take him!”
Two soldiers grabbed Cedric.
He struggled.
“You can’t stop what’s coming!”
Lucas stood over him.
“Who is coming?”
Cedric laughed through the blood on his lips.
“The rightful king.”
Lucas’s expression hardened.
“I am the rightful king.”
Cedric looked at Olivia.
“No.”
He smiled.
“You’re only keeping the throne warm.”
The guards dragged him away.
Olivia stared after him.
Lucas turned toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“Then stay here.”
“No.”
Lucas frowned.
“I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I know exactly what I’m asking.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“Someone wants me. The council knows I’m alive. My mother is alive. I apparently have a twin brother. And your own guards are betraying you.”
She took a breath.
“I want answers.”
Lucas stared at her.
Then he nodded.
“You’re going to get them.”
⸻
An hour later, the palace council chamber was sealed.
Lucas sat at the head of the table.
Olivia sat beside Elena.
The baby slept quietly in Elena’s arms.
Four council members stood before the king.
Lord Marcus.
Lord Victor.
Lady Helena.
And Lord Reynard.
All four looked calm.
Too calm.
Lucas studied them.
“One of you opened the western gates.”
Nobody answered.
“One of you opened the royal vault.”
Silence.
“And one of you ordered the kidnapping of Princess Olivia.”
Lord Marcus stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, these accusations are absurd.”
Lucas leaned back.
“Are they?”
“Sir Cedric has been captured. He could have acted alone.”
“He knew about the princess.”
Marcus glanced at Olivia.
Then quickly looked away.
Lucas noticed.
“Interesting.”
Marcus stiffened.
“What?”
“You looked at her like you’ve seen her before.”
“I have not.”
Lucas smiled without humor.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
Marcus’s face tightened.
Lady Helena stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, this is unnecessary. The kingdom is under attack.”
“And whose fault is that?”
Nobody answered.
Lucas stood.
“Twenty years ago, my family was betrayed.”
He looked at each council member.
“I was told my father died because enemies attacked the palace.”
He paused.
“Tonight, I learned that wasn’t the whole truth.”
The council members exchanged glances.
Lucas’s voice became colder.
“So I’m giving whoever knows the truth one final opportunity.”
Silence.
“Speak.”
Nobody moved.
Then Olivia noticed something.
Lord Reynard’s hand was trembling.
She looked at him carefully.
He was staring at Elena.
Not at Lucas.
At Elena.
Fear filled his eyes.
Olivia leaned toward Lucas.
“It’s him.”
Lucas looked at her.
“Who?”
“Lord Reynard.”
The old nobleman looked up.
His face went pale.
Lucas immediately drew his sword.
“Lock the doors.”
The guards obeyed.
Lord Reynard stepped backward.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Reynard looked at Olivia.
“Because if I tell you…”
He swallowed.
“…they’ll kill everyone I love.”
Lucas stepped closer.
“Who?”
Reynard’s eyes filled with tears.
“The queen.”
Everyone turned toward Elena.
She stared at him.
“You’re lying.”
Reynard shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Olivia.
“The queen knows who your real father is.”
Olivia froze.
Lucas turned toward his mother.
“Mother.”
Elena said nothing.
“Who is Olivia’s father?”
Still silence.
Lucas’s grip tightened around his sword.
“Tell me.”
Elena looked at Olivia.
“I’m sorry.”
Olivia’s eyes filled with tears.
“Don’t.”
Elena lowered her gaze.
“Your father was—”
The chamber doors suddenly exploded inward.
Everyone screamed.
A group of masked soldiers stormed inside.
Lucas immediately moved toward Olivia.
“Get down!”
Arrows flew across the room.
One struck the table.
Another struck the wall beside Olivia.
The guards drew their weapons.
Chaos erupted.
Lucas fought his way toward Olivia.
“Stay behind me!”
Olivia grabbed a fallen sword.
“I can fight.”
“I know.”
He blocked an attack.
“That’s why I’m telling you to stay behind me.”
Olivia almost smiled despite the fear.
Then she saw someone approaching Elena.
A masked man.
He wasn’t attacking.
He was going straight for the baby.
“Mother!”
Olivia ran.
The man grabbed Elena’s arm.
Olivia struck him with the sword.
He stumbled.
Lucas reached them.
He attacked the man and forced him away.
The masked soldier escaped through the shattered doors.
But something was wrong.
Elena was no longer holding the baby.
Olivia looked down.
Her blood froze.
“Mother?”
Elena stared at her empty arms.
The baby was gone.
Lucas looked around.
“Where is the child?”
Nobody answered.
Then a voice came from the balcony.
Everyone looked up.
A masked figure stood there.
He was holding the baby.
Olivia screamed.
“Give him back!”
The man smiled.
Lucas raised his sword.
“Put the child down.”
The figure laughed.
“You still don’t understand, King Lucas.”
He pulled away his mask.
Olivia’s breath stopped.
It was not a stranger.
It was someone she had trusted.
Someone she had seen every day since entering the palace.
Someone who had claimed to be helping Lucas protect the kingdom.
Lucas stared at him in disbelief.
“Impossible.”
The man smiled.
“Nothing is impossible when the throne belongs to someone else.”
He looked at Olivia.
Then at the baby.
“The twins have finally been reunited.”
Lucas’s face hardened.
“What do you want?”
The man smiled.
“Not what I want.”
He looked toward the darkness beyond the balcony.
“What he wants.”
A second figure stepped out of the shadows.
An older man wearing a royal crown.
Olivia stared at him.
She had never seen him before.
But Elena had.
The queen’s face turned white.
“No…”
Lucas looked at his mother.
“Who is that?”
Elena’s voice trembled.
“The man who started the war.”
The older man smiled.
Then he looked directly at Lucas.
“Hello, nephew.”
Lucas’s sword lowered slightly.
“Uncle?”
The man laughed.
“Your father told you I died.”
He lifted the baby higher.
“But he was wrong.”
Then his eyes moved to Olivia.
“And now that I’ve found the princess…”
His smile widened.
“…I finally have everything I need to take back my kingdom.”
The palace bells suddenly began ringing.
One after another.
Then every bell in Valoria sounded at once.
Lucas looked toward the windows.
Thousands of torches were appearing outside the palace walls.
An army had surrounded them.
And above the gates, a new royal banner was rising.
The banner of House Valorian.
The house that had supposedly died twenty years ago.
Lucas looked at Olivia.
For the first time since becoming king, he looked genuinely afraid.
“Olivia…”
She stared at him.
“What?”
Lucas tightened his grip on his sword.
“That man isn’t my uncle.”
He looked toward the balcony.
“He’s my father’s elder brother.”
A pause.
“The true heir to the throne.”
And then the man holding the baby spoke.
“Kill the king.”
The palace doors exploded open.
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