CHAPTER SIX - THE MAN BEHIND THE BANNER
1599 Words
The palace gates shook.
Once.
Twice.
Then the third strike sent a deep crack through the iron.
Olivia stood frozen beside the council table, staring at the army beyond the windows.
Thousands of soldiers surrounded the palace.
Their banners carried an emblem she had never seen before—a silver crown split by a black sword.
The same emblem was stitched onto the cloak of the older man standing in the courtyard.
He looked up.
Even from that distance, Olivia could feel his eyes on her.
Not Lucas.
Her.
“Who is he?” she whispered.
Lucas didn’t answer.
His face had become frighteningly still.
That was worse than anger.
Olivia turned toward him.
“Lucas.”
He finally spoke.
“Lord Cassian.”
The name seemed to poison the room.
Lady Helena stepped backward.
Lord Marcus lowered his head.
Even the surviving guards exchanged uneasy glances.
Olivia frowned.
“You know him?”
Lucas’s jaw tightened.
“He was my father’s older brother.”
The older man slowly raised one hand in the courtyard.
The soldiers immediately lifted their weapons.
Then his voice carried through the open windows.
“Lucas!”
The king stepped toward the balcony.
Cassian smiled.
“You took your father’s throne,” he called. “But you never asked whether it was yours to take.”
Lucas’s eyes hardened.
“This kingdom buried you twenty years ago.”
“I was never buried.”
Cassian laughed softly.
“I was erased.”
Silence filled the chamber.
Olivia looked from one man to the other.
There was something about Cassian’s expression that unsettled her.
He wasn’t simply seeking power.
He looked like a man who believed power already belonged to him.
Cassian’s gaze shifted toward Olivia.
“And there she is.”
Olivia’s stomach tightened.
Lucas immediately moved in front of her.
“Don’t look at her.”
Cassian smiled.
“So protective already.”
Lucas’s hand moved toward his sword.
“You have five minutes to leave my kingdom.”
Cassian laughed.
“Your kingdom?”
His smile disappeared.
“Ask your mother whose blood runs through those walls.”
Olivia’s heart stopped.
Queen Elena.
Again.
Every secret seemed to lead back to her.
Cassian continued.
“Bring me the girl, Lucas, and I will spare the palace.”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
Cassian tilted his head.
“Then I suppose we begin with blood.”
He lowered his hand.
The soldiers outside raised their bows.
“GET DOWN!”
Lucas grabbed Olivia and pulled her to the floor.
A storm of arrows crashed through the windows.
Glass exploded across the chamber.
Guards screamed.
One arrow struck the wooden table, another buried itself into the wall inches from Olivia’s head.
Lucas shielded her with his body.
“Are you hurt?”
Olivia shook her head.
“No.”
He looked at her for a moment before standing.
“Stay behind me.”
“I can protect myself.”
“I know.”
His eyes met hers.
“That is why I’m telling you to stay behind me.”
Before Olivia could answer, the doors burst open.
“Your Majesty!”
Sir Adrian—one of Lucas’s surviving guards—rushed inside.
“The western gate has fallen.”
Lucas turned.
“How many?”
“Too many.”
“And the eastern gate?”
“Still holding.”
Lucas looked toward the council.
“Lock every entrance.”
Lord Victor hesitated.
Lucas noticed.
“You heard me.”
Victor swallowed.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Olivia watched him carefully.
Something wasn’t right.
Victor wasn’t afraid of the invading army.
He was afraid of Lucas.
That distinction mattered.
“Lucas,” Olivia said quietly.
He turned.
“Lord Victor knew this would happen.”
Victor’s face drained of color.
“What?”
Olivia pointed toward him.
“When Cassian appeared, you weren’t surprised.”
The room became silent.
Lucas slowly turned toward Victor.
“Is that true?”
“I—”
“Answer me.”
Victor’s lips trembled.
“I knew Cassian was alive.”
Lucas’s expression changed.
“You knew?”
“I didn’t know he would attack!”
Lucas crossed the room.
Victor backed away.
“Who else knew?”
“No one.”
“Liar.”
Lucas grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
“Lucas!” Olivia called.
He didn’t move.
“Tell me who opened the gates.”
Victor’s eyes darted toward Lady Helena.
Lucas followed his gaze.
Lady Helena immediately stepped back.
“It wasn’t me.”
“You’re running out of people to blame,” Lucas said.
Then—
A scream came from the corridor.
Everyone turned.
A soldier stumbled through the doorway.
Blood covered his armor.
“The queen…”
Olivia’s heart dropped.
“What happened to Queen Elena?”
The soldier collapsed.
“She’s gone.”
Lucas released Victor.
“What do you mean, gone?”
“The hidden room was empty.”
Olivia stared at him.
“No.”
She ran.
“Olivia!”
Lucas followed.
They raced through the corridor toward the old eastern wing.
The palace had descended into chaos.
Servants fled.
Guards rushed past them.
Smoke filled the air.
When Olivia reached the hidden room, she stopped.
The door was open.
The room was empty.
The cradle was overturned.
Queen Elena was gone.
And so was the baby.
Olivia’s breath caught.
“No…”
Lucas entered slowly.
His eyes scanned the room.
Blood stained the floor.
A broken piece of Elena’s necklace lay beside the bed.
Olivia picked it up.
“She was taken.”
Lucas crouched beside the blood.
He touched it with two fingers.
“Not much blood.”
“So she’s alive?”
“Probably.”
Olivia looked at him.
“Probably?”
Lucas stood.
“I don’t make promises when I don’t have facts.”
She stared at him.
“You always talk like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like nothing matters.”
His eyes met hers.
“Everything matters.”
There was something different in his voice.
Something raw.
Olivia looked away.
Then she noticed something beneath the overturned cradle.
A small folded piece of parchment.
She picked it up.
Lucas watched her unfold it.
Only four words were written on it.
THE PRINCESS KNOWS NOTHING.
Olivia’s blood ran cold.
“What does this mean?”
Lucas took the paper.
His eyes narrowed.
Then he turned it over.
There was another message.
Ask Elena who your father is.
Olivia stared at the words.
Her mother had already told her enough to destroy everything she believed about herself.
But now another question appeared.
Her father.
She looked at Lucas.
“Do you know?”
He didn’t answer.
“Lucas.”
His silence was answer enough.
“You know.”
“I know what Elena told my father.”
“What did she tell him?”
Lucas looked toward the doorway.
“Not here.”
Olivia followed him out.
They entered an abandoned chamber and Lucas closed the door.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Lucas leaned against the table.
“Your mother claimed you were the legitimate heir to Valoria.”
Olivia frowned.
“I thought you said I was the lost princess.”
“I said that’s what the evidence suggests.”
“You don’t believe it.”
“I believe someone wants us to believe it.”
Olivia’s chest tightened.
“And the baby?”
Lucas’s eyes hardened.
“That is another lie.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“The baby is not your twin.”
Olivia blinked.
“But Elena said—”
“Elena was frightened. And someone wanted you confused.”
“So the mark?”
“A royal mark can be copied.”
Olivia slowly understood.
The crown-and-roses symbol.
The prophecy.
The claims.
Someone had been constructing a story around her.
A story designed to make her valuable.
“What about the baby?”
Lucas lowered his voice.
“He is important.”
“Why?”
“Because he is connected to Elaria.”
Olivia remembered Elena’s words.
The enemy kingdom.
King Darius.
A child carrying two bloodlines.
“But if he’s not my twin, why would they call him that?”
“Because if the kingdom believes you and the child are twins, both of you become symbols.”
“Symbols of what?”
“Legitimacy.”
Olivia’s eyes widened.
Someone wasn’t simply trying to kill her.
They wanted to use her.
Before she could respond, a loud horn sounded outside.
Lucas looked toward the window.
The palace gates had opened.
Olivia’s heart sank.
“Who opened them?”
Lucas drew his sword.
“I don’t know.”
They stepped onto the balcony.
Below them, Cassian’s army poured into the palace courtyard.
But something was wrong.
The soldiers weren’t attacking.
They were kneeling.
All of them.
Cassian entered the courtyard alone.
He removed his gloves.
Then he looked directly at Lucas.
“I came for my throne.”
He paused.
“And for the woman who was stolen from my family.”
Olivia’s breath caught.
Lucas stepped forward.
“You will not touch her.”
Cassian smiled.
“You still don’t understand, nephew.”
He pointed at Olivia.
“She was never stolen from me.”
Olivia’s heart pounded.
Cassian’s next words shattered the silence.
“Olivia is my daughter.”
Lucas turned sharply toward her.
Olivia couldn’t breathe.
And for the first time since Lucas had returned to Valoria—
the ruthless king looked genuinely shocked.
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