Chapter 11
859 Words
PENELOPE POV
“Kneel?”
The word barely escaped my lips.
Julian didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked toward the towering windows overlooking the front courtyard.
The sound came first.
Horse hooves.
Slow.
Heavy.
Perfectly synchronized.
Then came the bells.
Not church bells.
War bells.
Deep and hollow, echoing through every corridor until the entire castle seemed to vibrate beneath my feet.
Servants lined the walls, lowering their heads.
No one dared speak.
Even the wolves disappeared into the darkness.
I looked at Selene.
“What is happening?”
Her usual confidence had vanished.
“The princes only gather when a kingdom is about to change…”
She hesitated.
“…or when someone is about to die.”
A cold knot formed in my stomach.
Julian grabbed my wrist.
“Come.”
He didn’t give me a chance to argue.
We hurried through endless corridors until we reached an enormous pair of black oak doors.
Cassian stood beside them, adjusting the cuffs of his black coat.
“You know they’re going to notice her.”
“I know.”
“And your plan?”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“I’ll improvise.”
Cassian laughed once.
“A terrible strategy.”
“It has kept me alive for four centuries.”
“It also started three wars.”
Julian shot him a look.
Cassian shrugged.
“I said what I said.”
Despite everything happening, I almost smiled.
Almost.
The doors slowly opened.
The throne room stole the air from my lungs.
Black marble stretched endlessly beneath crystal chandeliers.
Massive stained glass windows painted the floor in crimson and gold.
At the far end stood thirteen obsidian thrones.
One remained empty.
Julian’s.
The other twelve…
Were occupied.
Twelve men.
Every one of them looked different.
One had silver hair and ice blue eyes.
Another wore a military uniform covered in medals.
One looked no older than twenty five despite the ancient authority in his posture.
Another lazily twirled a silver ring around his finger while smiling like a man who enjoyed watching worlds burn.
Yet despite their differences…
Every single pair of eyes landed on me.
Silence.
One second.
Two.
Three.
The silver haired prince leaned forward.
“So…”
His voice was calm.
“This is the girl.”
Another prince laughed softly.
“I expected someone taller.”
A third rested his chin on his fist.
“I expected someone dead.”
None of them looked away.
It felt like being examined by twelve predators deciding whether I was prey.
Julian stepped in front of me.
“Watch your tongues.”
The prince wearing the military uniform smiled.
“Protective already?”
“I warned you this would happen,” another prince murmured.
The youngest looking one tilted his head.
“She doesn’t know yet, does she?”
“Enough,” Julian said sharply.
The prince sitting in the center slowly rose to his feet.
Unlike the others, he wore no crown.
No jewelry.
Only a perfectly tailored black suit.
The room fell completely silent the moment he stood.
Even Julian straightened slightly.
He descended the steps one at a time until he stopped a few feet away from me.
His amber eyes searched my face.
Not with desire.
Not with hatred.
Recognition.
“My name,” he said quietly, “is Lucien Valerius.”
His gaze softened.
“I knew your mother.”
My heart skipped.
“You… knew Evelyn?”
He smiled sadly.
“I loved her.”
The words hit the room like an explosion.
Julian’s expression darkened instantly.
Cassian muttered a curse under his breath.
Selene closed her eyes.
Lucien ignored them all.
He reached into the pocket of his coat and withdrew a small silver locket.
“I’ve been carrying this for twenty three years.”
He opened it.
Inside was a tiny portrait.
A woman with my eyes smiled back at me.
Beside her stood…
Lucien.
Not my father.
Lucien.
My breathing stopped.
“What is this?”
Lucien looked at me with unmistakable sorrow.
“The truth your father died protecting.”
He held out the locket.
“Evelyn Thorne wasn’t only your mother…”
He paused.
“…she was once promised to me.”
The room erupted.
Julian crossed the distance in an instant, ripping the locket from Lucien’s hand before it could reach me.
“Enough.”
His voice was dangerously quiet.
Lucien didn’t move.
“You can hide the past all you want, Julian.”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“But sooner or later…”
“…she’ll discover why every prince in this room has been searching for the last Thorne.”
A heavy silence followed.
Then, from somewhere beneath the castle…
A deafening roar shook the entire throne room.
The chandeliers swayed violently.
Cracks spread across the marble floor.
Every prince stood at once.
Julian’s face drained of color.
“No…”
Cassian looked toward the ground beneath his feet.
“They woke it.”
I stared between them.
“What woke?”
Julian turned to me, and for the first time since we met…
He looked genuinely terrified.
“The thing buried beneath this castle.”
- Writer
