Chapter 12
747 Words
JULIAN POV
The roar shook the foundations of Castle Valerius.
For a single heartbeat…
Every prince forgot about Penelope.
Good.
I had spent months preparing for countless possibilities.
The Twelve discovering her.
The Thornes returning.
Even my own death.
But not this.
Never this.
“It can’t be awake,” Cassian muttered beside me.
“It was sealed.”
“It was,” I replied.
Someone broke the seal.
My gaze swept across the throne room.
Thirteen princes.
One frightened girl.
Too many lies.
Not enough time.
Another roar erupted beneath us.
The marble floor split down the center with a deafening crack.
Dust rained from the vaulted ceiling.
Several servants screamed before fleeing the room.
Only the princes remained.
Lucien folded his arms.
“I assume this is your doing.”
I looked at him coldly.
“If it were my doing, you’d already be dead.”
A faint smile crossed his lips.
“So charming.”
I ignored him.
Instead, I looked toward Penelope.
She stood frozen, confusion written across every inch of her face.
She still didn’t understand.
She thought the greatest danger in this castle was me.
She was wrong.
I was the only thing standing between her…
…and what waited beneath us.
“My prince.”
One of my guards burst through the doors, covered in blood.
He dropped to one knee.
“The eastern vault has fallen.”
“Casualties?”
His breathing grew heavier.
“Everyone.”
Silence.
“They didn’t even have time to draw their weapons.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Four hundred years.
Four hundred years that prison had remained closed.
Until tonight.
“Evacuate the servants.”
The guard hesitated.
“My prince…”
“It won’t matter.”
My eyes snapped open.
“It doesn’t hunt servants.”
His face turned white.
He understood.
Without another word, he ran.
Penelope stared at me.
“What doesn’t hunt servants?”
I didn’t answer.
Because if I spoke its name…
It would hear.
A soft chuckle echoed through the throne room.
I turned sharply.
Prince Adrian leaned lazily against one of the pillars.
Golden hair.
Golden eyes.
Always smiling.
Even at funerals.
“I warned everyone,” he said.
“No one listens to the mad prince.”
Cassian rolled his eyes.
“You’re only called mad because you keep talking to ghosts.”
“They answer.”
“They’re dead.”
“They’re still better company than you.”
Normally I would’ve ignored their bickering.
Tonight…
It made my skin crawl.
Because Adrian wasn’t looking at Cassian.
He was looking over my shoulder.
His smile slowly disappeared.
“…Julian.”
I knew that tone.
Slowly…
I turned around.
The throne room doors were still closed.
But something stood in front of them.
A little girl.
Barefoot.
Wearing a white dress stained with mud.
Her long black hair covered her face.
Penelope frowned.
“Who is that?”
No one answered.
Because she wasn’t there a second ago.
Cassian whispered beside me,
“…She escaped.”
The girl slowly lifted one hand.
She pointed directly at Penelope.
Then…
In a tiny voice that sounded like broken glass, she spoke.
“Big sister…”
Every muscle in Penelope’s body stiffened.
“What?”
The girl tilted her head.
“Why did you leave me?”
Penelope’s face drained of color.
“I don’t know you.”
“You promised…”
The girl’s voice cracked.
“…that we’d always stay together.”
A sharp pain exploded behind my eyes.
No.
Impossible.
Penelope never had a sister.
Evelyn only gave birth once.
Unless…
My blood ran cold.
Lucien looked horrified.
“No…”
He whispered.
“They lied to us.”
“What?” I demanded.
His eyes slowly met mine.
“There were twins.”
The room went silent.
Even my heart seemed to stop beating.
Twins.
That explained everything.
The prophecy.
The broken seal.
The impossible roar beneath the castle.
I looked back at the little girl.
She smiled.
Her face finally lifted from beneath her hair.
Half of it was beautiful.
The other half…
Looked as though it had been burned away centuries ago.
She giggled.
“You found the wrong sister.”
Then she vanished.
The room erupted into chaos.
Every prince reached for his weapon at once.
Because if the apparition was telling the truth…
Penelope was never the only surviving Thorne.
And somewhere…
Hidden in the darkness…
The other sister was still alive.
- Writer
