Chapter 17
839 Words
JULIAN POV
“Penelope!”
My voice disappeared into the ancient stone.
No answer.
Only another violent roar from beneath the mountain.
The walls shuddered so fiercely that fragments of stone crashed from the ceiling, exploding across the marble floor. The guards stumbled backward, struggling to keep their footing.
I slammed my fist against the sealed door.
Nothing.
Not a crack.
Not a sound.
It refused me.
The castle had never denied a Valerius.
Never.
Until tonight.
“It won’t open,” Lucien said quietly.
“I can see that.”
“It isn’t refusing you…”
His eyes remained fixed on the door.
“It’s obeying someone else.”
The words settled over the corridor like a curse.
For centuries this castle had answered to the blood of Valerius.
Tonight…
It had chosen another master.
Another tremor rolled beneath our feet.
This one lasted longer.
The floor vibrated like the heartbeat of something enormous trying to wake beneath the foundations.
My father steadied himself against the wall, his breathing growing shallow.
“It has started calling her.”
I turned sharply.
“What did you say?”
“The castle.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“It has begun calling the Thorne.”
Cassian frowned.
“You keep saying ‘the Thorne.’ Stop speaking in riddles.”
The King looked at him but answered me.
“You’ve spent centuries believing the Thornes were our enemies.”
“Weren’t they?”
“They were our protectors.”
Silence.
Even the guards stopped breathing.
I stared at my father.
“No.”
His tired eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
I felt something inside me shift.
Every lesson.
Every history.
Every story I had been raised on.
A lie.
“The war between Valerius and Thorne…”
My father’s shoulders rose with a painful breath.
“…was created to hide the truth.”
“What truth?”
He looked toward the sealed door.
“That neither House could survive without the other.”
Before I could speak again…
A sharp crack echoed through the corridor.
Not from the walls.
From beneath us.
The marble split wider.
A thin line of pale light spilled through the fracture in the floor.
It wasn’t fire.
It wasn’t lava.
It was something colder.
Older.
The light pulsed once.
Then again.
Each pulse matched the strange heartbeat rumbling beneath the mountain.
One of the guards stepped closer.
“My Prince…”
“Stay back.”
He froze.
The light brightened.
Then…
A whisper drifted upward from the crack.
Not words.
Just a voice.
Soft.
Ancient.
Calling.
Every hair on my arms stood on end.
Cassian heard it too.
“You hear that?”
Lucien nodded once.
“I wish I didn’t.”
The whisper grew louder.
Not louder…
Closer.
It wasn’t coming through the crack anymore.
It was moving beneath the floor.
Passing directly under us.
Following something.
Or someone.
Then it stopped.
Right beneath the sealed library.
My pulse slowed.
Penelope.
The mountain wasn’t waking because she had arrived.
It was responding to her.
My father watched the realization cross my face.
“I prayed Elias had hidden her long enough.”
His voice trembled with exhaustion.
“I was wrong.”
Another cough bent him forward.
Blood stained the marble beneath his feet.
The physicians rushed toward him, but he raised one trembling hand, stopping them.
“Leave me.”
“But Your Majesty…”
“Leave.”
No one argued.
Not with a king.
Not with a dying one.
When they were gone, he looked at me again.
“There isn’t much time.”
“I’ll get her out.”
“If you remove her now…”
He paused, gathering another painful breath.
“…the castle will simply bring her back.”
I clenched my jaw.
“There has to be another way.”
“There is.”
Hope flickered inside me.
“What is it?”
For the first time since arriving…
My father hesitated.
His eyes drifted to the ancient door.
Then back to me.
“It will cost a king his life.”
The corridor fell silent.
I already knew whose life he meant.
“No.”
“It is the price every generation pays.”
“I won’t let you die.”
A sad smile crossed his face.
“This was never your choice to make.”
Another roar exploded beneath the mountain.
This one was different.
Closer.
The entire castle lurched violently to one side.
Somewhere in the distance…
A tower collapsed.
The thunder of falling stone echoed across the cliffs.
Outside, the alarm bells began ringing without anyone touching them.
Once.
Twice.
Then all twelve together.
My father closed his eyes.
“It has crossed the first seal.”
My heart sank.
“How many seals are there?”
He opened his eyes one last time.
“Three.”
Then he looked directly at me.
“And the second one…”
His voice broke into a whisper.
“…is beneath the throne.”
- Writer
