Chapter 7 - The Princess Who Chose Her CousinChancellor Varen demanded three things.
Immunity.
A ship.
And a signed declaration that Lily had no claim to the Crown.
King Rowan tore the message in half.
“He gets nothing.”
Lily looked at him.
“He has my mother.”
“I know.”
“Then he has something.”
Rowan’s face hardened.
“He will kill her whether we give him what he wants or not.”
Lily hated that he might be right.
Then Princess Evelyne entered.
“I can get inside.”
Everyone turned.
“No,” Celeste said from where she sat under guard.
Evelyne ignored her mother.
“Varen still believes I hate Lily.”
Lily raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve given him evidence.”
Evelyne almost smiled.
“I’ll tell him I want my succession protected.”
Rowan refused.
Evelyne argued.
For twenty minutes.
Finally Lily said:
“I’m going with her.”
“No,” Rowan and Elias answered simultaneously.
Lily looked at both.
“This family has a vocabulary problem.”
The plan was dangerous.
Evelyne would pretend to betray Lily.
Lily would be brought as her prisoner.
Hidden royal guards would follow through old tunnels Gideon remembered from military maps.
At sunset, Evelyne arrived at the fortress.
Varen greeted her.
He looked exhausted.
But still dangerous.
“My princess.”
“Not for long if she lives.”
He smiled.
“So you finally understand.”
Evelyne shoved Lily forward.
“I understand perfectly.”
Lily glared convincingly.
Varen led them inside.
In the highest chamber sat a woman.
Thin.
Gray strands in dark hair.
Wrists chained.
Lily stopped.
The woman looked up.
Gray-green eyes.
The same eyes.
Seraphina.
For eighteen years Lily had imagined her biological mother as a portrait.
A ghost.
A story.
Now she was breathing.
Seraphina saw the locket.
Her face collapsed.
“Elara?”
Lily could not answer.
Varen smiled.
“Touching.”
He placed a knife against Seraphina’s throat.
“Sign.”
He pushed succession papers toward Lily.
Lily looked at Evelyne.
The princess nodded coldly.
“Do it.”
Lily picked up the pen.
Varen relaxed.
Then Evelyne moved.
She struck his wrist.
The knife fell.
Lily threw the table against him.
Seraphina kicked the nearest guard.
For a woman who had spent weeks imprisoned, she was surprisingly violent.
“You really are my mother,” Lily gasped.
Seraphina almost laughed.
Fighting erupted.
Royal guards entered through the tunnels.
Varen fled upstairs.
Lily chased him.
On the battlements, moonlight covered the stone.
Varen turned with a sword.
“You should have stayed in the garden.”
Lily picked up a fallen blade.
“I liked the garden.”
“You have no idea what ruling requires.”
“I’m not trying to rule.”
That surprised him.
Varen attacked.
Lily barely blocked.
She was not trained like a soldier.
But she had spent eighteen years carrying soil, climbing stone walls and cutting branches.
She survived long enough.
Then Gideon appeared.
The old guard commander faced the man who destroyed his life.
Varen paled.
“You.”
Gideon lowered his sword.
“No.”
He looked toward Lily.
“This is not revenge.”
Royal soldiers surrounded Varen.
“This is evidence.”
Varen was arrested alive.
Below, Lily returned to Seraphina.
They stood several feet apart.
Neither knew what to do.
Seraphina whispered:
“You look like him.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
Lily’s heart tightened.
“You knew him?”
Seraphina smiled.
“I loved him.”
Lily began crying.
Then Seraphina opened her arms.
Lily hesitated.
One second.
Two.
May you like
Then crossed eighteen years in three steps.
And hugged her mother.
