Page 75 of The Curse of a Kingdom
“You told me they dropped you into an orphanage when you were a one-year-old boy.”
His throat bobbed. “She was killed after she dropped me—though the literature claims she killed herself.”
“How could she have? Didn’t they find her tied to that tree?”
“Exactly the questions I have been asking,” he said in a low voice before turning to face her. “But she was a magic wielder, and that is their response to all of it. They have erased from all records that her body was there.”
“Why?”
“The king said it was to prevent the kingdom from appearing weak. If we couldn’t protect our queen, who’s to say we could protect our people from harm?”
“Well, that’s manipulating true events, it’s a lie.” Nava huffed. “I hate lies.”
Guilt bubbled in her gut. Was she doing the same? No, she wasn’t lying, per se. She was . . . momentarily holding the truth.
“Someone attacked her multiple times, once while pregnant. The books don’t go into details, but most of the records are still there.” His lips tightened.
Nava’s heart sank with each of his words. A memory of what she’d heard that day in the library flashed through her mind. “Is the prophecy you are looking for related to this somehow?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” He leaned over the rails, looking at the tree with longing. “It’s strange to feel this need to find answers when I didn’t know her. But it’s a question I have asked myself all my life. Why didn’t they want me?”
Nava’s heart squeezed in her chest, and she reached for his hand, hoping he wouldn’t shut off at the touch. Instead, he wrapped his fingers around hers, his skin feverish. “Turns out, they wanted you very much, but your mother taking you doesn’t appear to be the move of someone who doesn’t want her baby. It’s like she was trying to protect you.”
“Right.” He nodded. “But from whom?”
“Well, the king kidnapped you and took your memories away. My vote is on him.”
“My father wouldn’t hurt me. Why go through all the trouble of bringing me here if that were the case?” He had a point. “There is also a book I found that mentions a child born sick, being dropped in the world of mist and shadows.”
Her skin became cold as dread spread over every inch of her body. “You think that was supposed to be you?”
“What if that’s why my mother did it? What if they believe I was sick somehow, and she abandoned me in that orphanage to prevent my father’s people from—killing me?”
“Could the book be referring to her dropping you in the orphanage?”
“I guess it could be. The book was burned in a fire. The dates aren’t clear, but its scripture is written in an old language, and it appears to be older than me.”
She remembered Devon speaking about helping Ark with a translation. This had to be it. “Too many fires in this castle are linked to you and your mother. If you add the Zorren to the equation, it seems like too many to be a coincidence.” She dragged her finger over the stone of the banister before meeting his shocked gaze.
“I had not considered the demons.”
“You just found out about them. Well, actually, you have known about them for a long time, but you don’t remember, thanks to your dear father.” Nava wanted to be there for him and help him with whatever he was going through. Just like he had helped her last year, when she had been the one searching for answers about her nature. She’d gone from hating and fearing magic to embracing it.
She changed from being a scared, closed-minded person to— Her thoughts stopped. Was that what she was now? Scared of something different, of a new world she didn’t understand? No, surely not.
No one could blame her for her reservations about this place.
“Do you think the prophecy holds the information about why she took you away?”
“I’m certain about it. Like you said, too many coincidences.” His body was so rigid, she almost could see his aura become solid around his body, his magic taking over.
Nava dragged her hand over his arm in a soothing motion. “Have you gotten a clue of who might be behind it? Multiple people?” She hesitated. “The king?”
Arkimedes shook his head. “Whatever feelings he has harvested since her death weren’t there when she was alive. The root of it all began with heartbreak. He loved her, and he believes she betrayed him.”
“By taking you away?”
“I believe she did it to protect me. Maybe that’s a part of that idealistic self he likes to tell me I inherited from her.”
