Page 132 of The Forgotten Queen
Seran had no real home, no safe harbor.
She curled into a ball on her foreign bed. The comforter felt rough against her cheeks. She closed her eyes as the tears streamed down her face. It was the first time that she’d cried since she’d woken up from her coma. There was no one there to witness her vulnerability or to judge her for it. She let the tears fall as her mind drifted back to every moment and every memory she’d shared with Marx.
Marx
Marx had never been a prisoner before. He’d been a lot of things, but not that. He sat on the stiff mattress of his bed and watched as a New Hope guard slammed his cell door shut, dimming the room. He looked up at the yellow light hanging on the ceiling, buzzing annoyingly. His eyes darted around his new home. The walls were made of concrete blocks stacked together. There was a tan door with a slot wide enough to fit a plate through, a hard bed, a pail of water, and a drain.
He groaned.
It was luxury at its finest.
He lay down on the lumpy mattress, letting his hands fall limp on his chest.
Sydria—no, Seran—was home. He’d gone back and forth in his mind the last week. Sometimes he called her Sydria. Sometimes he called her Seran. Now that they were in New Hope, Marx probably should train his mind toalwayscall her Seran.
He’d heard some of the guards talking on the journey here. His trial would be held in two weeks. Two weeks with the buzzing yellow light wasn’t that bad. He could handle that. Then he’d get the chance to tell his side of the story, be acquitted, and go home…alone.
Marx deserved to be alone. He’d known that before Seran. Making a mess of things and disappointing people was what he did best. This wasn’t anything new. He closed his eyes, letting his worry over Seran take control.
42
Kase Kendrick
The Kingdom of Cristole
Kase was supposed to go to Tolsten. Marx had asked him to go to Tolsten, but Kase wouldn’t be the best guard Cristole had if he didn’t follow his own intuition.
Follow the money.
That’s what he’d always been taught, and that’s precisely what he’d done. The money led Kase right to Otis Sutton and his newly purchased beach house. It was relatively easy. Stoddard must not have thought anyone would connect Otis Sutton to Commander Stoddard. Even Kase had almost missed it.
It was lucky that he’d even seen him exiting Cristole Castle the day of the wedding. Kase was the one person in Cristole who knew what Stoddard looked like. The one person who could recognize him and connect all the dots.
Marx would be surprised he’d found him. He couldn’t wait to gloat.
Why go to Tolsten for answers when he could get answers directly from the source?
Kase calmly knocked on the door of Stoddard’s two-story home. He held his gun at his side.
Stoddard opened the door, and his face tensed. “Can I help you?”
That’s when Kase lifted his gun, pointing right at Commander Stoddard’s forehead.
43
Seran
Seran had managed to keep visitors away for a week after she arrived at the New Hope Government Center, but she’d run out of excuses and now found herself in the middle of one of her friend’s stories about her rich fiancé.
“Lafferty’s family comes from new money,” Jenica explained, flipping her blonde hair away from her face with a jerk of her head. “Normally, I wouldn’t stand for that, and neither would my father, but times are changing, and when someone hasthatmuch money, you make allowances.”
Seran slowly nodded, wondering how this Jenica girl had become her friend in the first place. “Seems like you have it all figured out,” she said with a tight smile.
Jenica huffed. “I really do.”
“Lizanne got married,” Sheridan said, looking over at the redhead. “You heard, of course, that King Ezra’s commander, Drake Vestry, passed her over for Princess Mykaleen.”
Lizanne’s eyes cast downward.
