Page 143 of The Forgotten Queen
“As cliché as it sounds, Iaminnocent,” Marx said. “My father, Meldrum McKane, was the one who set up the arranged marriage to the princess. He kept me in the dark about her identity, claiming she was from Northland and had suffered memory loss because of a carriage accident. It took me a long time to figure out who she was, and even then, I didn’t know for sure until the day Bryant showed up at Cristole Castle.”
“So you claim you had no part in this, and it was all your father?” King Bryant asked.
“Yes.”
“If what you say is true, why would Meldrum McKane do something like this?”
Marx pulled in a deep breath. “I have no clue. He didn’t tell me what he was doing, nor did he expound on his motive. I figured out who Seran was the night my father was killed, so I never got the chance to talk to him about it.”
King Ezra raised his brows. “You saidkilledwhen talking about your father’s death.”
He nodded. “My father was killed by Commander Stoddard. He visited him earlier that day and poisoned him with something that impacted his brain and stopped his heart.”
The Council all exchanged looks with each other as the room murmured behind him.
“I’m going to turn the time over to the Council for questions.” King Bryant looked down the row at Queen Myka.
The queen sat up a little taller. She had dark hair and blue eyes. She was pretty, but beyond her dark hair, Marx didn’t think she could’ve passed as Seran’s sister. “I have two questions. When exactly did you find out who Princess Seran was, and how did you figure it out?”
“I found out about three weeks into our marriage. But it was only a guess. I didn’t know for sure. I was suspicious about her identity from the start. I didn’t know who Sydria was, but I knew my father would never marry me to someone insignificant. My guard, Kase Kendrick, recognized Commander Stoddard coming out of Cristole Castle the day of the wedding. Which led me to believe that she was the mystery woman you’d seen Stoddard escape with.” Marx gestured to Myka. “At first, I thought she was your long-lost sister.” She raised her brow, intrigued. “But in the end, Seran was the one who told me who she was. She remembered small things. For example, she remembered marrying a man with dark curly hair.” Marx’s eyes jumped to King Ezra. “All I had to do was listen long enough and put the pieces together.”
“King Davin?” Bryant said, motioning for him to ask his question.
“Once you knew Princess Seran’s identity, why didn’t you tell her or reach out to King Bryant?” King Davin asked.
“I was going to, but my father died that day. I spent the next week making arrangements for his funeral. I should have told her, but I was stalling because I didn’t know for sure. You probably won’t believe this, but I was working on a letter to King Bryant the day he came to Cristole Castle.”
Bryant huffed, then looked down the line of rulers. “King Hilton, it’s your turn to address King Marx.”
King Hilton from Northland leaned forward. “Mine is more of a statement than a question. It doesn’t take all day or an entire week to plan a funeral. Surely, there were times you could have sent a note off to King Bryant or had a conversation with Princess Seran, letting her know who she was.”
“Yes, there probably were times during that week I could have brought it up. I deeply regret that I didn’t.”
“King Ezra?” Bryant prompted.
King Ezra met his gaze. “Doctor Von and Commander Stoddard tell a completely different story, a story that incriminates you.”
Marx looked to the side where Dannyn and Kase sat, and he understood the gloomy look behind their eyes.
King Ezra continued. “They both saidyouwere the one who made all the arrangements.Youwere the one Stoddard worked with.Youwere the one who paid them and thatyouwere the one who killed your father.”
Marx furrowed his brows, confused by what Ezra had said. “None of that’s true. I made some mistakes, but I didn’t assist in a kidnapping or aid a fugitive, and I certainly did not kill my father. I had no part in assassinating the princess, kidnapping her, drugging her. All I did was agree to an arranged marriage and try to figure out who she was. You can ask Princess Seran. We had our own agreement—something that was respectful to her.”
“So you’re saying Doctor Von and Commander Stoddard are lying?” Ezra asked.
“Yes.” He let out a sharp laugh. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Bryant looked at the man next to him. “King Reddick, it’s your question.”
“Let’s go back to your father’s murder because I think that’s an important thing to discuss. Doctor Von said you begged for a drug, something easy you could use against your father to kill him without people knowing.”
Marx ground his teeth together, feeling his frustration intensify.
King Reddick stared him down. “So I’m asking again, did you kill your father?”
“No. I did not kill my father. Our relationship was strained, but I would never do something like that. Stoddard was the one who killed my father, not me. They’re lying to you.”
King Bryant turned to him. “You say that Stoddard and Von are lying, but I want to know why they would make all that up? Everyone already knows they’re guilty. There’s no point in them dragging you through the mud too.”
