Page 78 of The Forgotten Queen
“I was a good sister tonight, huh?”
“You’re asking the girl with amnesia who doesn’t know how to act in social situations. But yes, I think you were great.”
Dannyn waggled her brows. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?”
Sydria smiled, but in the back of her heart, she dreaded the day that Dannyn was no longer her sister. She liked her new life in Cristole and the people that were in it. The more attached she got, the harder it would be to leave.
24
Commander Stoddard
Stoddard opened the door to his apartment. Anger shot through him the moment he saw Doctor Von standing outside.
“What are you doing here?” Stoddard hissed. “I thought we weren’t going to meet up again.”
“Let me come in,” Von said, leaning forward.
Stoddard stretched his neck with annoyance as he opened the door wider. He gave the doctor a cutting glare as he passed through.
“We weren’t going to meet again,” Von said as he surveyed the apartment.
There wasn’t much to the one-bedroom space, but it was only temporary until Stoddard’s beachside house was ready.
Von turned around, panic in his eyes. “I had a visitor.”
“What kind of visitor?”
“The kind that comes from Cristole Castle—a castle guard.”
Fear crept into the corner of Stoddard’s mind. “You didn’t tell him anything, did you?”
“Of course not.”
“What did he want?”
“He was asking about the princess. About her accident, her condition, and her memory loss.”
“Okay,” Stoddard said, running through the possible reasons why a Cristole guard would be investigating.
“I think he suspects something,” Doctor Von said. He fidgeted with his hands nervously.
Stoddard scoffed. “What could he possibly suspect?”
“I’m not sure.” Von paced.
“You got your payout,” Stoddard said. “Take the money and move on with your life.”
The muscles on the doctor’s face ticked. “That wasn’t our deal or the deal that King Adler promised me. Adler promised that if I gave him my Isolated Amnesia medicine, that he would make sure it got in front of the Council of Essentials for every kingdom to see.”
Stoddard rolled his eyes. “What is it with you and that medicine? Isn’t it enough that you got an enormous amount of money?”
“If I wanted money, I could have gotten it on my own by selling my formulas. I don’t care about the money.” Doctor Von shook his head. “Isolated Amnesia could change the world. Do you know how many people this drug could help—people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder? It could pinpoint the trauma in their lives and completely take it out of their mind. It’s the most groundbreaking drug since Desolation.”
Stoddard had forgotten about how weak Doctor Von was. He needed to be coddled every step of the way. “Listen, you need to be patient. Your drug will be released to the other kingdoms. All in due time.” Stoddard didn’t really care about Doctor Von or his medicine, but he told the man what he wanted to hear.
“Be patient, that’s all you ever say—”
“Because that’s what a project like this requires.”
