Page 42 of Once Upon a Crown
“Well, like I told you, the key is supposed to be inside the tree, according to what Mother said.”
We both stared at the map intently. “Any chance she might have just been making it up?”
“She wasn’t really the kind of person to make up stories. If anything, at the very least, she believed them herself.”
“How do you know? You were a child.”
“I heard her and Father argue over it often. He told her to stop filling my head with fairy tales and she told him they weren’t fairy tales.” I’d never told anyone that before. Never had a reason to.
“Mmmhh,” Elara said, somewhat absentmindedly. “I guess I have no choice but to believe her, then.” She picked up the map. “So, what, you stick your hand into the tree and if it deems you worthy it will relinquish the key?”
“Something like that. Who are you going to send?”
“No one.” She didn’t meet my eyes.
“At the risk of sounding like a concerned older brother, do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“I don’t think I have a choice. We need that diary.” Elara carefully rolled up the map. “Whatever you do, don’t tell Cai about this.”
“Are you keeping things from your fiancé now? What’s going on with you two?”
“Nothing.” She stood up. “He’s just being a little paranoid is all.” That I could believe.
“Thanks for the help.” She headed for the door, and I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
“What?”
“At one point you wanted to kill me and now you’re actually saying thank you. Look how far we’ve come.”
“Don’t get cocky. I could always send you back to prison.”
“I don’t think so,” I said, waving my hand. “It would be too boring in this place without my company.”
Chapter 18
Elara
The moon was high in the night sky by the time I slid on my riding boots.
The fire in my room was slowly dying and bitter cold had enveloped me when I slipped out of my warm sheets. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to crawl back to bed. But this needed to be done.
I plaited my hair away from my face and put on my warmest winter cloak. Pulling on my gloves, I headed for the doors to my chambers. I’d almost reached them before realising I’d forgotten my map, and so I turned back to grab it. This forced me to double-check my satchel again. Knife? Check. I reached for the sword mounted on the wall above the fireplace. It was too risky to go to the arsenal to retrieve any weapons, so I had to make do with what I could find in my rooms.
A small food supply and a flask of water, which I’d taken from the kitchens earlier? Check.
And now I had my map.
I carefully opened my doors, making sure there were no guards outside. I’d conveniently given both night guards the evening off. Even as queen, it was surprisingly difficult to escape your own palace. I tiptoed down the corridors, avoiding all the main hallways, yet my boots continued to sound on the floors, and I could only hope no one would hear me.
I contemplated going through the servants’ quarters, but I worried some of them might be awake, so instead I opted for the route Cordelia had shown me the first time I left the palace. When Lance had “hired” me to pretend to be Princess Eloisa and steal Cai’s family heirloom. That time seemed a world away now.
It didn’t take long for me to reach the door that would lead me to the stables.
The icy winter air hit me once more and I wished Aries could have picked a better time for all of this. It was unlikely that he would march all of his soldiers in the middle of winter — the risk was too great. But he was still in Norrandale, looking for the Myrgonite objects and the mine of stones, and my bet was that as soon as the snow melted, he would strike. Maybe even before that. Either way, I wasn’t going to wait around to see it play out.
I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and by the time I’d reached the stables, I could no longer feel my nose.
The horses rustled with unease at my disturbance in the middle of the night.
