Page 52 of Once Upon a Crown
“If it should take this much effort to gain access to that diary, then there has to be something inside that King Evrin didn’t want anyone to know.” I had to believe that this would lead us somewhere and that it wasn’t another dead end.
“We were quite worried about you, Your Majesty.” Alastor spoke up before clearing his throat. “I’m glad to see you have returned safely.”
“Yes, it was quite a journey,” I admitted with a heavy breath. “But I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”
At this, Cai mumbled an “excuse me” and walked out of the library.
“What’s his problem?” Gwen frowned at the door.
“He’s upset because he didn’t want me to go and find the key and I went anyway.”
“But we needed the key. As you said, it wouldn’t take this much to unlock the diary if it wasn’t valuable.”
“Try convincing him of that.” I didn’t like it when Cai and I were fighting, especially because we’d just got to a place where we were on good terms with each other.
Gwen flipped through the pages of the book she’d been reading. “I’m sure he’ll come round, Your Majesty. He’ll have to. Especially when we find out what’s hiding in that diary.”
“I hope so.” I gave her half a smile before turning to Rhen.
“I have some things to take care of over the next few days, so I’m going to require your assistance with the diary.”
As much as I wanted to scan every page of that old book, walking through the woods alone for so many hours had got me thinking about all the ways I still needed to protect Everness. While I trusted the diary would bring us certain answers, we needed men on the field to fight for us, or at the very least defend us. We had more soldiers stationed at the border and the kingdom was slowly preparing itself in the event of an attack. Buildings were being fortified, weapons made and food stored.
But I kept on worrying that it would not be enough. What if Aries still managed to break through our defences? I needed to invite the council members back to court so that we could have another council meeting.
Rhen looked a little surprised as he took the key from me. “Of course, Your Majesty.” I knew I could trust him with this duty. That Rhen would not give up until he found what we were looking for.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” With the adrenaline fading, tiredness began to set in. I would ask for dinner to be brought up to my rooms. The first order of business would be taking a long, hot bath. I contemplated going to Cai’s rooms as I made my way up the stairs but then thought better of it.
It had been a long day and I was severely sleep-deprived. I knew both of us well enough to know the conversation would not be productive and only lead to us being more upset with each other. I hadn’t meant to go behind Cai’s back by leaving but I had to do what I believed was right, what I believed would help our kingdoms.
My rooms were lit with a few candles and the bathing chamber was filled with steam. Though Anesta was nowhere to be seen, there was a tray of food on one of the small tables in my room.
She probably knew I wanted some peace and privacy.
I took a bite from one of the bread rolls and began to undress, leaving my dirty clothes draped over a chair.
The warm water from the bath soothed my aching muscles. I lay back, slowly starting to relax as I snacked from my plate. I probably didn’t look very ladylike as I devoured the juicy pieces of chicken, but I was too hungry to care.
When the water began to grow cold, I emerged from the bath, pulling on a white linen robe. My feet left wet prints on the floor, trailing from the bathing chambers to one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. I finished my dinner while my mind ran rampant with plans and ideas. Even though the key was a partial success, Aries had one of the biggest armies on the continent and he was already in Norrandale. We needed to find a way to fight back or soon there would be nothing left to fight for.
My train of thought was interrupted by a light knock on the door. Anesta must have come to check on me before going to bed.
“Come in.”
The door creaked open and I looked over my shoulder, only to find Cai standing in my room.
I stood too, slightly surprised by his presence.
“Cai.” No words came to mind. I would not apologise, so I hoped that was not the reason for his visit. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you.” His words brought me some relief. While his face bore no semblance of joy, at least he wasn’t avoiding me.
“You shouldn’t have walked out like that,” I said, referring to the library.
“I know.” His eyes were on the floor, while he didn’t make much of an attempt to move away from the door.
“Then why did you do it?”
