Page 96 of Once Upon a Crown
“Is it?” He ran a hand through his golden hair.
Probably not. We were all likely to die before this was over and if it wasn’t at the hands of Aries, it would be from those damned stones that started this whole thing.
“If we don’t make it out of this alive,” I started, “then we need to make sure Aries never gets his hands on any of the Myrgonite objects. And the only way to truly ensure that is if we find another way to destroy them or hide them somewhere they can never be found.”
“Is it even possible to do that?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“So Rhen hasn’t found anything in the diary yet?” he asked.
“I don’t think so. We haven’t spoken much in the last few days. I’m sure if he’s found something he would tell meimmediately. And even if he doesn’t,” I stepped a little closer to Cai, “I’m not going to stop looking until it’s found.” It was a promise I would make to myself, to him and to our kingdoms.
“We should probably get to work, then.” He didn’t say it hopefully but at least he was willing to fight, and I would take that any day over the state he was in when he was in exile.
“I’ll see you at dinner then.”
As I made my way towards my rooms, I spotted Rhen coming down the hall.
“I’ve been looking for you. But first, we have guests, Your Majesty.”
“Guests?” I frowned. “Who?”
“Come and see for yourself.” I relied on the fact that Rhen appeared quite calm to reassure myself that these were not unwanted guests at least.
I followed him towards the courtyard and spotted a familiar carriage from the window.
“Gwen,” I cried out happily as I rushed to the door.
She climbed out of the carriage, looking tired and a little weary, but as her eyes fell on me, she looked happy to see me.
I pulled her into a hug, comforted by her familiar face. “We’ve all missed you. How was your journey?”
“I won’t lie, I’m quite tired from travelling.”
“We’d best get you inside where it’s much warmer.” I was about to link my elbow with hers to lead her inside when another figure emerged from the carriage.
Lance was dressed in some of his finest clothing, with his hair neat and his face shaved. He didn’t look like he’d been travelling at all. This must have been what Rhen meant when he said “guests”, as in more than one.
“What are you doing here?” I asked in surprise. If anything, I would have believed Lance would stay as far away from thefighting as possible. My eyes slowly travelled to Gwen and then back to him.
“Well,” he said, removing his gloves. “I wasn’t going to let you have all the fun without me.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of it but I couldn’t let the thought linger for too long. We had too many other important things to worry about.
“It’s good to see you,” I said to Gwen, taking her arm. “But Aries’ armies are now marching this way. We are readying ourselves for battle. It would have been safer if you’d stayed in Everness.” Cai would also worry about Gwen being here and how we would keep her protected when none of us knew if we were making it out of this alive.
We stepped into the palace where people were already starting to bustle about in preparation.
“Have all the men arrived?” Her face was full of concern, her eyes scanning the inside of the palace, like she was looking for something. Someone? How were we going to tell her?
“Not yet. And the Evernean army probably won’t reach us in time either.”
“What about Everness itself?” Lance asked, trailing behind us. “Should things go bad here in Norrandale, we are going to need all our forces in Everness, because it will become a refuge for the people of Norrandale as well as all of us.” Everness was the fall-back plan. But we needed those men. My heart sank. The cause seemed lost either way.
I gave him a nod. Eloisa was gone but Lance didn’t even appear to be in mourning. I wanted to say I was sorry for his loss, or was it our loss? She was still family after all. This was too complicated.
“What of my brother?” Gwen asked suddenly and I swallowed hard, meeting Rhen’s eyes over her shoulder. He slowly shook his head. Now was not the time.
