The Stolen Jewel

by Lisa Dawn

  “Braydon, please!” I cry.

  “You’d better get out of here, Charlotte,” says Lily, dropping my train.

  The wedding guests rise from their pews. All of their eyes glow bright red.

  “Death to the traitor!” they shout.

  I scream and try to run away, but my long train prevents me from turning around. I’m surrounded with no escape in sight. They lunge at me. It feels as though I am being torn to shreds. I try to scream, but no sound escapes.

  I jerked awake to the sun streaming in through the window. How long was I out? I’d better get my things ready or Edgar will be furious. I grabbed the journal that Lily gave me and stuffed it into my cloak. Then I pulled on a thick gray dress that Greta left behind and hid the truth rune under the bodice. If I wanted to counteract Mercer’s mind control magic, I was going to need it.

  I traipsed downstairs. A few guests gathered in the lobby for breakfast. I did my best to slip past them without being recognized. Just before I reached the door, Edgar noticed me trying to get away. He put down a pitcher of water he was pouring for a guest. I braced myself for another lecture.

  “Leaving without saying good-bye?”

  Had he forgiven me for last night?

  “I owe you so much. I’ll never forget you,” I said.

  Edgar held out a scone.

  “Something for the road?”

  I accepted it and scarfed it down gratefully. This was no time for table manners.

  “Thank you, Edgar. For everything.”

  I gave him a hug. He patted my back.

  “You did well. It’ll be hard to find a suitable replacement.”

  “I can ask around when I get back to the castle.”

  “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll never let anything bad happen to Klingland or the people I care about.”

  Edgar nodded.

  “If anyone can restore the magic,” he said, “it’s you.”

  I carried his words with me as I made my way to the castle alongside with many others who were visiting for the wedding. The closer I got, the more crowded the streets became. Everyone was dressed in their finest clothes and hats. I stood out like a sore thumb.

  Just as I suspected, the drawbridge had been lowered for the event. Wedding guests formed an uneven line as they each presented their invitations to Frederick at the gate. I considered trying to slip past in him the crowd, but he had the keenest senses I’d ever seen. He would certainly catch me. I couldn’t risk depending on his friendship to let me pass either. The stakes were way too high, and we both knew he could lose his job or worse by admitting a known fugitive into the castle.

  Maybe there was another way. I thought back to everything my parents had taught me about the catacombs. There was one entrance that could be accessed from outside in case of an emergency. While Frederick checked someone’s invitation, I slipped out of the line and climbed down a set of stone stairs under a cherub statue in the garden. I took a quick glance back at the wedding guests to make sure no one was watching while I opened the latch on the dusty wooden door at the bottom of the stairs. I was in!

  I raced through the passageway. Denise and Mercer were probably already in the audience chamber welcoming guests. They’d be way too well-guarded for me to reach them in time. Instead, I aimed for my own chambers. Elsie would be easier to contact, and I knew exactly where she would be. Maybe she could help me get a message to Denise.

  I popped out through the secret doorway in the wall. There weren’t many servants or guards in the area. They were probably helping to set up the decorations in the audience chambers. I thought I was home free when I crashed head-on into a servant carrying a bouquet of yellow tulips. Flower petals floated everywhere as we tumbled on top of each other. She was sure to recognize me. My cover was blown.

  “Charlotte?”

  I collected as many tulips as I could before getting a better look at her.

  “Greta?”

  “I can’t believe it! You got a job here too?”

  “I…”

  “How wonderful! They really did need all the help they could get. Princess Krystal is incredibly picky, but so glamorous! How is Edgar?”

  “He’s… well, busy.”

  “I’ll go gather some more flowers. The princess will never accept ones that have been squashed!”

  She sauntered off. I couldn’t believe she was so oblivious. Some people spend their whole lives dreaming of seeing the inside of a castle that it blinds them to reality when they get there. For me, it was the opposite. I knew all of the dark and dangerous secrets that we worked hard to keep hidden from the public.

  I forged onward until I saw Elsie enter my old dressing room. She went inside before I had the chance to shout her name. I chased after her. There, I found Krystal in a cream-colored dress that was studded with rubies and draped with pink chiffon ruffles. Her hair was piled high on her head in an elaborate configuration of twists and braids. Lily stood behind attending to her long train in a satin magenta off-the-shoulder dress. They gaped at me when I entered.

  “I don’t recall sending you an invitation,” Krystal snarled.

  “I have to speak to Denise,” I insisted. “It’s urgent.”

  “Elsie, fetch Frederick for me immediately.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  Elsie curtsied to Krystal and headed toward the door.

  “Elsie!” I called. “Elsie, wait, please!”

  She didn’t even turn around. Why was she being so cold toward me? Had she forgotten everything she told me the day I left the castle? It was as though we were suddenly strangers.

  “It was brave of you to come here after what you’ve done,” said Lily.

  “I hope you’re not still upset,” I said, recalling our last conversation at the inn.

  “Why would I be upset?” asked Lily. “Everything is the way it should be. You don’t deserve the crown or the prince. You’re just a lonely orphan with delusions of grandeur.”

  My eyes burned with tears. This wasn’t the Lily I knew. Was this how she truly felt? Then I remembered how I had accidentally learned Krystal’s true feelings toward me with the truth rune. Maybe I could do the same with Lily.

  “You don’t mean that. You may not be my lady-in-waiting anymore, but aren’t we still friends?”

  I felt the magic shoot from the rune into Lily. Her eyes flickered, but it felt as though the magic from my rune had hit a brick wall. I could feel her struggling to break the wall. She clenched her eyelids shut and held her head in her hands.

  “I-I…” she stuttered, shaking her head violently.

  “Lily?” I asked with concern.

  “She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Krystal insisted. “What are you doing here?”

  “That’s none of your business,” I snapped.

  “This is supposed to be the happiest day of my life. I don’t have time for distractions.”

  “Family is not a distraction!”

  “You are not my family. Not as long as you still have this!”

  To my horror, Krystal reached behind my neck and snapped the gold chain around it before I could stop her, pulling the truth rune out of my bodice with it. I clutched the scratch that formed on my neck where the chain broke, feeling a few drops of blood form in the shallow cut. Krystal fastened it around her own neck and admired herself in the mirror.

  “What do you think? Does it suit me?”

  The magic compelled me to answer.

  “You look like a wicked enchantress,” I said.

  Krystal smirked.

  “Do I? I will take that as a compliment. Thank you for the wedding present.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you do to me. I will find a way to stop you and Mercer!”

  “I’d like to see you try.”

  Elsie returned with Frederick. Neither of them acknowledged me. Was I a fool to think they would still be loyal to me? Frederick pinned my hands behind my back and
tied my wrists together. I tried to struggle, but he was too strong.

  “Frederick, throw her in the dungeon!” commanded Krystal.

  “Yes, Princess Krystal.”

  Frederick bowed. I wondered if there was a way I could get through to him.

  “Frederick, it’s good to see you again,” I said.

  “Silence, traitor!”

  There wasn’t even a hint of recognition in his voice.

  “Frederick? Tell me he hasn’t gotten to you too!”

  He dragged me through the hall and down the stairs to the dungeon. I waited helplessly as he unlocked a cell and pushed me inside, locking the iron door behind me. It took a moment to realize I wasn’t alone.

  “Henry?”

  Chapter 22

  Frederick locked the door behind me in a filthy cell. Henry sat in the corner looking dejected. Then he saw me and instantly snapped out of it. He ran up and untied my hands.

  “Char?”

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “That scoundrel of a king stole a rune from the days of the war. He’s been training himself to use it all these years.”

  “I know.”

  “He used it on Mother and Lily. I couldn’t protect them.”

  I was all too aware of how much of a blow that was to Henry’s conscience. Just as I devoted my entire life to becoming queen, Henry had decided a long time ago that it was his duty to protect all of us. Seeing his mother become crippled during the war triggered his obsession with swordplay and self-defense. His failure to protect Lily and Aunt Denise probably stung as much as my failure to become queen. I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

  “I’m sure you did everything you could,” I said. “Did he try to use it on you?”

  “He tried, but I noticed it working on Mother and Lily when they looked at him during his commands. I refused to look. Then I punched him right in his ugly mug. He didn’t like that very much.”

  “I would imagine not.”

  “That’s when he had me locked down here. I failed. I failed everyone.”

  “It isn’t your fault. He and Krystal are working together.”

  “Yes, I figured that out when she refused to free me from here unless I promised not to interfere with Mercer’s plans. It’s all over.”

  I had never seen him so distraught. Before I could piece together the right words to reassure him, I heard the tap of footsteps approaching the cell. Braydon approached me in his formal wedding attire. Did he have a plan? Maybe he was here to break me out. I ran to the bars, clutching the cold steel between my fingers.

  “Charlotte,” he said. “So it’s true.”

  “Braydon! Can you get us out of here?”

  “I can’t talk for long. I just wanted to tell you…”

  I wanted to hear him say he loved me more than anything, but the timing was wrong. It was too painful to hear the words when he was about to marry my cousin.

  “I know,” I interrupted. “Me too.”

  “Not to do anything to interfere with the wedding.”

  “What? But I thought…”

  Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Just because he saved your life doesn’t mean he loves you. If you get lost in your own preconceived fantasies, you’re no better than Krystal.

  “I’m marrying Krystal, and it will be best for everyone if you do not interfere,” said Braydon.

  “You’re under his control. You have to fight this!”

  “Do I look like I’m being controlled?”

  He leaned toward me and allowed me to study his face. His warm brown eyes were crystal clear, even under the dim lighting of the cell. There was no hint of the red flashes I caught with the others. There had to be some kind of explanation. I refused to accept that Braydon would want to be with Krystal and let his father manipulate him, not after what we’d overheard.

  “But you said you wouldn’t go through with it!” I insisted.

  “This alliance is best for everyone. We can’t keep fighting it.”

  My eyes burned as tears stained the stone floor of my cell. Maybe I had imagined everything. I was fooling myself to think that Braydon would love someone like me. My role as queen was handed to me on a silver platter the day I was born, and I couldn’t even do that properly. Without my title, I was nobody. I didn’t deserve his love.

  “If that’s how you really feel,” I sobbed.

  I sunk to the ground as Braydon left me feeling more alone than I did the day I was exiled.

  “I presume you didn’t take my advice to stay away from him,” said Henry.

  I’d almost forgotten he was there.

  “It wasn’t like I was planning to see him again. I didn’t expect him to show up the night of the attack, and then everything just spiraled from there.”

  “You were present during the attack?”

  Oops.

  “I…well…”

  “I can’t believe it! You didn’t trust me to handle it on my own? You’re so obsessed with the prospect that you’re the only one who can lead Klingland that you don’t even consider anyone else to be capable of performing the simplest task!”

  “In my defense, you told me you would only do it if I stayed away from Braydon, and I couldn’t make that promise.”

  “I care about Klingland just as much as you do! I take my duty to keep our people safe very seriously!”

  “I know you do!”

  “Then why don’t you act like it?”

  “I just… don’t want to be useless.”

  Henry knelt down next to me.

  “Char, you could never be useless. You managed to find a job within days of getting kicked out of the castle. How many nobles do you know that could do something like that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Not many. You just need to be willing to give other people a chance to prove themselves too.”

  I had never considered how many leadership qualities Henry possessed. If I couldn’t be queen, he could make a fine king someday with the right training.

  “Thanks, Henry.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  Henry’s pep talk cheered me up temporarily, but it wasn’t long before I remembered that the man I loved was about to enter a marriage that would ruin everything I’d worked for. It’s hard not to let your thoughts run away with you when you’re locked in a quiet cell. I hugged my shoulders and shuddered with sobs.

  “What is it now?” asked Henry.

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re still thinking about that two-faced prince, aren’t you?”

  “It’s just… How could I have been so stupid?”

  “Don’t beat yourself up over it. He comes from a family of deceitful scalawags.”

  “I thought he was different.”

  “I could say the same about Krystal. If a man can’t trust his own sister, who can he trust? Face it, Charlotte. Our days of prosperity are over.”

  I mulled over his words carefully. Did prosperity mean living in a fine room with servants and beautiful clothes? Krystal certainly believed that. Yet, I felt just as prosperous and successful working for Edgar as I did practicing to be queen, possibly even more so. I had gotten kicked out of my home, lost everything, and still found a way to make a new start. If I did it once, I could do it again. I was going to get us both out of this cell and save my people.

  “No! I refuse to accept that!” I shouted.

  Henry eyed me curiously. I had also gotten Frederick’s attention. He marched back to our cell.

  “What’s all this commotion?” he asked. “Prisoners must be silent!”

  “Frederick! Don’t you remember who I am?” I asked.

  “Of course I do. You are the traitorous princess who deceived the regent queen.”

  “It’s no use,” Henry groaned. “He’s under Mercer’s control.”

  I reached through the bars and took Frederick’s hand in mine. His fingers were coarse from years of servitude to my parents.

  “No, Frederick,
” I said. “Really remember. After my parents died, you found me playing in the gardens trying to escape my diplomacy lesson. You said you would not let the burden of being queen prevent me from having a childhood.”

  I noticed a flash of recognition in Frederick’s clouded red eyes. It seemed to be working even without the truth rune. Mercer said the rune was the only thing that opposed the mind control spell, but maybe it wasn’t magic after all. Maybe all I needed was the truth.

  “Before the war, you used to guard my parents with a purple rune that shot sparks. I remember being fascinated by your ability to control it.”

  Frederick rubbed his eyes, doing his best to fight off the spell just like Lily did in the dressing room when I tried to use the truth rune on her. If I had found the right words, I probably could have snapped her out of it too. Henry would have been furious if he knew how close I had come to saving her.

  “You knew, didn’t you? You knew I took the truth rune, but you kept my secret because you trusted me. Your loyalty to the crown has never wavered. Even now, you are fighting Mercer’s hold on you with everything you have.”

  It looked like that did it. When Frederick opened his eyes again, they were as clear as Braydon’s had been the moment he broke my heart.

  “Forgive me, Your Highness! He was controlling me. I never would have apprehended you.”

  Henry peered out through the bars in disbelief.

  “Char, you’ve been holding out on us! You possessed the ability to break Mercer’s spell this entire time?”

  “I didn’t know,” I assured him.

  Frederick bowed.

  “My actions were unforgivable. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you, Princess? My lord?”

  “Let us out of here, you old beanpole!” exclaimed Henry.

  “Of course! Right away.”

  “I’ll try to stop the wedding,” I said.

  Frederick rustled through a ring of keys and unlocked the door. Pablo and several other younger guards ran toward the cell. I knew if I was fast enough, I could get away before they reached me. I opened a door in the wall and ran into the catacombs. I could hear the sound of Frederick’s sword clashing with the others behind me.

  “Run!” shouted Henry.