The Rejected Princess

by Clark, Katie;

  He finished his communication with Father and Mother then closed down his Messenger. A groan escaped his lips as he let his forehead fall forward and hit the desk. Gregory hadn’t spoken to Ben since Ben had stomped off after seeing Roanna earlier. He wondered what the prince might be up to.

  A knock sounded on the door. Ben waited a split second before remembering Hansen wasn’t there to open it for him, so he rushed to the door and quickly opened it.

  A servant stood on the other side. He bowed slightly. “Dinner is being served downstairs, Your Highness.”

  Dinner. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Roanna would likely be there. Now that he and Gregory had seen her, the Dawsons should have no reason to keep her away from them as long as they were all being monitored.

  “Thank you. I’ll be down soon.”

  The servant bowed again, and Ben closed the door. He had brought very little in the way of luggage, but he found something suitable and changed as quickly as he could. As he stared at himself in the mirror, his mind reeled.

  This whole thing had started because he’d wanted more time alone with Roanna. Because he’d dragged her to the dungeon to search imprisonment records.

  He should have left off the records and simply told her how he felt. Told her he loved her.

  He growled and headed into the hall. Telling her he loved her wouldn’t have changed anything. It probably would have made things worse—perhaps thrust their countries into war with Dawson’s Edge proper, rather than a small militia of people within the country.

  The palace buzzed with activity, and several guests sat at the table as he entered the dining room. Relief poured through him when he spotted Roanna sitting between Queen Katherine and Gregory. Roland sat across from her.

  Ben took the seat beside Gregory.

  “Good evening, Prince Ben.” King Dawson nodded his way as if he hadn’t insulted him earlier in the day. “I trust you are having a fine visit.”

  “It is quite well. Thank you for your hospitality.” Ben kept his voice steady, but he wondered what trick the king was up to now.

  He managed a smile for Queen Katherine then glanced casually at a few of the other guests, including Roanna.

  Her gaze was glued to him, and when he met her large, round eyes she did not look away. Still fearful but she wasn’t even trying to hide it.

  He ground his teeth as anger burned in his gut. If only he could speak to her privately. But how? King Dawson barely wanted her own brother to see her; it was unlikely he would let Ben have a few moments alone. And with the way Roanna was behaving, it was equally unlikely she would agree to meet him without the king’s permission.

  Servants brought out platters of food, and conversation died away as guests filled their plates.

  While others ate, Ben wracked his brain for ways to get a message to Roanna. If only he’d thought ahead, he could have passed a scrap of paper via Gregory who sat between them.

  Gregory spoke in tense tones whenever anyone asked him a question, but he mostly spoke in low tones to Roanna. The stern wrinkle on his forehead never eased up. He was hammering her hard about her choices.

  “How is your father today, Prince Benjamin?” Roland asked, pulling Ben’s attention away from Gregory and Roanna.

  “He was well when I messaged him and my mother earlier. Thank you for asking.”

  “That’s good to hear.” Roland’s eyes blazed with something Ben didn’t quite recognize. Anger? Irritation? “It seems your efforts would be needed more at home than here in Dawson’s Edge at the moment.”

  “Apprehending whoever is responsible for Father’s injuries, as well as the injuries to Lox, is where my efforts are most needed.”

  Roland didn’t reply. Instead, he looked away and began speaking to another guest.

  Ben’s irritation tightened in his chest. Dinner couldn’t end soon enough.

  At last, King Dawson stood. “Let us continue the festivities in the banquet hall.”

  The other few palace guests agreed with smiling faces.

  They wouldn’t be so happy if their country had been attacked as Lox had. Their merriment spoke of their ignorance.

  He followed the others out, but Gregory grabbed his arm from behind. A piece of paper was shoved into his hand as Gregory passed him. Roanna was several feet ahead, clinging to the arm of Queen Katherine.

  A note? Roanna had thought ahead where he had not. He almost smiled but caught himself just in time. He would have to wait to look at the note.

  He quickly slipped it into his pocket.

  King Dawson and the others congregated in the banquet hall.

  Ben had just stepped through the doorway when the world shook.

  63

  Ben caught himself on the doorframe before he crashed to the ground, but others weren’t so lucky. Guards rushed forward, grabbing the king and queen to rush them to safety.

  “Get Roanna!” King Dawson shouted as he was prodded toward a sliding panel in the wall. “Keep her safe!”

  Another guard took Roanna’s arm and herded her behind the queen.

  Ben barely had time to register the king’s comment as the ground still shook.

  “What’s happening?” someone shouted.

  One guest suggested an earthquake, but that was foolishness. They were under attack.

  A vase slipped from a high shelf and knocked a guard unconscious.

  Gregory made his way to Ben. “This is the rebels’ doing.”

  “I agree.”

  “We have to get Roanna.” He looked at the wall panel that had already closed.

  Gregory had to have heard the king’s words about Roanna, but he said nothing. Ben wouldn’t bring it up, but his mind worked to understand the king’s concern.

  Why was Dawson working so hard to protect her?

  The shaking stopped. Guards raced in the corridors outside the banquet hall. Window glass was shattered on the plush carpeting, and parts of the ceiling hung down.

  “It has to be war bots,” Ben said. “This is too much damage for a single bomb.”

  Ben moved to the wall where Roanna had disappeared. He slid his hands along the panel, searching for a secret entrance. “There’s nothing.”

  Gregory squatted beside him. “It must be a remote entry. We don’t have access.”

  They stood, and Ben searched Gregory’s eyes. “Did you hear the king’s words about Roanna?”

  Gregory’s gaze darkened and his frown blanketed his entire face. “We need to find her.”

  Ben nodded and moved from the room, pushing past the hysterical guests. He had known almost nothing of the Dawsonian palace a month ago, but because he’d recently spent several weeks being wooed by them he had a better understanding of his whereabouts. He led Gregory to the guest hallway, and to the elevator that would take them to an underground bunker.

  “The hidden pathway they took must lead below ground,” he said. “Where else would they take the family?”

  Gregory kept silent as Ben worked on the keypad at the elevator entrance. “We don’t have a code,” Ben said. “Or an entry card.”

  Gregory’s eyes widened for a moment. “I’ll be right back.” He raced back down the hall, and a moment later returned with a key card. “The guard knocked unconscious in the blast,” he explained.

  Ben should have thought of it himself.

  Gregory scanned the card, and the elevator door slid open. They stepped inside. The door closed, and the elevator moved of its own volition. They sank into the lower parts of the earth. Once they reached the bunker, they would likely be greeted by guards with guns—after all, they were uninvited guests, in this instance. But hopefully the king would see them and allow them entrance before they ended up casualties of war.

  Ben readied himself as the elevator came to a stop. He wanted to be prepared in case they were attacked as soon as the door opened, but the bunker was a madhouse. Aides rushed around the room, people shouted, and guards stood with guns at their sides, watching the c
haos.

  Gregory and Ben weren’t noticed until they stepped from the elevator. A guard stopped them. “Your Highnesses, this is a restricted area.”

  “We’ve been collaborating with the king on these attacks.” Ben stood rigidly, his chin lifted, using his most authoritative voice. This wasn’t his kingdom, but he hoped the guard would stand down.

  The guard paused only a moment. “Wait here while I verify.” He stepped away and used some type of radio device. When he finished, he turned back to Ben and Gregory. “The king will see you. Follow me.”

  Ben kept his relief inside as they pushed their way through the crowd. They passed a door as it opened and a guard stepped out. Roanna sat at a couch inside the room, but the door shut again before Ben could make eye contact.

  The king paced inside a room labeled War Room. He turned furious eyes on Ben and Gregory. “What are you doing down here? The guard tells me you came without escort.”

  Ben was tired of being treated as if his presence in Dawson’s Edge were of no importance. He stepped forward. “You left your guests to die, so yes we took it upon ourselves to steal a key from an unconscious guard. Now, do you have any intelligence on these attacks?”

  King Dawson sneered then turned away. “We have nothing. The grounds have been patrolled heavily since the latest attack on Lox. We don’t know how someone got through.”

  “Maybe someone on the inside is working with the enemy,” Ben stated.

  Again, the king turned with a sneer. “You think we haven’t thought of this? Boy, you aren’t a king yet. You’d do well to remember it.”

  Heat burned Ben’s cheeks, but he refused to stand down. He took a deep breath and worked to calm his nerves. “We aren’t enemies,” he said. “We both want our people to succeed, and our countries to be safe. The same enemy attacks us both. Let us work together.”

  “Prince Benjamin speaks truth.” Gregory stepped forward. “Let us work together.”

  The fire in King Dawson’s eyes dimmed, but only slightly. “Very well. See what you can learn.”

  Aides brought Messenger devices to Ben and Gregory, and they each worked to contact their kingdoms. Ben waited while Mother spoke with her own people. His foot tapped the floor under the table in the war room, and his mind roamed back to Roanna. He wanted to see her. Needed to speak with her.

  What information could Dawson have possibly given her that would make him treat her so protectively? And why would she let him?

  A communication came through the Messenger. It was Mother with a barrage of information. Loxian intelligence had picked up on chatter from a unit near the border stating that three guards had been placed in the Dawsonian palace as double agents.

  “Your Highness,” he spoke, calling the king over. King Dawson read the brief report and growled.

  “We need a check on all palace guards,” he barked. An aide rushed from the room.

  King Dawson turned to Ben, his dark eyebrows lowered. “This had better not lead us down a mole’s tunnel.”

  Ben kept back any retort as a different aide stepped to King Dawson’s side. “The queen wishes to see you, Your Highness.”

  “I would like to see my sister.” Gregory spoke up quickly, stepping forward.

  King Dawson scowled but nodded his consent.

  Ben didn’t wait for permission. He followed the men toward the room where Roanna and Queen Katherine were being kept.

  64

  Roanna

  King Dawson strode into the room. Gregory and Ben followed him.

  Roanna’s heart squeezed at the sight of Ben. He had asked if her feelings had changed. She’d wanted to laugh at the question—as if her feelings for him could ever change. The problem wasn’t her own feelings but his, once he learned her secret. Memories from earlier in the week assaulted her, memories from when King Dawson had come for her with the results from Dr. Jacobs.

  Roanna had been wandering the gardens, not really seeing anything in front of her. Two days had passed since she’d arrived. She spent as much time outside as she could manage while considering ways to contact her family. She had rounded a corner and saw King Dawson striding toward her. The look on his face—he practically glowed.

  He had answers from the test.

  The king did not hold back. “The genetic test revealed that you are—well, it revealed you are my child. Mine and Queen Katherine’s.”

  Initially, she’d believed he lied. Dawson’s Edge was known for their lies and deceit and distrust, and now she was witnessing it firsthand. She shook her head, tears spilling from her eyes unchecked. “That is impossible. I’ve been given the account of my birth by my own mother.”

  But her heart had told her it was truth. How else could she explain the anomaly of her hair, the shivers, and her ability to hear Roland’s and King Dawson’s thoughts? She wasn’t Mother’s child.

  “Maybe the test was wrong.” Her words came out in a whisper. “The Dawsons and Hamiltons used to be related. Perhaps the power has crossed lines.”

  Sympathy danced in King Dawson’s eyes. “The test was very clear. You were a match to myself as well as Queen Katherine. There is only one explanation, and that is that you are the princess whom we were told died during birth eighteen years ago…”

  The Dawsonian princess. Not the daughter of King Hamilton and Queen Charlotte of Chester’s Wake, as she had always believed, but someone altogether different. Someone with strange magical powers—powers which may or may not have gotten her killed if detected at birth.

  She watched Ben now, across the room in the small, cramped bunker. How would he see her once he learned she was King Dawson’s daughter? She’d considered the story a thousand times, and while they had no definitive answers, she could only assume that she was stolen by Dr. Presnell and stowed away until Mother went into labor. Perhaps he had even caused Mother’s early labor. The questions she wrestled with now was the fate of the true Chester’s Wake princess. What had become of her?

  And how could she ever tell her family?

  Gregory moved to her side and sat on the sofa. “Are you unharmed?”

  “I’m fine, Gregory. Ready to go home.”

  He shook his head. “We shouldn’t be here at all. It isn’t safe.”

  After an attack at the palace, she was apt to agree. But how could she leave? It was unlikely King Dawson would agree to such a thing. He and Katherine still didn’t know how she had ended up in Chester’s Wake—she hadn’t told them about Dr. Presnell—and he wanted answers.

  “Roanna, did Roland threaten you?” He glanced a few feet away at the king and queen, then lowered his voice. “Why did King Dawson insist they keep you safe?”

  Her stomach tightened. Gregory had heard King Dawson’s panicked cry?

  Her gaze flitted to Ben’s. Had he heard? His lowered brows and pained expression told her he had. But there was something else in his eyes—a tenderness. He wanted to speak with her.

  That might change once he learned the truth.

  “Roland has been nothing but kind,” she defended. She was surprised to feel it was true. Roland had been the key to all her questions.

  “Can I speak with you, Roanna?” Ben’s voice was choked, and her heart squeezed again.

  “Of course.”

  His look pleaded with her for privacy. She stood and went to his side. They were only a few feet from everyone else in the room, but it was all he needed. He gripped her hands.

  “Please tell me what’s going on.”

  She swallowed hard and glanced at King Dawson. He watched them, frowning, but not stopping their conversation.

  Roanna’s stomach tightened and twisted. She couldn’t tell him the truth. Couldn’t let him know what she’d learned. There was too much tension. Too much unrest and hatred between the countries.

  “Roland knew things,” she whispered. “He knew about my hair, and he had answers.”

  Ben frowned. “How?”

  “I can’t explain right now. Not here,” sh
e choked out.

  Ben’s frown deepened, but he didn’t challenge her. Was he angry?

  “Roanna, I—”

  An aide rushed into the room. “Your Highness,” she spoke to King Dawson.

  Ben turned to the aide, his sentence left unfinished. “The guards have been checked. Three have been missing for several days.”

  King Dawson’s nostrils flared. “Why have their absences not been brought to my attention sooner? It is as the Loxian intelligence predicted. Track them down!” His voice had escalated to a bellow. “Back to the war room.” He marched from the room, and Gregory moved to follow him.

  Ben turned to her even as he stepped away. “We will speak more. I promise.”

  Tears filled her eyes. Would things ever be the same?

  “Roanna, I promise it.”

  She managed a nod. Then he was gone.

  Moving back to the couch, she caught Queen Katherine’s watchful eye. The queen patted the seat beside her, and Roanna sat.

  “You are close to the Prince of Lox?”

  Close? That was an understatement. She nodded.

  Queen Katherine gave her a small smile. “He seems a nice, reliable boy.”

  Roanna had no reply, so she changed the subject. “Queen Katherine, I would very much like to see my Chester’s Wake family. I wish to hear their explanations if they have any. And I wish to tell them the things I’ve learned.”

  Fear danced behind Katherine’s eyes. “I understand your longings. You were raised by them. You will be allowed to see them, but first we must ensure they will not prevent you from returning to Dawson’s Edge. We must also secure our borders and be sure you will be safe in Chester’s Wake.”

  It was as she suspected, but it was harder to hear when it was said out loud. She stood and paced the room.

  “Roanna,” Queen Katherine spoke. “Come sit beside me. Please.”

  “I want to do something. To help.”

  “It is not your place to help.”

  Roanna spun toward Katherine. “Not my place? And why not! I’m still a princess, aren’t I? I want to help, not cower in an underground bunker.”