Chapter 3: The Man Shadow Remembered
The courtyard stopped breathing.
For one impossible moment, no one moved.
Not the nobles dressed in velvet.
Not the soldiers standing with their hands on their swords.
Not even the king sitting beneath the golden canopy.
Everyone was watching Shadow.
The black stallion stood beside me, his body tense, his eyes locked on the man standing behind the throne.
A man wearing a simple dark coat.
A man who looked like an ordinary royal adviser.
But he was not ordinary.
Because Prince Adrian looked at him as if he had seen a ghost.
“Impossible…” Adrian whispered.
The word barely reached me.
I turned toward him.
“Your Highness?””
He did not answer.
His face had lost all color.
The man behind the king noticed.
And smiled.
A small, confident smile.
The kind of smile worn by someone who knows they hold a secret everyone else buried.
The king looked between his son and the stranger.
“Adrian,” he said sharply.
“Is there something you wish to say?””
The prince quickly controlled his expression.
“No, Father.””
But Shadow disagreed.
The horse stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
The crowd immediately panicked.
Several guards reached for their weapons.
“Stay back!”” one shouted at me.
But I knew Shadow was not attacking.
He was remembering.
His breathing became heavier.
His ears moved forward.
The man in the dark coat slowly raised his hand.
And Shadow stopped.
That terrified me more than anything.
Because fear made animals run.
But recognition made them freeze.
The stranger spoke softly.
“Well, well.””
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“It seems the beast remembers.””
The courtyard went silent.
The king’s eyes narrowed.
“Lord Marcus.””
The name moved through the crowd.
I had heard it before.
Everyone in the kingdom knew Lord Marcus.
The king’s most trusted adviser.
The man who had managed the kingdom’s finances for years.
The man who was always standing beside the throne.
But no one from my village knew the name attached to the rumors.
The rumors about the night Prince Elias disappeared.
Prince Adrian stepped forward.
“What are you doing here?””
Lord Marcus smiled.
“Watching a little village girl attempt a royal challenge.””
His eyes moved to me.
“Although I must admit, I did not expect her to succeed.””
There was something in the way he looked at me.
Not curiosity.
Not admiration.
Calculation.
Like he was trying to decide whether I was a problem.
The king stood.
“This is not the time for accusations, Adrian.””
The prince looked at his father.
“I have no accusations.””
“No?””
The king’s voice became colder.
“Then why do you look at my adviser as if you have seen a murderer?””
A murmur spread through the crowd.
The prince’s fists tightened.
I watched him carefully.
He was angry.
But he was also afraid.
Not for himself.
For the truth.
Lord Marcus stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, perhaps the prince is overwhelmed. After all, seeing Shadow again after so many years must bring back painful memories.””
Shadow suddenly moved.
His hoof struck the ground.
Hard.
The horse hated that voice.
I felt it immediately.
I placed a hand on his neck.
“It’s okay,” I whispered.
The stallion calmed slightly.
But my eyes remained on Lord Marcus.
“You knew him.””
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Every head turned toward me.
The king looked surprised.
The nobles looked offended.
A peasant girl was not supposed to interrupt.
Lord Marcus looked amused.
“Excuse me?””
“You knew Shadow before.””
I stepped closer to the horse.
“He reacts to you differently.””
The adviser smiled.
“Do you believe you can read a horse better than people who have studied animals their entire lives?””
“No.””
I looked directly at him.
“I believe animals remember what people try to forget.””
A few nobles whispered.
The king’s expression darkened.
“Enough.””
His voice cut through the courtyard.
“You were given seven days to tame a horse, not investigate my court.””
I lowered my head.
“Yes, Your Majesty.””
But I noticed something.
The king did not deny it.
He did not say Lord Marcus had never met Shadow.
He only told me to stop asking questions.
That told me enough.
After the demonstration ended, I was taken back to the stable.
But this time, I was not alone.
Prince Adrian followed.
He closed the stable door behind him.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he turned to me.
“You should not have confronted him.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because now he knows you are looking.””
“He already knew.””
The prince frowned.
“What?””
“He sent guards last night.””
Adrian went still.
“What did you say?””
I told him.
Every detail.
The midnight search.
The excuse.
The way they looked around the stable.
When I finished, the prince’s face was colder than before.
“He is testing us.””
“Lord Marcus?””
He nodded.
“He wants to know how much we know.””
I looked toward Shadow.
“And how much does he know?””
The prince was silent.
That answer frightened me.
“You really believe he had something to do with Prince Elias disappearing.””
Adrian walked toward the stable window.
“I do not believe.””
He looked outside.
“I remember.””
The words were quiet.
I waited.
“Five years ago, the night my brother vanished, I followed him.””
My eyes widened.
“You did?””
“Yes.””
“Then why did you say you didn’t know what happened?””
The prince looked down.
“Because I was eleven years old.””
I froze.
He continued.
“I followed Elias into the forest. I saw him meet someone.””
“Who?””
He closed his eyes.
“Lord Marcus.””
The stable became silent.
“What happened next?””
“I heard shouting.””
His voice became distant.
“My brother was angry. He said Marcus had betrayed the family.””
My heart beat faster.
“And then?””
“Then I heard a sword leave its sheath.””
I looked at him.
“Did you see what happened?””
“No.””
His hands tightened.
“I was afraid. I ran back to the palace.””
The confession clearly haunted him.
“I told my father.””
“And?””
“He told me I was confused.””
The prince laughed bitterly.
“He said grief had made me imagine things.””
I looked at him.
“And you believed him?””
“No.””
The answer came instantly.
“I just had no proof.””
A noise came from Shadow.
The horse had moved toward the corner of the stall.
I approached him.
There, hidden beneath old straw, was something strange.
A small piece of metal.
I picked it up.
The prince immediately recognized it.
His face changed.
“That was my brother’s.””
The object was a broken piece of a necklace.
A royal symbol.
But there was something carved into the back.
A single letter.
E.
Prince Elias.
I turned it over.
“There’s something written.””
Adrian stepped closer.
Together, we looked.
Three words.
Three words that made the prince’s expression collapse.
“Trust the horse.””
Neither of us spoke.
The message was impossible.
Because it meant Prince Elias had known.
He knew Shadow would survive.
He knew someone would find him.
And he had left a clue.
A clue hidden for years.
Suddenly, Shadow began pulling toward the stable door.
Not aggressively.
Urgently.
I followed his gaze.
Someone was outside.
I opened the door slightly.
A young stable boy stood there.
His face was pale.
“Miss?””
“What is it?””
He looked around nervously.
“The king wants to see you.””
“Why?””
The boy swallowed.
“He says he knows where your father got that silver wolf emblem.””
My blood went cold.
Prince Adrian stepped forward.
“Who told him about the emblem?””
The boy looked terrified.
Then he whispered:
“Lord Marcus.””
The prince immediately grabbed my arm.
“Do not go.””
But before I could answer, a royal guard appeared behind the boy.
“Her Majesty’s orders.””
I frowned.
“Her Majesty?””
The guard nodded.
“The queen requests your presence.””
Prince Adrian looked confused.
“The queen?””
The guard lowered his voice.
“She says she can tell the girl the truth about what happened the night Prince Elias disappeared.””
A cold feeling settled in my chest.
Because for the first time since I arrived at the palace…
Someone powerful was offering me answers.
And I had learned something about powerful people.
They never gave you the truth for free.
As I stepped toward the palace, Shadow suddenly grabbed my sleeve gently with his teeth.
I turned back.
The stallion stared at me.
Not afraid.
Warning me.
And from the highest window of the palace tower…
Someone was watching.
Someone who had been waiting for me to discover the truth.
May you like
Someone who knew my father’s name.
And when the figure stepped away from the window, I saw the reflection of a familiar silver wolf emblem hanging from their hand.
