Chapter 6: The Prince Who Was Never Dead
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
For five years, the kingdom had believed Prince Elias was dead.
A memory.
A portrait on a palace wall.
A name spoken quietly by people who still missed him.
But now he stood in front of us.
Alive.
The man in the doorway looked nothing like the prince painted in the royal portraits.
The paintings showed a young nobleman with perfect clothes, perfect hair, and a smile meant for ceremonies.
The man standing there wore a worn leather coat.
A scar crossed his left cheek.
His hair was longer.
His eyes carried the weight of someone who had spent years running from something no one else could see.
But Shadow knew him.
The stallion reached him first.
The enormous black horse moved across the palace floor and lowered his head.
The man wrapped his arms around Shadow’s neck.
And for the first time since I met the horse…
I saw him completely calm.
“Easy, old friend,” the man whispered.
His voice broke.
“You waited.””
Shadow closed his eyes.
The sight was almost too painful to watch.
Because a horse had remembered a man that the entire world had forgotten.
Then Prince Adrian moved.
Slowly.
Like he was afraid the moment would disappear if he moved too quickly.
“Elias?””
The man looked up.
For several seconds, the two brothers simply stared at each other.
Then Adrian crossed the room.
He grabbed Elias by the shoulders.
“You’re alive.””
The words came out like a question.
Elias looked at his younger brother.
“I’m sorry.””
Adrian shook his head.
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“No, don’t say sorry.””
He pulled his brother into an embrace.
The palace remained silent.
Even the guards lowered their eyes.
Because everyone understood.
A family had been given back something they thought they had lost forever.
But happiness lasted only a moment.
Because King Roland did not move.
He did not cry.
He did not step forward.
He only stared.
And that frightened me more than anything.
A father seeing his missing son alive should have been overwhelmed.
Instead…
He looked terrified.
Elias noticed.
His expression changed.
“Father.””
The king’s jaw tightened.
“Where have you been?””
The question was cold.
Too cold.
Prince Adrian looked at him in disbelief.
“That’s what you ask?””
The king ignored him.
“Where have you been for five years?””
Elias stared back.
“Surviving.””
A murmur moved through the palace.
The king’s face hardened.
“Explain.””
Elias looked around the room.
His eyes stopped on Lord Marcus.
The adviser was still standing near the wall.
Still calm.
Almost.
Almost.
But his hand was clenched.
“He knows,” Elias said.
Everyone turned.
The king looked confused.
“Who?””
Elias pointed.
“Marcus.””
The room exploded.
Guards immediately surrounded Lord Marcus.
But Marcus only laughed.
A quiet, controlled laugh.
“Five years hiding in the shadows, and this is how you return?””
His eyes moved to Elias.
“With accusations?””
Elias’s expression remained cold.
“You haven’t changed.””
“Neither have you.””
Marcus smiled.
“Still believing everyone will listen because you were born a prince.””
The king stepped forward.
“Enough.””
Everyone stopped.
King Roland looked at Elias.
“If you accuse my adviser, you will provide proof.””
Elias nodded.
“I have proof.””
Marcus’s smile disappeared.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
The king saw it too.
“What proof?””
Elias looked at me.
Then at Shadow.
“The reason I survived.””
I frowned.
“Me?””
“No.””
He looked at the horse.
“Shadow.””
The stallion moved closer.
Elias touched the horse’s neck.
“When Marcus attacked me, Shadow saved my life.””
The room became silent.
“Attacked?””
Prince Adrian stepped forward.
“What happened?””
Elias looked at his brother.
“The night I disappeared, I discovered Marcus had been using the royal guard to secretly move weapons and money outside the kingdom.””
The king’s face changed.
“I knew about the missing supplies.””
Elias looked at him.
“But you didn’t know who was taking them.””
The king said nothing.
Elias continued.
“I found documents proving Marcus was planning to create a private army.””
Lord Marcus laughed.
“Ridiculous.””
Elias ignored him.
“I confronted him in the forest.””
“And?””
“He admitted everything.””
The prince touched the scar on his face.
“Then he tried to kill me.””
Adrian’s eyes filled with anger.
“Why didn’t you come back?””
Elias looked away.
“Because I tried.””
That answer shocked everyone.
“What?””
Elias swallowed.
“I escaped with Shadow. I was injured. I reached the edge of the kingdom.””
“Then why?””
“Because I saw something.””
He looked at his father.
“The royal guards were not searching for me.””
The king became still.
“They were hunting me.””
A painful silence followed.
Elias continued.
“I realized someone inside the palace was protecting Marcus.””
Everyone understood.
The king.
The queen.
Adrian.
Me.
Someone powerful had allowed the lie to continue.
I looked at the king.
He looked away.
That was enough.
“Your Majesty,” Elias said quietly.
The king closed his eyes.
“Not now.””
“Then when?””
The words struck the room.
For the first time, the king looked old.
“I was trying to protect the kingdom.””
Adrian stared.
“You protected the kingdom by letting everyone believe your son was dead?””
The king had no answer.
Lord Marcus suddenly stepped forward.
“This emotional reunion is distracting everyone from the real issue.””
Elias looked at him.
“You.””
Marcus smiled.
“You still have no evidence.””
Elias looked at me.
Then nodded.
I remembered the letter.
“The first betrayal began in the forest.””
Everyone looked at Shadow.
The horse turned toward the entrance.
The path.
The message.
I understood.
“The proof is there.””
Marcus’s expression changed.
“Do not be foolish.””
I looked at him.
“You’re afraid.””
The words surprised even me.
Marcus stared.
“You have spent five years believing no one would ever find the truth.””
I stepped closer.
“But Shadow remembered.””
The stallion moved beside me.
The symbol of everything Marcus failed to erase.
The king looked at the guards.
“Take Lord Marcus into custody.””
The guards moved.
But Marcus did not resist.
That scared me.
A guilty man would panic.
A desperate man would run.
Marcus simply smiled.
“You think this ends because you found me?””
Nobody answered.
He looked directly at the king.
“You know better.””
The king’s face darkened.
Marcus continued.
“The forest will reveal many things.””
Then he looked at Elias.
“But not all of them will make you happy.””
The guards took him away.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Elias turned to me.
“You are the girl who tamed Shadow.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
I looked at the horse.
“He was never something to tame.””
Elias smiled faintly.
“You sound like my brother.””
Prince Adrian almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Elias’s expression became serious.
“Your father.””
My heart stopped.
“What about him?””
Elias looked at the silver wolf emblem in my hand.
“Thomas knew more than anyone.””
“What do you mean?””
Elias hesitated.
Then he reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old folded paper.
My breath caught.
The handwriting.
I knew it immediately.
My father’s handwriting.
“No…”
I stepped closer.
“How do you have that?””
Elias looked at me sadly.
“Because your father saved my life.””
The room disappeared.
The king.
The palace.
Everyone around me.
All I could see was that paper.
My father’s words.
After all these years.
“Where is he?”” I whispered.
Elias’s expression changed.
Pain.
Regret.
“I don’t know.””
My chest tightened.
“But before he disappeared…”
Elias handed me the paper.
“He left me one message.””
I unfolded it.
Only one sentence was written.
A sentence that made my blood run cold.
*“Protect my daughter. The king is not the only person in the palace who wears a crown.””*
I looked up.
Everyone was silent.
Because the meaning was clear.
There was another secret.
Another person.
Another betrayal.
And then Shadow suddenly turned toward the upper balcony.
A low warning sound came from his throat.
Everyone looked up.
A figure stood there.
Watching.
The person slowly stepped into the light.
And when I saw the face…
I dropped the letter.
Because the person who had been hiding above us the entire time…
May you like
Was someone I thought had been helping us.
The queen.
