Chapter 6: The Blood Between Two Crowns
For three seconds, nobody moved.
The cathedral had witnessed accusations, betrayals, and the collapse of a king’s carefully built lie.
But nothing prepared anyone for those words.
*You are brother and sister.*
Prince Adrian stared at his father.
The sentence did not make sense.
It could not make sense.
The man standing in front of him was King Roland of Aurelian.
His father.
The man who raised him.
The man who had taught him sword fighting, diplomacy, and the burden of a crown.
And yet, in one moment, everything Adrian knew about himself had become uncertain.
“No.””
The word came quietly.
Almost like a child refusing a nightmare.
King Roland looked at him with a sadness that made Adrian angrier.
“Adrian…”
“No.””
This time louder.
“You don’t get to say my name like that.””
The cathedral remained silent.
Even King Lucian watched carefully now.
Because for the first time, the secret was no longer his.
It belonged to everyone.
Adrian stepped closer to his father.
“You knew.””
Roland did not answer.
“You knew who Elara was.””
“Yes.””
“You knew what Lucian did.””
“Yes.””
“You knew we were related.””
A long pause.
Then:
“Yes.””
Adrian laughed once.
A broken sound.
“And you still sent me here.””
King Roland lowered his eyes.
“I sent you because I needed the truth to come out.””
“You needed?””
Adrian’s voice shook.
“You needed? My entire life was a lie.””
He pointed toward Elara.
“Her entire life was stolen.””
The king accepted the anger.
Maybe because he deserved it.
“I know.””
“No, you don’t.””
Adrian’s hands curled into fists.
“You had a choice.””
The words hit harder than any weapon.
“You had a crown. You had an army. You had power.””
He looked around the cathedral.
“She had a helmet.””
Elara looked away.
Because even now, after everything, she still carried shame that was never hers.
Adrian noticed.
And that hurt even more.
King Roland closed his eyes briefly.
“I was trying to keep you both alive.””
Queen Mara stepped forward.
“By hiding the truth?””
Roland looked at her.
“You know why.””
Mara’s expression hardened.
“I know why you were afraid.””
The king said nothing.
Mara continued.
“You were afraid because you knew if Lucian discovered Adrian existed, he would not only come after my daughter.””
Her eyes moved toward Adrian.
“He would come after your son.””
Adrian looked between them.
“Why?””
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Queen Mara spoke.
“Because twenty years ago, the prophecy was not about one heir.””
The word made several nobles exchange uncomfortable looks.
Adrian frowned.
“A prophecy?””
King Roland shook his head.
“It was an old royal belief. Something the previous kings used to guide succession.””
“Then why does everyone look terrified?””
Because they knew.
Adrian saw it.
The nobles.
The guards.
The people outside.
They all knew there was something bigger.
Mara looked at Elara.
“When you were born, the royal scholars discovered something.””
Elara swallowed.
“What?””
Mara looked at both of them.
“The old records spoke of two children.””
Adrian felt a chill.
“Two?””
“The daughter of Veyron’s royal bloodline.””
She looked at Elara.
“And the son connected to Aurelian’s crown.””
Her eyes moved to Adrian.
“Together, they would unite the two kingdoms.””
Adrian shook his head.
“That sounds impossible.””
“No.””
Mara’s voice was quiet.
“It sounds impossible because people spent twenty years making sure nobody remembered.””
King Lucian suddenly laughed.
The sound was bitter.
“You are all still pretending this is some beautiful story.””
Everyone turned.
He stepped away from the guards.
His face was no longer the face of a defeated king.
It was the face of someone who had nothing left to lose.
“You think they are heroes?””
He pointed toward Roland.
“He knew.””
Then toward Mara.
“She knew.””
Then toward Adrian.
“And you.””
His eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea what you are.””
Adrian stared at him.
“Explain.””
Lucian smiled.
“Ask your father what happened the night you were born.””
King Roland’s expression changed.
A warning.
“Lucian.””
But the former king continued.
“Ask him why he took you from your mother.””
Adrian froze.
“What?””
Nobody moved.
King Roland looked away.
That was enough.
Adrian turned slowly.
“My mother.””
His voice became smaller.
“What happened to my mother?””
The king remained silent.
“Father.””
The title sounded painful now.
“What happened?””
Roland took a breath.
“She died after you were born.””
Adrian searched his face.
Looking for a lie.
But finding something worse.
Regret.
“What aren’t you telling me?””
Queen Mara answered.
“She did not die naturally.””
The cathedral seemed to darken.
Adrian looked at her.
“What?””
Mara looked at Roland.
The king said nothing.
“She was killed because she knew the truth.””
Adrian stepped back.
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“No, my father would never…”
He stopped.
Because the sentence no longer felt certain.
King Roland looked devastated.
“I failed her.””
Adrian stared.
“You failed her?””
The king nodded slowly.
“I believed I could control the situation. I believed I could keep you hidden until you were old enough to protect yourself.””
“And she?””
Roland’s eyes filled with regret.
“She paid the price.””
Elara moved closer to Adrian.
She understood that pain.
The feeling of discovering that the person who was supposed to protect you had failed.
A sudden sound interrupted them.
A horn.
Then another.
The cathedral windows shook.
Everyone looked outside.
The streets were filling with soldiers.
Not Aurelian soldiers.
Not Veyron guards.
A third force.
Queen Mara’s face changed.
“No.””
Adrian noticed.
“What is it?””
She looked terrified.
“The Order.””
Roland immediately turned.
“You brought them here?””
King Lucian smiled.
“No.””
For the first time, he looked relieved.
“They came because they know.””
The doors at the back of the cathedral opened.
A group of soldiers entered wearing black armor without any kingdom’s symbol.
At their front walked a woman.
Tall.
Cold.
A silver mark covered one side of her face.
She carried no weapon.
She did not need one.
Everyone stepped aside as she passed.
She stopped in the center of the cathedral.
Her eyes moved to Elara.
Then Adrian.
Then she smiled.
“After twenty years…”
Her voice echoed.
“We finally found both children.””
Adrian stepped forward.
“Who are you?””
The woman looked at him.
“I am the person who kept your mother’s final secret.””
King Roland went pale.
“Impossible.””
The woman ignored him.
She reached into her coat and removed an old necklace.
Adrian recognized it immediately.
He had seen it once before.
In a childhood portrait of his mother.
The woman held it out.
“Your mother gave me this the night she died.””
Adrian stared.
The necklace shook in her hand.
“She told me if the truth was ever revealed…”
The woman looked at Elara.
“…I was to bring this to the two heirs.””
Elara stepped closer.
“What does it contain?””
The woman opened the necklace.
Inside was not a jewel.
Not a picture.
A tiny folded piece of paper.
She handed it to Adrian.
His fingers trembled as he opened it.
Only one sentence was written.
A sentence in his mother’s handwriting.
*Do not trust the man who calls himself your father.*
Adrian stopped breathing.
Behind him, King Roland whispered:
“Your mother knew.””
Everyone looked at him.
And then the black-armored woman spoke the words that shattered the last remaining piece of certainty.
“Your Majesty…”
She looked directly at King Roland.
“Tell them why your wife wrote that before she died.””
The king said nothing.
May you like
Because this time…
there was nowhere left to hide.
