Crown of One Hundred Kings (Nine Kingdoms Trilogy #1) - Rachel Higginson Page 0,61

true.”

Taelon’s low chuckle did funny things to my belly, but those butterflies transformed into razor-winged wasps when the squire announced, “The Crown Prince, Taelon Arrick Treskinat, Duke of Westnovia, Duke of Charshire, First Prince of Soravale and Tessana Hadlyn Allisand of the House of Extentia, lost Princess of Elysia.”

“Arrick Westnovian,” I hissed.

He turned around to offer an arced eyebrow. “Lost princess of Elysia? It’s a little anticlimactic, don’t you think?”

“I didn’t come up with that! My kingdom was stolen from me before I was old enough to receive my titles.”

I heard him mumble, “And aren’t we all excited for you to collect those.”

It was customary for visitors to bow before king and queen, but both jumped to their feet before I had made it halfway through the room.

“It isn’t possible,” Hugo gasped.

“How?” Anatal demanded. “How, dear girl, are you alive?”

I didn’t know what to say or where to go. I didn’t know how to answer them without revealing everything. I wasn’t prepared for this moment. I stumbled forward and Taelon grabbed my hand steadying me. He directed me to the base of the steps leading to the royal thrones. I would never admit that I was grateful for his touch. But I wouldn’t have been able to speak without it.

I swept into a rusty curtsy, only rising again when Anatal exclaimed, “Oh, we’re past that, child! Please speak before I collapse with heart palpitations. Where have you been all these years?”

Suppressing a tremor, I said, “Heprin, Your Highnesses. On the day… on the day that my family was murdered, I escaped the castle with a brother of the Eternal Light. He took me to his temple, where he allowed me refuge for the past eight years.”

“Refuge?” Hugo bellowed. “He had a princess hidden away in his monastery and he called it refuge? He should be tried for war crimes and conspiracy!”

I stepped forward, raising my hand with desperation. “No! Please, no. You misunderstand. Father Garius was helping me. Truly, he saved my life. He fed me all these years, educated me. He gave me a home because he believed if I were to leave, I would suffer the same fate as my family.” Hugo and Anatal’s expressions fell.

My father and Hugo had been fast friends. I had once heard my father tell my mother that if he had to lose his daughter to marriage, he would at least send her to the only palace in the realm he trusted.

My hand tingled where Taelon held it in his.

“Aren’t the monks of Eternal Light mute?”

I nodded, this was more comfortable territory. “They’ve taken a vow of silence, Your Highness.”

“And… and did you also?”

I wanted to smile again at his concern. “No, Your Majesty. They allowed me to speak as often as I liked.”

Hugo seemed satisfied with that answer. “And what of the rest? Tell us how you came to find my son. Tell us everything.”

I cleared my throat against a wave of exhaustion. I hadn’t realized how the journey had affected me until now, until I was safe. My muscles seemed to unravel one by one and the determination I’d built as a wall slowly began to crumble.

Hugo was a wise king, but would he believe my dreams? Or would he think me insane? “It was time,” I told him. “I couldn’t ignore the call to come home any longer. The monks felt it too. Together we decided that my place was in Elysia.”

Hugo nodded, respect flickering over his face. Whether it was for me or the monks, I did not know.

“And my son?” he prompted.

I fidgeted and tried to pull away from Taelon, but his hand closed tightly, holding me fast. Fresh anger buzzed through me. “I found him quite by accident, My Lord. My companion and I had just reached Tenovia, when Taelon assaulted us in the Tellekane Forest. He trapped us, tied us up, and stole our possessions. It wasn’t until later that I was able to retrieve everything that belonged to me.”

“Taelon!” his mother gasped.

Hugo took a step forward, his skin turning a speckled red. “Is this your great mission? You assault helpless females in dark forests and call that revolution?”

Taelon’s mouth moved open and shut a few times before he was able to say, “She trespassed on our ground! I assumed she was a spy. And I did not tie her up. She did that herself when she walked into one of our traps.”

“I would not have walked into your traps, had you not riddled the forest