Crown of One Hundred Kings (Nine Kingdoms Trilogy #1) - Rachel Higginson Page 0,96
Garius avoided highways and villages. We were not seen. And as to your question of leaving without being noticed, I was only nine at the time and nobody tried to stop us. I remember that we did not see a soul as we moved through the castle. It was as if the entire staff had disappeared. Or maybe they’d discovered my family’s bodies by then and were overcome with shock. I prefer to believe the latter.”
Her mouth pressed into a frown. “And you say that Taelon Treskinat simply took the crown off your father’s head? That brings another question as to why someone would go to all this trouble to kill the royal family but leave the Crown of Nine on the floor? Covered in blood.” She looked up and down the line of council members, accentuating her point with a single raised eyebrow. “Wouldn’t the whole point of murdering your father be to take the crown and assume control of the realm?”
Her icy gaze returned to mine. My heart thudded painfully at the cruel words. It still took my breath away to picture them on the floor, bloody, lifeless. “I cannot speculate on the murderer’s intentions.” My voice was barely above a whisper. Several council members had to lean closer to hear me. “As I have said before, at the time I was only a child. I knew nothing more than that my family had been stolen from me. Even now, after all these years left to wonder why or how or what I could have done differently, I still do not have an answer. I have as many questions as you.”
The corner of her mouth lifted in victory. I realized the Queen of Blackthorne did not care who I said I was. She did not want me to win this trial. I could only vaguely remember meeting her as a child and there was not much to the memory other than her standoffishness. But this woman, today, hated me.
“One last question,” she announced. We had been here for hours. My feet were weary, and my back felt stuck with a hundred pins. But Ravanna’s kohl had not smudged nor had her red lips faded. She looked as perfect as she had the moment I first saw her. “You say you were so concerned about your family, your dead parents and siblings. But you left with a stranger only seconds after finding their throats slit? That doesn’t seem like the behavior of a grieving child. That seems more like the contingency plan of the guilty party.”
My mouth dropped open. “Are you suggesting that I killed my family?”
That subtle smile she could not hide lifted the other corner of her mouth. “I am merely suggesting that your behavior seems suspicious. Not only did you flee the scene, but you stayed away for eight years. We have been searching the realm high and low for that crown and you had it stashed away with mute monks in the most backward kingdom in the realm. Only now do you return, when you know the council was deciding to fashion a new crown. Only now do you show up, when we were set to vote on a new bloodline for the Seat of Power. You knew before you ever left your precious monastery that your time was running out. If you had arrived even three months later, your plans to steal the throne and the Seat of Power would have been too late.”
The room faltered in front of me. My vision swam. “No,” I whispered. Then with more confidence I declared, “No! I didn’t know. How could I have known? It is only a coincidence I arrived when I did. I swear to you, I had no knowledge of your plans to fashion a new Crown of Nine or to redirect the bloodline.”
The council murmured to each other until Hugo cut through the chatter with his booming voice. “Our plans for the Crown of Nine were meant to be kept absolutely secret.” He glared at his fellow monarchs. “We signed an oath in blood, if you’ll remember. If this child discovered the truth prior to arriving in Elysia, someone on this council is responsible.”
The sovereigns fell silent, not one of them willing to own up to the suggested offense. Ravanna settled back in her chair. I watched as she shared a sly look with my uncle before they both went back to ignoring each other.