Chapter 24 - The Chancellor's SecretVarick advanced into the queen's chamber.
Aldric folded the letter and placed it inside his coat.
"How did you obtain my wife's ring?"
The chancellor studied the silver band.
"She gave it to me."
"Before she died?"
Varick looked directly at Ethan.
"Your Majesty, the queen did not die."
The king went motionless.
Ethan could hear the fire crackling in the enormous fireplace.
"Where is she?" Aldric demanded.
"That depends," Varick replied, "on which century you mean."
Aldric drew his sword.
Varick did not move.
"Kill me and you will never discover what happened to her."
The king hesitated.
The chancellor approached Ethan.
"Do you remember the storm, boy?"
Ethan nodded cautiously.
"Was there a woman standing in the street?"
The boy's heart began racing.
He remembered something.
Just before the lightning struck, someone had appeared across the road.
A woman beneath a black umbrella.
She had been watching him.
"How did you know?"
Varick's expression darkened.
"Because she has been searching for you for twelve years."
"Who is she?"
"Your mother."
Ethan shook his head.
"My mom was at work. She wasn't there."
"That's the woman who raised you," Varick replied. "Not necessarily the woman who gave birth to you."
Aldric seized the chancellor by his collar.
"Enough!"
But Varick was not finished.
"Ask him about the necklace."
Ethan instinctively touched the chain beneath his shirt.
He had worn it since he was a baby.
A small silver pendant.
Shaped like a broken crown.
The king released Varick.
Slowly, Aldric reached beneath his royal tunic.
He withdrew another pendant.
The missing half.
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When the two pieces came close, they began glowing.
And somewhere beneath the castle, a locked door opened.
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