Chapter 6
Part 7: The Price of a Crown
By dawn, the kingdom was in chaos.
Footage of the Crystal Hand had spread across social media before palace officials could suppress it.
Millions of people watched a young servant place her palm on the ancient sculpture.
They watched emerald light flood the ballroom.
They watched Queen Madeleine unroll the royal declaration.
And they watched King Gabriel reach desperately for Sofia's letter.
News anchors called it the greatest royal scandal in a generation.
Outside the palace gates, crowds gathered carrying handmade signs.
Some demanded Sofia's recognition.
Others defended Gabriel.
Constitutional scholars appeared on every television channel, arguing over inheritance laws and whether an ancient royal declaration could overturn the established succession.
For the first time in twenty years, the kingdom was asking questions its leaders had carefully taught it not to ask.
Sofia sat in the underground chamber watching the broadcast.
A reporter held up an old photograph of Claire.
Princess Claire de Valmont, once accused of treason, may have left behind a legitimate descendant whose rights were concealed from the public.
Sofia turned off the screen.
"My mother would have hated this."
Thomas sat across from her.
"Your mother hated being powerless more."
Sofia looked at him.
The anger was still there.
So was an ache she couldn't explain.
"Did she know you were alive?"
"Yes."
"All these years?"
"Yes."
Sofia closed her eyes.
"She let me mourn you."
Thomas's voice grew rough.
"She never stopped grieving what we did to you."
"Then why didn't she tell me?"
"Because your fourth birthday was followed by a break-in.
Someone searched the house.
Afterward, Claire received photographs of you at school.
A note told her that if she tried to contact the authorities again, you would disappear."
Sofia stared at the floor.
Thomas continued.
"I agreed to vanish so I could investigate without placing you under direct surveillance.
Claire and I believed a public reunion would confirm we were still gathering evidence."
"And did it help?"
"At first.
I uncovered some of Vale's companies.
But every lead vanished.
By the time I entered the palace, Vale had already learned who I was.
I kept my position because Claire believed he would hesitate to kill me under Gabriel's roof."
Sofia laughed once, without humor.
"So you stayed close enough to watch me but never close enough to love me."
Thomas accepted the words.
"Yes."
She looked away.
Love, she realized, wasn't always enough to make people brave.
Sometimes it became the excuse for terrible choices.
A knock interrupted them.
Captain Ward entered.
"Your Highness."
Sofia turned.
He looked uncomfortable.
"Sorry.
I'm not sure how to address you."
"Sofia is fine."
Ward nodded.
"We've located the shooter from last night."
Victor stood.
"Who?"
"A contract employee named Marcus Rell.
He's dead."
Sofia felt a chill.
"Dead?"
"Found near the western perimeter.
The medical examiner hasn't determined the cause."
Thomas's expression darkened.
"Vale's cleaning up."
Ward placed a phone on the table.
"We recovered this from Rell's vehicle.
One incoming message arrived shortly before the shooting."
On the screen were four words.
THE GIRL MUST SURVIVE.
Victor frowned.
"That doesn't make sense.
He was shooting at her."
Ward shook his head.
"Ballistics suggest the shots were deliberately aimed high.
The first shattered the window.
The second hit the fireplace."
Sofia remembered the red light traveling toward her chest.
"He was trying to frighten us."
Thomas nodded slowly.
"Drive you underground."
"Why?"
Madeleine asked.
Ward looked at the room.
At the archives.
At the cassette recorder.
"Because someone knew this place existed."
The door behind him opened.
A guard entered carrying a black envelope.
"Your Majesty, this arrived at the main entrance."
Madeleine took it.
There was no return address.
Only Sofia's name.
Inside lay a single sheet of paper.
Miss Bennett, you have found the wrong archive.
Your mother left behind something far more important than a recording.
Come to Saint Agnes Chapel at midnight.
Come alone.
Beneath the message was a photograph.
Sofia recognized the woman immediately.
Claire.
Her mother.
May you like
But in the photograph, Claire stood beside Adrian Vale.
And she was smiling.
