Chapter 11 - The Prisoner in the Winter Garden
Lucien stopped beneath the hanging white roses.
His gray coat was perfectly dry despite the snow outside.
Behind him stood Commissioner Hale, six police officers, and four men wearing the old Royal Guard crown.
Adrian moved in front of Lily and Elena.
Theo stood beside him.
Celeste remained near the glass room.
Lucien looked at her.
“You disappointed me.”
Celeste lifted her chin.
“You lied to me.”
“I educated you.”
“You used me.”
“That is what ungrateful children always call responsibility.”
Lucien turned toward Elena.
“You could have prevented this.”
“By signing away my daughter’s life?”
“By accepting her duty.”
“She has no duty to your crown.”
“Our country needs her.”
“Your organization needs her face.”
Lucien’s gaze moved toward the seven hairpins.
“You brought them together. Excellent.”
Elena stepped closer to Adrian.
“Do not open the final mechanism.”
Lucien smiled.
“It is already too late. The emerald has scanned all seven.”
Celeste touched the brooch.
“No. It has only scanned six.”
Lucien’s expression hardened.
Lily had kept the disguised pin inside the music box.
He had not seen it used to open the glass room.
Adrian looked at the commissioner.
“You watched Celeste confess to framing Elena and Lily.”
Hale’s face remained tense.
“I heard allegations.”
“The archive contains financial records signed by Lucien.”
“Documents found in a room controlled by your family.”
Lucien smiled.
“You see, Adrian? Evidence is only powerful when the right people interpret it.”
Adrian remembered Lily’s question.
Why do people believe them?
Because they are speaking first.
This time Adrian had prepared.
“Theo.”
Theo held up his phone.
Celeste’s confession had been transmitted through the emergency network to three journalists, two international investigators, and every guest who had attended the gala.
Lucien’s smile vanished.
“You had no signal underground.”
“The emerald did.”
Celeste stared at the brooch.
Theo continued.
“The Listener scans the pins through a secure radio frequency. I redirected its transmission.”
Phones began vibrating throughout the greenhouse.
The commissioner looked at his screen.
News alerts appeared one after another.
Video of Celeste admitting she planted the coins was spreading online.
Images of Lucien’s hidden financial records followed.
Lucien remained composed.
“You have exposed minor irregularities.”
“One hundred and eighty million dollars is not minor,” Adrian said.
“Money can be returned.”
“Eight stolen years cannot.”
Lucien signaled to his guards.
They moved toward Lily.
Elena stood in front of her daughter.
“No.”
Lucien’s voice became colder.
“Lily is the legal heir of House Ashbourne. Under Varelian restoration law, she must be placed under council protection.”
“There is no restoration law,” Adrian said.
“There will be by morning.”
He removed a document from his coat.
It carried official seals from Varelia’s provisional government.
A national referendum on restoring the monarchy had been scheduled in secret.
Lily’s name appeared as the only recognized heir.
“You planned this before you knew she would attend the gala,” Adrian said.
“We have known where she was since birth.”
Elena’s face filled with hatred.
“You watched her.”
“We protected her.”
“You kidnapped me.”
“You refused to cooperate.”
“Where is Queen Amara?”
Lucien glanced toward the emerald.
“Alive.”
Adrian felt the word pass through the room.
Lily looked at Elena.
“My grandmother?”
Elena’s voice shook.
“I do not know.”
Lucien continued.
“Queen Amara survived the palace fire but suffered injuries and memory loss. Your father kept her hidden to prevent a civil war.”
“Where is she now?” Adrian demanded.
“In Varelia.”
“Who controls her?”
Lucien did not answer.
Elena understood.
“The Regent.”
Lucien smiled again.
“You are learning.”
A bell sounded above them.
Twelve minutes remained before midnight.
Lucien held out his hand.
“The hairpins.”
“No,” Lily said.
Lucien looked almost amused.
“You are a brave child.”
“My mommy taught me.”
“Your mother taught you to run.”
“She taught me to wait until bad people became too confident.”
Lily pressed the hidden clasp inside the music box.
The greenhouse irrigation system activated.
Water poured from the ceiling.
The white roses bent beneath the sudden rain.
Electrical locks released throughout the chamber.
The glass doors opened.
Theo pushed a control panel, lowering steel barriers between Lucien’s guards and Lily.
Celeste grabbed the commissioner’s phone.
She entered a code and connected it to the greenhouse speakers.
Lucien’s earlier statements began playing throughout Blackthorn House.
Lily is the legal heir.
We have known where she was since birth.
Money can be returned.
Police officers looked at one another.
Commissioner Hale lowered his weapon.
“You told me this was a lawful recovery operation.”
“It is,” Lucien snapped.
“You concealed a prisoner underground.”
“Elena Ashbourne is a fugitive.”
“Not after the evidence released tonight.”
Hale turned toward his officers.
“Detain Lucien Vane.”
Two Royal Guard members raised their weapons.
Theo stepped forward.
No shots were fired.
The police officers surrounded Lucien’s men and ordered them to surrender.
Lucien slowly lifted his hands.
“This changes nothing,” he told Adrian. “The referendum will continue. The Regent already has what she needs.”
“What does she need?”
Lucien looked at Lily.
“A queen who does not yet know what she is.”
The police escorted him away.
Elena held Lily close.
Adrian looked at the clock above the greenhouse entrance.
Three minutes remained before midnight.
Celeste still wore Queen Amara’s emerald.
The stone had begun glowing from within.
May you like
A message appeared beneath its surface.
FINAL WITNESS REQUIRED.
