The wheels all suddenly click into place. “And she abandoned you.”
“Yes.”
“And you want…revenge?”
“Something along those lines.”
“You know,” I start, trying to keep my voice light, though blood is drumming through my ears like a marching band. “If you had told us that from the start, we would have likely brought you in to help with the search. You likely hold information that would be useful to Rowan and Sebastian.”
“Shut up!” Her voice is a jagged shard of glass, slicing through me. “Just…just stay quiet.”
I clamp my lips together, tasting the bitter tang of fear on my tongue. My hands grip my thighs, fingers digging into my flesh as if I could anchor myself to something solid. I can’t see the passing landscape, but I feel every turn and bump in the road.
Then something else occurs to me. “She abandoned you and kidnapped Desta.”
She doesn’t say anything, so I keep going, stupid or not.
“She was having an affair with the king—with Sebastian’s father—and then she was fired for it by the queen. You want to find your mother, yes. You want revenge on her. But you also want revenge on Desta. Don’t you? That’s why you didn’t tell us what you were after.”
“She told me she’d come back for me,” she starts, and I breathe out a silent sigh of relief that she’s talking to me again. “But she didn’t. She was obsessed with Desta. Obsessed with the king. She kept saying that if she had Desta, if Desta waswith her, then the king would leave his wife and love her. She left me on the side of the road a week after the queen fired her and told me I was never to use her name again or even my own. I was never to tell anyone who my mother was or she’d hurt me and the person I told. She told me to walk into the village, and eventually, once she had Desta and the king, she’d come to find me. Only I was nearly ten and knew I couldn’t be homeless without getting caught. That’s when I saw the head of the royal guard and went to him.”
Jesus Christ. What the fuck? Just…what the absolute fuck?
“And you never told him anything about yourself?”
“No. I told him I was an orphan living on the streets, which wasn’t too far from the truth. I made up the name Charlotte and that was that. I didn’t want him to know who my mother was. Especially after she killed the king and stole the princess. I was afraid he’d kick me out.”
“I’m so sorry for all you went through,” I tell her genuinely, but she doesn’t like hearing that. Not at all. A sharp crack hits the side of my head, knocking me straight into the door where I smash my shoulder. I cry out in pain and shock, feeling the warm stickiness of blood dripping down the side of my face.
“I don’t need your pity,Majesty,” she sneers. “I need to find Marie and I need to find Desta. I’ve been searching since I was old enough to understand the beauty and satisfaction of revenge, and I will not let you get in the way when I am finally this close.”
The car swerves, jostling me against the door again, and my heart leaps into my throat. My head throbs painfully and I stifle my whimper, knowing I have to try to stay calm. Revenge is a powerful drug in how it can take over. I saw it in Samil that night. The deranged way it bred madness in his mind.
My only option is to stay quiet, stay alive, and figure out a way to escape.
Only…how far have we gone from the palace? What will happen when we reach our destination?
The car lurches onto a gravel path and chills run down my spine as it crunches beneath the tires. We’re off the main roads now, sending me into an abyss of uncertainty and fear. I fight back tears, my chest tight with the effort to keep breathing.
Please, get me out of this alive, I silently pray, the words falling flat against the darkness. Is this what Sebastian was speaking of? Is this why he’s stayed so distant? Did he truly bring a curse down on me when he made me his?
My hand runs over my belly, and I bite into my lip so I don’t sob. “Charlotte,” I say softly. “We can talk about this,” I implore her. “We can work something out, just please let me go. You don’t want to hurt or kill a pregnant woman. I know you don’t.”
“Things don’t always work out the way we want them to,” she snaps back, bitterness heavy in her tone. “You need to stay away from the palace until Sebastian and Rowan find Marie and Desta. That’s all I’m asking. No, I don’t want to kill you or your babies, but I will if I have to.”
I struggle to wrap my mind around her words. How could she possibly think kidnapping me is the solution? My heart hammers against my ribs, fury and terror warring within me. I clench my fists, nails biting into my palms as I fight to contain the emotions engulfing me.
“This isn’t going to end well for you,” I warn her, my voice shaking. “Sebastian will never forgive you for this.”
“Sebastian won’t even know what happened,” she replies coldly. “He’ll think you left him or just need space and time away, as you texted him. A few choice words and easy suggestions and he won’t come looking for you. As you said, he’s been distant anyway. I overheard him telling Rowan how he doesn’t know how to be with you anymore. Maybe this is the out he needed. He’ll likely be grateful you’re gone.”
My heart slams against my ribs as her words hit the softest,most broken and vulnerable pieces of me. After what Rowan said about her eavesdropping on his conversations with Sebastian, I know she’s not simply lying to hurt me.
Sebastian thinks I left him. And he might just let me go.
“Is this really what you want?” I ask, agony ripping through me. “To cause more pain and suffering for everyone involved?”
“Sometimes there’s no other way,” she says, her voice barely a whisper. “Sometimes we have to make sacrifices to survive. I’ve sacrificed long enough. Marie and Desta need to pay for what they did to me.”
