"Alessandro."She considered this."He's been pushing for increased Italian influence in Valdorian affairs.Ambitious, certainly.But working with foreign actors to sabotage you?"She shook her head slowly."Both have the means and opportunity.But Viktor has more to gain from a failed alliance."
"What do you mean?"
"Viktor opposed your marriage from the beginning.He wanted Valdoria to pursue closer ties with Russia instead of the West.I overruled him."Her voice was bitter."If he's behind this, he's been positioning for exactly this outcome, making you look unsuitable so he can push for a Russian alternative."
"Princess Anastasia."
"Exactly.Destroy your credibility, create scandal, make the marriage appear to fail, then offer a ready-made solution that serves his political agenda."She stood, moving to the window with slow, pained steps."I can't confront him directly.Not yet.If he knows we suspect him, he'll either go underground or escalate.And I'm too ill to fight that battle."
"What do we do?"
She turned back to me."You and Archibald need to catch whoever is doing this.Gather evidence, build a case, prove it definitively.Then we can act."
"And if it's Viktor?"
"Then I'll remove him from his position and make sure he never holds power in this region again."Her voice was steel."No one threatens my granddaughter and keeps their job.Or their freedom."
I believed her.This dying woman would absolutely destroy someone if they'd threatened me. I had one final, awful thought.
"Do you think Viktor was involved in my kidnapping when I was a baby?”
"Wouldn’t that be convenient?"My grandmother's voice was tired."But no.Viktor only came to court twelve years ago.The intelligence services have found connections between a separatist group and Russian funding, but nothing that leads to your kidnapping specifically.Whoever orchestrated your disappearance, they planned it long before Viktor had any power here."
"So, we'll never know who took me?"
"Probably not.The people who might have talked are dead or vanished.The records are gone.After twenty years..."She spread her hands."Some questions don't get answers.I've had to make peace with that and so do you.Be careful, though.Whoever is doing this is dangerous.They've escalated from property damage to direct threats.They won't stop just because you're on to them."
We talked for another hour, about my mother, about Valdoria, about the life I might have had versus the life I'd actually lived.She told me stories about Catherine's childhood, showed me photos I'd never seen, gave me pieces of a history I'd been denied.
And slowly, painfully, I started to understand the desperation that had driven her lies.It didn't make them right.But it made them human.
"I should go," I said finally."I have a lot to think about."
"What about the annulment papers?"
"I'll make my own decision about those.In my own time."
She nodded, accepting this."One more thing, Betty.Before you go."
"What?"
"Call your parents.Your adoptive parents.Talk to them about all of this."She smiled sadly."They raised you.They know you better than I ever will.If you need guidance about what to do, they're the ones who can help you."
The suggestion was so unexpected, so generous coming from someone who had every reason to be jealous of my parents.Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes.
"Thank you," I said.
"For what?"
"For acknowledging that they're my parents too.For not trying to replace them."
"I could never replace them, dear.They gave you twenty years I'll never get back."She touched my cheek gently."I just want whatever time I have left."
I hugged her then, gentle with her obvious pain.She held onto me like I might disappear if she let go.
"I love you," she said."I know I have no right to say that, but I do.I love you, and I'm so proud of who you've become."
Words caught in my throat, but I forced out, "I'm glad I got to meet you.To know you."
