No one mattered but the vision she had seen from her window. And she had to know if she was losing her mind or if her sister truly had revealed herself.
‘Scars,’ Bear’s voice carried on the light wind, but on she ran and ran.
Lancen raced around the corner, stopping abruptly at the same time as Scarlen, their eyes meeting for the first time in two years.
Breathless, astonished, and wordless, Scarlen simply stood there, unable to take another step towards the insanity of the moment. Then Lancen spoke.
‘Adoria?’
The small, slim frame, the blue eyes so like Milon’s, the sweet voice she missed so much. How could it be?
‘Lancen. You died.’
‘No. I lived.’
Taking a tentative step closer, Scarlen reached out for her sister’s face, stroking a fingertip across the girl’s cool cheek, tears pricking in both their eyes. ‘You’re real.’
‘It’s me, Ria.’
A whoosh of air left Scarlen at once as she cradled Lancen into her body, breath ragged, joy somewhere over a rainbow, all thoughts muddled though drunk. ‘Lancen. Lancen,’ she cried.
‘Adoria?’ came Raven’s voice. ‘Lancen?’
It was then Scarlen noticed she was being watched. With her mouth still gaping, she turned to see Bear’s curious gaze, and Rav’s furious one.
‘Princess Adoria?’ questioned Raven. ‘Princess Lancen?’
Wynter was at Raven’s side. ‘That’s not Princess Lancen. It’s Veritee. You know that.’ Her brow furrowed as much as everyone else’s.
Raven’s hand shot out to the huddled sisters. ‘Apparently not.’
‘You got something to say, Scars?’ was all Bear said, his jaw tight, nostrils flaring.
Scarlen swallowed hard, not understanding half of what was going on, but still she had to reply. ‘I am Princess Adoria.’ And just like that, she felt the bond between her and Bear snap like a thread pulled too tightly.
‘And I’m her sister,’ added Lancen. ‘Ranola was the only one who knew my truth, but it’s time you all knew why I’m here. Let’s go inside and talk.’
30
Bear could feel nothing but a burning rage invading every fibre of his being as he paced the dining room. Raven, Wynter, Cary, Trinn, Elbar, and Scarlen were all sitting at the long oak table awaiting Lancen’s explanation.She lied. She fucking lied to me.He could barely breathe, let alone look at the one he thought was his fated mate. It was hard enough her being the general’s daughter, but the king’s?The fucking king.He was sure if he didn’t calm soon, he would explode.
Lancen stood and cleared her throat, her soft smile fixed on her sister while Wynter used her hand to try to coax Bear into one of the ornate chairs.
Bear was way too agitated to sit for a chat, even if he did want answers. ‘You knew,’ he spat at Scarlen, unable to hold in his temper any longer.
Scarlen said nothing, and it was clear her mind was occupied with Lancen.
‘You knew in prison how much hate I have for the king,’ continued Bear. ‘So why didn’t you stay away from me? I can see why you couldn’t have anyone knowing your truth, but youknew, so why make friends with me?’ He slammed his fist into his chest. ‘Me!’
He had every right to be angry, but Scarlen set the record straight. ‘You claimed me. Remember?’
Bear scoffed, almost choking himself on the many things he wanted to say all at once. ‘Only because the general told me you were his daughter and if I looked after you, my sister would get a king’s pardon.’
Wynter covered her mouth with her fingertips. ‘Oh, Bear. Why didn’t you tell me?’
Raven gave her arm a gentle squeeze. ‘We wanted to keep you out of it. We hoped we would escape so wouldn’t need the pardon, but Bear took on Scarlen in case things went wrong.’
Scarlen was quitesure her heart ran away to hide. All that time she thought Bear cared, and there he was keeping up his end of a deal. She wasn’t sure who she was angrier at, him or her father for orchestrating the whole thing. ‘Just a deal, was I?’
