Bear huffed. ‘That’s how it started.’ Then he turned away from her.
‘Horstal?’ Lancen questioned Scarlen.
‘I ran away from home. Lost my money to a pickpocket, then got arrested for stealing food when I got hungry.’
Lancen reached for her hand. ‘And Father left you in prison?’
‘Don’t sound so surprised, Lanni. You know what he’s like. He sent Milon there for six months. He was going to send me anyway at some point.’
Wynter asked the question most were thinking. ‘Why would your father do that to you?’
How could she reply? There was so much to say, and none of it welcome, as trauma ran deep in all the king’s children.
Lancen spoke on her behalf. ‘Our father is a complicated man.’
Scarlen scoffed. ‘She’s being polite.’ Turning to her sister, she added, ‘I don’t want to speak about him. Tell me about you. They only found Mother’s body. I was told you were washed out to sea.’ The memory tightened her lungs as though she were the one drowning.
Bear perched upon a window seat, his gaze on the violet tapestries, the thick gilded frames on the wall, the clear pane, anything but Scarlen.
‘What I’m about to say involves you all.’ Lancen sat, her voice a little wobbly. ‘I don’t know where to start.’
‘Try the beginning,’ snapped Raven, and Wynter nudged him.
‘I’m not sure where that is,’ Lancen told him honestly. ‘But let me start with the book.’
‘What book?’ asked Scarlen.
Lancen inhaled deeply. ‘The House of Knight book.’
All eyes were upon her as the old story of knights and wyrmocs stirred.
‘I’ll explain,’ added Lancen. ‘I used to love exploring the palace, especially the areas I wasn’t allowed. One day, I found a secret passageway that led to a room where I found the House of Knight book. Curious, I read some and quickly realised its power, so I ran and got my mother. I read some to her, and she told me not to speak of it, but then my father appeared, livid with me. It got so bad, my mother had to hold him off me, and I ran, finding myself on the clifftop, but he came after me, yelling that I couldn’t tell a soul what I had read. I said I wouldn’t tell, but he didn’t want to take any chances, so he pushed me off the cliff.’
Scarlen gasped in horror, her insides shaking at the image.
‘My mother jumped into the sea to rescue me.’ Lancen swallowed hard, then straightened her shoulders. ‘It was astormy evening, dark with fierce waves. I saw her only once, the moment her head hit the rocks, killing her on impact, then I was swept away.’
Scarlen cuddled her sister close. Tears threatening again. ‘I’m so sorry, Lanni. So sorry.’
Lancen pulled back, her sweet smile in place, eyes wide as if blinking would break a dam. ‘I woke on a boat, then blacked out and woke again in a bed. A kind healer had taken me to his home in Borough Mids. I was there until I was well enough to travel north to find Ranola.’
‘I’m sorry your father tried to kill you,’ said Raven, ‘but this is the part I’m interested in. Why did you seek out Ranola?’
‘The book showed me her name. Her husband’s name, Blyton. That he was the bookkeeper.’ Lancen sighed, looking sorrowful. ‘Wyrmocs are real, and so are the knights who can slay them.’
Silence fell for a long moment.
Lancen continued. ‘The book writes itself as the story unfolds, so it documents each knight and the bookkeeper. There are five knights, all shapeshifters, and when each one was born, the bookkeeper knew where to find them. He brought them here, told their parents the truth, but he wanted their identity to stay hidden until all five knights were together and old enough to train.’
Trinn glanced around the table. ‘Are you telling us these mythical knights are here in our village?’
Lancen shook her head. ‘Four of them are right here in this room.’ Everyone looked at each other, then Lancen continued with the story. ‘Ranola kept her husband’s wishes after he died and didn’t tell you. But she wanted to. She just needed to find the fifth knight before the wyrmocs arrived, hoping the five knights could fight them together.’
‘Who are the knights?’ asked Wynter.
Lancen pointed at each one in turn. ‘Raven, Trinn, Cary, and Bear.’
Wynter seemed to be the only one able to form words. ‘And what do you know of the fifth?’
