The Usurper's Queen | COMPLETED

25 | the untold

Several months had passed since I left the palace, and today I was bombarded with news that Princess Margaret has given birth to a son, the future King of Terrawyn. King Edward was overjoyed, having sent crates of gold and intricately carved wooden toys for his first grandchild, while his own daughter was wasting away in a rural village.

The King of Terrawyn, Antonin du Terre seemed to be pleased as well, and this joyous occasion called for him to revoke all the Beauchamp estates and put it in his grandson's name. The title of Duke of Irakli was given to the infant, and an heirloom of the Beauchamp family was to be given to Princess Margaret. It was a simple necklace made of platinum, but the locket was made with an awfully rare and expensive blue diamond, which is said to be so beautiful that anyone who sets their eyes upon it would be swallowed by the desire to own it.

The locket had always been in the possession of the Duchess of Irakli, and rumors of the Irakli Blue Diamond has become a household staple in Terrawyn. However, the soldiers had ransacked through every crevice of the mansions, but they were unable to find it anywhere. In the end, they issued a statement:

The Irakli Blue Diamond belonging to Her Royal Highness, The Crown Princess Margaret has gone missing.

If you were to find it, please return it and you shall be rewarded handsomely.

If you were to conceal it and hide it for yourself, heavy punishment shall befall you.

I found the entire fiasco quite comical. How could someone who has never even seen or touched the locket have the audacity to call it hers, and not to mention, the locket was illegally seized from a family that was annihilated on the king's own orders. I was certain that the locket was in Claudie's possession, and I smiled to myself, knowing that Princess Margaret will most likely never see the locket in her lifetime.

For these past few months, we have had peace, but the tension between the king and Edmund has yet to cease. My fiancé and my father cooperated in trying to find the Dowager Princess Consort, but they found no records of her whereabouts. It has been over fifteen years since she was sent into exile, and she was more likely to be dead than alive. However, Edmund was determined to find his mother, so I never made my assumptions known.

"I don't understand," Edmund said one evening while marking off multiple castles and regions on a map. "My men have infiltrated all the institutions, all the prisons and dungeons in this kingdom, and they even looked into places one would most commonly be exiled to. How come my mother isn't in any of them?"

I saw desperation in his pale green eyes, and the whites of his eyes started to become red. "I don't understand," he repeated, slowly this time. His body was slumped over the table, and I saw clear droplets of water falling down on the map, mixing together with the ink that has yet to dry.

"Edmund?" I called out cautiously while gently touching his shoulder. He has never cried before, not in my presence at least. I was alarmed and I did not know how to ease him, so I rested my head against his back and patted his shoulders lightly.

"We will find her Edmund, so you mustn't worry like this. Your mother is waiting for you somewhere, and she will be so proud to see the man that you've become," I said with a smile, and I felt his shoulders become less tense.

"Why are you still by my side, Annie?" he suddenly asked, and without waiting for me to answered, he continued, "If I fail to overthrow him, I shall go to the guillotine for treason. But it won't be just me. It will be you and your family as well, Annie. Are you not afraid?"

I shook my head swiftly. "In such things, there mustn't be any room for error. We cannot fail."

Edmund straightened his back and turned to face me, cupping my face in his hands gently. "You could've easily become the Queen if you accepted his offer, Annie. That Jane Ainsworth is no match for you, and I know that the King will depose her for you in a heartbeat. But why do you still remain true to me, even after knowing about Lacey and my bastard child?"