The Dark Queen ✔

13

Edward and Alice were inseparable. We met them in the dining room for brunch. She was giggling at something he had said, her long, pale fingers in his hair. Tristian coughed and she pulled away, glaring at her brother.

She looked at me and smiled, standing. She walked up to me and I tried not to step away as she pulled me into a tight embrace. "I-"

"Welcome to the family, sister," she said. Sister. That was right. We were family by marriage now, our last names switched. I hugged her back.

When she pulled away we said, "I've never had a sister," then broke off laughing. Edward shook Tristian's hand and we sat down. I glanced at my brother, who smiled at me.

"Sleep well?" I teased, reaching for a roll. He stuck his tongue out at me and I chuckled. We chatted easily, taking small bites of bread and fruit. Alice and I talked. She was so easy to talk to. A while later, after a long conversation about horses and fighting on them, Tristian tugged at my hand and I looked at him.

"Care for a walk?"

I nodded, ignoring as a nervous stone dropped in my stomach. I took his hand and we walked down the marble hallway, toward the gardens. He smiled at me, something different in his eyes. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was wrong.

A chill went down my spine. "Is something wrong?" I asked him as we neared the door leading outside. He didn't answer me, only gripped my fingers tighter.

When we reached the garden, he took me to the fountain and I sat down, waiting for him to sit next to me. When he didn't, I repeated my question.

"Is something wrong, Tristian?"

He sighed and turned from me, looking at a rose bush. "Tristian," I said, my fingers coiling around themselves. I looked at my reflection in the fountain water for a moment, looking into my own eyes.

"Raven," he said. I turned. He pulled something out from his coat pocket, a piece of paper folded. "I found this, yesterday, during the reception." He handed it to me and I unfolded it. It was a letter. "Someone must have forgotten it."

Some of the writing was smudged, but I read what I could aloud. "Dear...someone," I began, squinting at the print. "I am writing to you about my daughter's new husband. I fear that he is dangerous to," I paused, "To...our...kingdom. Please consult me in private about..."

"Finish reading it."

"About quietly executing him in a..." The writing was smudged here, stained by a drink, "In an orderly fashion. No one can know this was planned. It must be considered-"

"It must be considered accidental," Tristian finished, looking at me. I swallowed hard and read the last line, "Signed King Ebony of the Northern Kingdom." I gasped aloud. My father would never write such a letter.

Would he?

Tristian looked at me and I pushed the letter away. "My father would never-" I started to say, but he cut me off, "It's all here, Raven. You know what I have to do with this information!"

He made eye contact with me, his fire eyes shining with tears. Something tugged at my chest and I leaped to my feet, pressing my lips against his. When we pulled away I whispered, "I swear I didn't know."

He looked at me sadly and said, "I know." I pushed my head into his chest and he wrapped his arms around me. "I know."

All I did know was that my father was a traitor to the crown now, with this letter as evidence.

And the penalty of betraying the crown...

Was death.