Amethyst Gem- Completed

Chapter 28

I was still scowling at Lacey’s vague expression, her eye lids half closed as if sleeping, when the King burst into laughter.

 “Oh, my dear, you are not even close to being my daughter,” he spoke to Lacey while wiping a fake tear from his eye.

Lacey, nearly, looked shocked, “but, the crown, it’s…”

“It’s what, what’s it doing?” Rose demanded.

“Absolutely nothing,” I muttered, realising the mistake.

I am not sure whether I was simply too shocked when seeing Lacey that I simply believed the entirety that she said, or if Lacey’s trance persuaded me that what she said was what the King was thinking, but there was no reason for it to be true. I did not know what to expect when the crown found the Princess but I was sure there had to be something. Maybe glow?

Lacey submissively allowed the crown to be taken from her head and placed in a dark container. I glanced around, wondering if my guards were still focusing on me. Unfortunately they were.

Gathering up the courage I had managed to clutch onto, I decided I required some answers.

“I don’t understand,” I spluttered, attempting to arrange my thoughts.

“What a surprise,” the King rolled his eyes. “What’s confusing your puny brain, huh?”

“Lacey, I don’t…” I tried to speak once more but tears were already threatening my eyes and I could feel my throat clenching up.

“Oh, yes. I suppose we should explain shouldn’t we River.”

So her real name was River, at least her family hadn’t been lying to me as well.

Lacey nodded obediently, looking towards me as she continued through the script that had been prepared for her part, “King Christopher rescued me from my parents at the age of 9. They were harbouring me criminally, as Terran’s cannot properly raise an Angelica he took me in and taught me how to keep myself safe.”

“So, you live here? What about your Angelican parents?” I asked in confusion.

 “I stay there during the week and come back for training at weekends.”

“But why? Why take someone so young and turn them into a killer?” I sent this accusation straight to the king.

“To protect them from ideas that corrupts them. Plus, they are easier to manipulate and no one becomes truly worried for them. Although we sometimes have to take extra measures when they do not wish to co-operate, we choose those with easier to alter minds so it is not too difficult. You probably witnessed some of the side effects from time to time,” the King explained.

“Side effects?” I muttered to myself.

He must have been referring to when Lacey would arrive at school absolutely exhausted, pale and seemingly unwell. They were such natural symptoms for someone who had been taken from their family at such a young age that no one ever questioned them.

“What about the year between Lacey being taken from her home and arriving at her new parents?” I demanded.

“Constant training. The first part is creating an entirely new blank canvas, easier to work on then someone who already has a personality. This takes quite a while to get right.”

“What about Melody? Lacey, do you not remember Melody? She died for you, she loved you so much that she physically died for you,” I yelled at her, angry that she wouldn’t show any emotion apart from exhaustion.