A Princess Torn (Alys Book #2)

Chapter 1

A blanket of silence had fallen over the palace; a stark difference from the mere hours before when there had been crowds of people laughing and talking and shouting in the ballroom.

Alys had retreated to the king's study, overwhelmed by the chaos and the confusion of the events that had unfolded. She now sat on a sofa, surrounded by the puffy skirts of her new purple gown, dabbing her swollen eyes with a hankie that the king offered her.

King Dastrehan was leaning against the edge of his desk with his arms crossed and head down in thought.  His dark hair fell around his face, only to get pushed back by his hand running through it in nervous habit.

Alys' closest friend, Esme, sat beside her and rubbed a hand soothingly up and down Alys' back.

Rohan, newly appointed to a military advisor from his previous position as Alys' personal guard, stood with three other advisors by the unlit stone fireplace behind the sofa. The men spoke in hushed voices, but Alys paid no attention. All she could think about was the lost memories she was trying to access in her mind; memories that held a key to who she had been before she forgot her life and ended up in a village an orphaned servant.

Memories of being a princess.

Not just any princess, either. The missing princess from the kingdom of Balear; a powerful, mysterious nation whose relations with Tarkam were walking a thin line.

Over the last few months, King Caldor of Balear had moved troops to the Balearian-Tarkamite boarder in response to news that his son's charred body had been found on Tarkamite soil.

Tarkam, already at war with another neighbouring kingdom, Catesh, was desperate for an alliance with Balear.

Before declaring Tarkam an enemy, King Caldor had agreed to send three of his top advisors to meet with King Dastrehan. Not even a day of the Balearian advisors' visit had passed before one of the advisors had recognized Alys, on King Dastrehan's arm, as Princess Endolynn of Balear.

Understandably, this had thrown a huge sword into their negotiations, and Alys' life.

As Alys sat on the sofa racking her brain for lost memories, small pieces came to her. Nothing solid enough make her feel like Endolynn again. She was Alys, and she was not sure if that would ever change. But small pieces, like the memory of her brother, came back to her.

It was the mental image of her brother's face that had triggered her first emotional break down.

She did not need to be reminded of his name, because in her heart, she knew him.

Zaiden.

Burnt to a crisp and long dead. All she could remember of him was his blonde hair, blue eyes, and his crooked smile, but deep down she knew that she loved him. As confused as she was, she could not stop herself from weeping for the murdered brother she barely remembered but felt a strong attachment to.

A messenger quietly entered the large study and nervously cleared his throat to get someone's attention before speaking.

Dastrehan lifted his head and nodded for the messenger to speak.

"Your Majesty, the Balearian and Marniac advisors are asking to speak with you."

Dastrehan sighed and glanced towards Alys. Her green eyes met his golden-brown ones in a silent communication that no one else in the room could understand or intercept.

Alys nodded softly. Though she did not wish to see anyone, she knew that this issue went far deeper than just her.

Dastrehan waved a signal for the messenger to bring in the advisors, and the young man spun on his heel.