“Now, it’s not the type of rebels you’re probably thinking of,” Mrs. Clemmens clarified, and my shoulders slumped.What other rebels were there?She took another swig of her tea before she explained further. “From what we’ve heard, this group wants to reestablish Sybettal as a legal kingdom, but not through violence. Admittedly, I’m glad to hear it. Even with the entire population backing a rebellion, we likely couldn’t survive an attack from Ashbourne.”
I sighed. She was right, of course. In terms of resources, we had none.
“That’s why they’re attempting to salvage our monarchy,” Mr. Clemmens continued.
“Salvage the monarchy?” I gave him a puzzled look. “How in the realms would they do that? Our last king, queen, and princess died over twenty years ago during the siege. No other lineage remains. What are they going to do? Draw sticks and let whoever picks the short one wear the next crown? I can hardly believe that any of the other kingdoms would respect such a delegation.”
“You’re right, dear, they wouldn’t respect it.” Mrs. Clemmens nodded. “Nor would they treat our lands any differently. That is why this group is rumored to be searching for a true heir, and not just someone to play the part.”
My confused expression only deepened, creasing a thoughtful wrinkle across my forehead. “I don’t understand...No true heirs still live. Are they just stuck on a wild goose chase?”
“Perhaps…” Mr. Clemmens said ominously. “Or perhaps not... Have you heard many stories about the late Princess Estelle?”
I cocked my head, uncertain of how this question pertained to our conversation. “Uh, a few, I suppose. Mother used to work in the castle, but she never really interacted with the royal family. In fact, most people never even saw the princess. Mother said the king and queen were super overprotective of her, but she died in the siege with her parents when she was still a baby.”
The Clemmens shared a silent look, as if I had just confirmed a suspicion of theirs. “What does Princess Estelle have to do with this?” I asked a little more impatiently.
“It would seem that the remains of King Ivan and Queen Violet were recently discovered,” Mr. Clemmens said grimly. “The blasted Ashbournians had buried them in the middle of the forest; hence, why no one could find them for so long.”
My heart seized with a fresh fury.Just another reason why I despise Ashbourne...They couldn’t even bother to give our rulers a proper grave.
“However,” Mrs. Clemmens added, “despite digging up the entire surrounding forest, not a single remain from Princess Estelle was found. Because of this new development in our kingdom’s lore, this new band of rebels believe the princess still lives. It’s preposterous, honestly. The girl has been missing for over twenty years and even if she had survived, there’s no way they could find her.”
I took another sip of my diluted tea, pondering their story. “So, you’re saying that the only thing this rebel group is actually doing is hunting down a dead princess?”
Mr. Clemmens shrugged. “Essentially, but what if sheisn’tdead?” He tipped his mug in my direction. “Her remains have yet to be found, and it would have been easy for someone to escape with the baby.” His gaze gripped me strangely with an expression I couldn’t quite pin down.
“Clyde! That’s enough of your theorizing!” his wife chastised, smacking him on the arm with a rag.
“What! I was only thinking,” Mr. Clemmens whined, holding his arm in offense. “It’s just a remarkable coincidence that Nixie here has—”
“Shush!” Mrs. Clemmens silenced him with a stern glare.
I stared at them both in befuddlement, my eyes flicking between the bickering couple.What aren’t they telling me?“What’s a coincidence? What is it that I have?” I rattled off my questions rapidly, anxious to receive the full story.
“Nixie, it’s nothing really,” Mrs. Clemmens said in a dismissive tone. “You’ll only worry yourself, dear.”
I huffed a red curl out of my eyes. “With all due respect, Mrs. Clemmens, I’m not a child anymore. If there’s something that could worry me, then I would much rather be made aware of it than be surprised by it later.”
I pleaded with the couple with my wide green eyes, trying to coax the answers from them. I directed my begging expression to Mr. Clemmens who gave his wife a wry look before turning back to me.
“There were only a few known characteristics about Princess Estelle,” he explained, ignoring the cold stares from his wife. “We know for a fact that she would be around twenty years old by now. It’s true that she was withheld from the public after she was born, and that only her parents and a few nursemaids were permitted to see her. But despite the seclusion, there was one fact that spread like wildfire after her birth.” He leaned in, as if this fact was gravely important. I leaned in as well, placing my head inches away from his. “She was born with extraordinarily unusual colored hair.”
chapter three
“Ah, there you are, Killian.”
I froze over my desk, my back opposed to the voice that had just spouted out my name. An irritated growl rolled up in my throat as I recognized the owner of the sleazy voice.
Not now…
“That’sPrince Killianto you, brother.” I slowly turned away from my desk, meeting Miron’s steel-blue eyes. “And I don’t have time for your pestering. Some of us have work to do.”
The younger prince strolled carelessly into the room, unfazed by my dismissal. “Who said anything about pestering?” he asked in his slick, oily voice. “I only came to have a little chat with my dear older brother. Rumor has it, Father gave you an assignment? You should have seen Conan after he heard the news; he was absolutely livid. It was truly a piece of quality entertainment to behold.” He let out a sly chuckle, running his hands over my shelves with a greedy eye.
“What do you want, Miron?” I asked coldly. “You never want tochat. Are you simply here to sleuth? If that’s the case, then I can assure you there is no need to do so. My task is as simple as the rumors state; I’m merely gathering recruits.” My tone dropped some of its steel as I admitted the truth behind my task. Father may state that my assignment is of equal value to those he entrusted my brothers with, but I’ve never been one to trust the words of a snake before.
Miron trailed quietly around my study, eluding my question while picking up various crafted weapons on my shelves to inspect curiously. I turned my attention away from my wordless sibling, not feeling patient enough to play his childish games. I focused my attention back on the map of Sybettal in front of me. If Miron was just here to distract me, then I wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of thinking he’d been successful.