CHAPTER 2: THE GIRL THE KING NEVER FORGOT
CHAPTER 2: THE GIRL THE KING NEVER FORGOT
The chamber forgot how to breathe.
Lady Beatrice stared at the king as if she had misheard him.
"Your Majesty..."
She forced a nervous smile.
"Surely you mean Princess Celeste."
King Adrian did not answer.
He carried the scarlet coronation gown himself and stopped in front of Elena.
She instinctively stepped back.
"I... I can't."
His voice softened.
"You can."
The nobles exchanged bewildered glances.
Lady Beatrice's face hardened.
"This is madness."
"She is a peasant."
The king finally looked at her.
"No."
A pause.
"She was raised as one."
Silence swept across the chamber.
Elena frowned.
"I don't understand."
King Adrian reached into the inner pocket of his royal cloak.
He withdrew a small silver bracelet.
Old.
Delicate.
Decorated with seven tiny sapphire stars.
Elena's eyes widened.
Without thinking, she reached beneath the sleeve of her faded linen dress.
Around her wrist...
Hidden for as long as she could remember...
Was its matching half.
The broken clasp fit together perfectly.
The king's hands trembled.
"I searched for this bracelet for nineteen years."
Lady Beatrice took an unsteady step backward.
"No..."
"It cannot be."
Adrian's voice cracked for the first time.
"The princess never died."
"She was stolen."
Every noble froze.
The room that had mocked Elena moments earlier now stared at her with stunned disbelief.
The king looked into her tear-filled eyes.
May you like
"My daughter..."
"I finally found you."
