Throne of Fury Read online

  I sucked in a breath, my heart hammering. Hestor wouldn't be with the maid for long, but there was no way he'd tell me the combination.

  I stepped back and closed my eyes. My father would have picked the combination to this lock. There was every chance that Hestor didn't even know it. This safe was a personal safe and had nothing to do with the rest of the kingdom. This was for family.

  Taking a deep breath, I held my hand out to the lock. There was only one conceivable number I could guess. If I was wrong, I'd never get it right. I turned the dial, this way and that, putting in four numbers. 1004, my mother's birthday. The safe clicked, and the door opened.

  At the other end of the room, I could hear Hestor calling in the guards to help him with the chair. This was my only chance, and I had to be quick.

  There was very little in the safe, so I pulled the lot out. On the top, was my parent's wedding certificate. Below it, were the birth certificates of both my parents, Remy, Hollis, and Ash. Beneath Ash's birth certificate, I found nothing else. That was it. I rifled through them again, but again I came up with only the six documents. My pulse raced as I checked out the rest of the safe. There were my grandfather's ring and a bundle of letters tied together with a pink ribbon. Stashing the documents back, I pulled out the letters, but a quick rifle through them was enough to see that they were love letters between my parents from the early days in their marriage when my father had to go on royal trips without her. I quickly scanned a couple, but it was plain that they weren't about me. My name was mentioned a couple of times, but only my father asking my mother to kiss me and Remy goodnight for him. I guess they were written when we were young. Apart from a lot of declarations of love, there was nothing in there that would tell me about my past.

  Which begged the question. Where was my birth certificate, and why wasn't it with the others?

  Even if I was a found child with no birth certificate who'd been handed into the adoption agency, there should still be records of my adoption. But there wasn't. I didn't exist anywhere on paper.

  "Sorry about that, Your Highness."

  Hestor trooped back into the caged room just as I grabbed the first necklace. "I'll take this one. Thank you." I rushed past him, taking the necklace with me, my emotions in turmoil.

  "Just a minute," he called out. "You can't go without a guard!" I halted on the stairs to the main floor of the castle. If I ran off with the necklace now, he'd be on my case forever. Even though I was desperate to be off, I waited for him, tapping my toe on the stone slab floor.

  "You know what," I said, handing him back the necklace as he wheezed through the vault door. "I've changed my mind." The last thing I needed was to have a guard following my every move. Especially considering what I planned to do next. "I'll just take one from my mother's room after all."

  He gave me a curious look but didn't question me as I bounded up the stairs and away from the vault.

  I had no identity. I was no one. I belonged nowhere. I may or may not have had a secret brother or sister. I wanted to march back into my father's study and confront him, but then he would know I'd been snooping. Besides, if he found out, he'd almost certainly stop me from doing what I planned to do next. Actually, scrap that, he would definitely stop me.

  I ran up the stairs to my room to pick up a shawl that would cover my head. Where I was going, I didn't want anyone to recognize me. As I came up to the corridor, I ran straight into Dahlia.

  "There you are," she said in a testy tone. "I've scoured the castle looking for you. Where have you been? Actually, never mind, as long as you're here now. Come with me. I have a job for you."

  "I was going to...go for a nap." I didn't want Dahlia to know where I was going any more than I did my father.

  "It's nine o'clock in the morning!" she said, grabbing my hand. "I'm sure you can stay awake long enough to help me with this little task. You can nap after we are done."

  The little task turned out to be a fitting for my wedding dress, followed by the planning of the wedding itself.

  "Is this really necessary?" I asked as a seamstress measured me. "I don't even have a husband-to-be yet."

  Dahlia nodded. "Yes, it's necessary. The wedding is coming up in a couple of weeks. and you might not have a husband-to-be yet, but you will have. You need a dress. Once we've done here, we'll be doing a cake tasting and then picking some wedding flowers. I asked Caspian to come and help."

  My face contorted into a look of distaste. "Why?"

  "Because he will probably be the one to end up marrying you. As much as I'll be cheering my son on at the competition, he's an oaf, and I doubt he'll make it through the first round. He was only considered for the competition at all because I put his application in the yes pile when the secretaries weren't looking."

  "There is a yes pile?" I asked. I'd not put much thought into the admin behind the competition. "That must mean there is a no pile."

  "Of course, there is," she said, holding a material sample up to me. "Satin or silk?"

  "I thought the competition was open to everyone. How is there a no pile if anyone can enter?"

  "Silk, I think," she said, handing the sample to the seamstress who was now writing down the measurements in her book with a pencil.

  "We've had over fifteen thousand applications. There just isn't time to have everyone enter. It would take weeks if not months."

  "Fifteen thousand?" I asked weakly. "Fifteen...thousand!"

  "Yes, that's what I said."

  "No sitting down!" the seamstress screeched as I tottered. "We are not finished yet."

  "What do you think about pink for the bridesmaids?" Dahlia asked, holding up another sample. My mind reeled with the sheer size of this thing, and my stomach groaned from the lack of breakfast. I'd been so busy, I'd forgotten to have any.

  "I don't care," I said. "How are these fifteen thousand men being whittled down?"

  "Oh, it's not just men. We've had plenty of women apply too."

  I rolled my eyes. The whole thing was a joke. I almost regretted opening up the competition, but if I hadn't, I would have definitely had to marry Caspian. The way things were going, I wasn't sure what was worse. I still hadn't come up with what exactly the competition would entail. A sneaky part of my mind wondered if I could get away with requiring that the competition could only be won by someone whose name was Milo. But knowing my luck, there'd be a thousand Milos entering, and most of the others would change their names. Urgh!

  "So how do these people end up on the no pile?" I questioned, ignoring the pink samples Dahlia was waving at me. Whatever way it was, I was going to make sure a few more would be added.

  "Well," she began, sorting the pink samples from the purple. "First of all, anyone under eighteen has been immediately disqualified. My son is almost eighteen, so I doubt anyone will notice. Anyone over the age of sixty, too."

  "Ah-ha!" I said, jumping on it. "That rules out Caspian. He's a fae and fae are all really old." Probably.

  "I checked with him," Dahlia tutted. "He's fifty-one, but he doesn't look a day over twenty-five does he?" She swooned. "I don't know why you didn't just marry him when you got the chance. He's delectable."

  "I thought you didn't like him now?" She changed her mind more often than she changed her underwear when it came to Caspian. She'd caught him out in a lie only last week and told me that she thought him untrustworthy. Now she thought he was delectable. I couldn't keep up.

  "Not really," she admitted, "but he's a dream to look at, and that's half the battle."

  "Hmm," I said unconvinced. "What else?"

  "We took the women out too. I don't want to be sexist, but I have a feeling that you'd prefer to marry a man?"

  I'd prefer to marry a troll over Caspian, but I nodded my head anyway. "Is that it?"

  "No. They had to be physically capable of coming to the castle on the day of the competition too, but that's about everything. It's whittled it down to just over nine hundred, but there are still applications coming i
n."

  "Great," I barked. "Nine hundred men, only two of which actually know me personally, and one of them I detest."

  "My gorgeous bride to be!" I swiveled my head to Caspian, who had just walked in the door. "Are you finished in here, because the caterers have just brought in the cakes, and I must say, they look delicious."

  Breathing back despair, I knew I wasn't going to be able to put my plan into action today. It would have to wait. I was still going to find out who I was and where I came from. I'd just have to eat a lot of cake first.

  16th January

  After an excruciating day spent with Caspian yesterday, I was all the more determined to get out of the castle today. I went for breakfast as normal, not wanting to arouse suspicion. Once again, it was only Remy and I at the table. At least, he'd perked up a bit. He ate his food quickly as though he didn't have a care in the world. Of course, he didn't. He knew nothing of what was going on. The only thing he understood was the fact that our mother didn't play with him anymore. I could see the sadness in his eyes, and yet, he went about doing things the same as always. His governess had stepped up to the role of mother. I'd seen her spending more time with him than usual. It wasn't the same, but she was doing a brilliant job, and at least, I didn't have to worry about him on top of everything else.

  "Aza. Go Zor?"

  My heart flipped when I heard his question. He was asking me if I was going to go to Zhore, and that's exactly where I was planning to go. If Remy had figured it out, then so would someone else. But how did Remy know? I'd told no one, not even Milo. I'd not even seen Milo since deciding to go.

  "Olly Polly,"

  "Oh, you want to go and see Olivie again?" I breathed out a sigh of relief. He wanted to repeat our trip to see his old nanny again. "Not today, buddy, I have things to do."

  He cast his eyes downward, tugging at my heartstrings. "I tell you what. When I'm done, we'll spend the evening together? I'll read to you."

  He grinned up at me, his face brightening immediately. "Ya, Aza."

  I smiled, the first smile I'd managed in days that wasn't plastered on for the sake of other people. "I'll come find you, ok?"

  He nodded enthusiastically.

  Taking an apple from the fruit bowl at the center of the table, I headed out of the castle, going the back way through the garden door.

  I was going to Zhore, but I wasn't going to see Olivie. She'd already told me everything she could. I couldn't trust my father to tell me the truth, so I was going to have to find the truth out for myself. I was going to the adoption agency.

  I knew of it vaguely in the way I knew where other buildings were in Zhore. As an adopted child, I should have had more curiosity about the place, but it had never really registered as somewhere I might like to visit. Not until now, at least.

  I took the quickest path to Zhore that wouldn't lead me directly to a member of my father's guard. It meant jumping over some walls and running through fields, but the cloak over my head wasn't much of a disguise, and I needed for no one to find out.

  I contemplated heading to Milo's house first. I'd never walked around Zhore or any other place on my own before, but this was something I needed to do myself.

  The adoption agency was part of a children's home in one of the quieter backstreets of Zhore, a beautiful, faded-yellow building with flower baskets hanging by the door. They were currently empty other than a dusting of snow, but I remembered them as being filled with blooms of purple when I'd passed by in the summer when I was in a parade. I'd taken note of the sign outside, the Zhore Home for Children and Adoption Agency, but I'd filed it away in the back of my mind, not realizing I'd need to know it so soon.

  I stole in, quietly making sure no one on the street was watching me. The street was quiet, and no one paid me any mind as I hurried through the front door. A long corridor led off ahead of me with an open reception area to my right.

  "How may I help you?" asked a woman with graying hair and glasses that hung around her neck on a chain. She was the quintessential grandma figure with soft features and kind eyes. Perfect for someone working in a children's home.

  My heart beat quicker as I realized I was about to find out who I really was, where I'd come from, maybe even who my real parents were. "I'm here about adoption," I said, keeping my voice low. I felt ashamed to be even asking after how well my parents had treated me. "Specifically, about finding an adopted person's birth parents."

  "Of course," she replied with a smile. "Anyone over the age of eighteen is able to come back to us and look at their notes. Of course, sometimes the child's birth parents give false names or don't leave a name at all. I wouldn't want you to be disappoint..."

  I pulled my cloak down, exposing who I was. She stopped mid-sentence and dropped into an awkward curtsey, half on and half off the chair.

  "Your Royal Highness, it' is an honor."

  I stepped up to the counter that separated us and spoke in a quiet voice.

  "As you can probably understand, I'd prefer to do this in private."

  The sound of a child laughing came along the corridor, making both of us swivel our heads and was quickly followed by an adult's voice shouting, Timmy, after him.

  "Yes, of course..." the receptionist said. "Follow me."

  She pulled a door in the counter open, and I stepped through to her side. She took me through a door labeled Office, closing it behind us.

  The cozy office was everything I'd hope for in an office for a children's home. Photos of kids and babies lined the walls along with thank you cards and letters. Potted plants lined the window sill behind the desk, and a row of cabinets stood against the right hand-wall,

  "You asked about adoption. Who did you want to find out about?" she asked, indicating a seat for me to sit in. "Some coffee? Tea perhaps? I could ask my assistant, Jeanette, to bring some."

  "That won't be necessary, but thank you. I'm actually here about me."

  Confusion knotted her face as she sat in the only other seat in the room. "You?"

  I nodded my head and tried to ignore the flutters of excitement in my stomach. I'd been here. I'd spent the first few days of my life within these walls. "Yes, I'd like access to my files, please."

  She shook her head. "I don't understand. I have no files on you."

  Her words hit me like an out-of-control carriage.

  "But, I'm adopted," I said as though that was all she needed to know.

  She nodded slowly. "Yes, I know, but you were never here. You never passed through our doors."

  I knotted my eyebrows together. "Are you sure? It was about eighteen years ago. I was very tiny. A newborn. I was probably born in late December."

  She sucked in a breath and drummed her fingers on the desk as she spoke. "I've worked here for twenty-five years. I remember the news reports about your adoption like it was yesterday. I also remember discussing it with some other staff members, and if you'll forgive me, we all said it was a shame you didn't come from here because your father would have made a nice donation."

  Her cheeks turned pink at the admission, and I was positive she was telling me the truth. But I'd trusted people before, and I needed to see for myself.

  "Please, may I look in your files?"

  She nodded quickly, standing from her chair and hurrying over to the filing cabinets. "Usually, I don't let anyone come in and look at the files. They have to be either one of the parents involved or one of the children, and even then, we have protocol. I hope you understand I'm letting you look because you are a member of the royal family."

  "Thank you," I said, feeling guilty. I was going against everything she stood for, but she was too afraid of saying no to a royal. She opened one of the cabinets and pulled out all the files from the year I was born, fanning them out in front of me on the desk.

  "Please, can you take the year after ones out too. I was born in this year but was adopted just after. There's a possibility I may have been put in the wrong file."

  It was unlikely, but
I didn't want to miss something important for the lack of thoroughly checking.

  "They are listed in date order," she explained. "The next filing cabinet along has copies of the same files but in alphabetical order. I assure you the files are exact copies, though."

  I sighed, knowing I'd have to go through both. I couldn't chance missing something.

  "I have a list of all the names of the children and the parents if you would like to check that first," she said, bringing out a thick leather-bound book. "It only holds the name of the adoptive parents though and not the name of the birth parents. That information is only in the files."

  I thanked her and pulled the first pile over to me. There were only five adoptions in the last month of the year I was born, so the daunting task I had thought was actually not so bad. The first file was a baby boy born in the first week of October. The next three were girls, but they looked to be sisters aged three, six, and seven. The last was another baby boy. None of them was me. I moved on to the next pile and checked out the first two weeks of January. This time, there was only one, a nine-year- old boy.

  "Is there any way a file could be missing?" I asked in frustration.

  She shook her head and held the book she was looking at out to me. "No mistake. You can see here the names and ages of the children that left us around that time. They all corroborate the files."

  Frustration overwhelmed me. I had to be from here—just had to be; otherwise, where had I come from? I couldn't have just appeared out of thin air.

  "Were you in charge back then?" I asked. "Was there a chance that someone higher up than you kept it secret? I mean, what with my parents being who they are? My adoption could have been written down somewhere else."

  She shook her head again. "I'm sorry. I told you, I remember that time like it was yesterday. Your adoption dominated the papers. It was huge news so soon after the royal wedding. There were no babies brought to us in December or January that year. None in November either. We did have a baby girl come in late October, but she stayed with us until she was adopted in the summer. I happen to know her still, so that couldn't be you either. As you saw for yourself, the only babies we adopted out in that time period were boys."