Chapter 2 - Secrets Beneath the Iron Dungeon
"Mother, STOP!"
Elena threw her body in front of the child. The Queen’s dagger sliced deep into Elena’s velvet sleeve, drawing a crimson line across her forearm. Blood dripped onto the white marble floor, splashing against the orphan boy's bare feet.
The room froze. A princess bled by her own mother’s hand.
"Seize the Princess! She has lost her mind!" Queen Margaret roared, her face twisted in rage.
Captain Rowen didn't hesitate. Though his eyes showed a flash of hesitation, his allegiance belonged to the Queen's coin. He slammed the butt of his spear into Elena’s shoulder, dropping her to her knees, while two heavy guards tackled the young boy to the floor, pinning his small face against the cold stone.
"Lock them both in the Lower Vaults!" the Queen commanded, her chest heaving as she wiped her dagger on a silk napkin. "Clear the hall! Anyone who speaks a word of tonight’s events will be executed for treason against the Crown!"
Hours later, deep beneath the palace in the damp, freezing depths of the Black Iron Dungeon, Elena sat on the filthy straw floor of a cell. Beside her, the little boy—whose name was Leo—was curled up, shivering violently against her side.
Elena ripped a strip of cloth from her expensive silk dress and wrapped her bleeding arm, her mind spinning in the darkness.
"Leo..." she whispered softly, running a hand through his matted hair. "Tell me the truth. Who gave you that hairpin? Who was the woman you called Mom?"
Leo looked up, his big brown eyes filled with confusion. "A lady in the forest. She had pale skin and couldn't walk very well. She raised me in a small cabin near the Iron River. But... three days ago, black knights came. They set our cabin on fire."
Elena’s heart pounded. "Did she survive?"
Leo shook his head slowly, a tear cutting a clean trail through the grime on his cheek. "She hid me under the floorboards. Before the bad men broke the door, she gave me the hairpin and said, 'Run to the capital. Find Princess Elena. Tell her the Queen lied.'"
"The Queen lied..." Elena repeated, a sudden, horrifying realization dawning in her mind.
Fifteen years ago, when the nursery burned, Elena was told her twin brother Julian died. But what if he didn't? What if someone smuggled him out? What if the woman in the forest wasn't just a stranger—what if she was a survivor of that night?
Suddenly, the heavy iron lock of their cell door clicked.
Elena snapped her head up, expecting to see executioners. Instead, a tall figure clad in black leather stepped into the shadows of the cell, pulling down his hood.
It was Captain Rowen.
"Your Highness," Rowen said in a low, gravelly voice, dropping to one knee. "You must leave. Now."
Elena stared at him, suspicious. "You dragged us down here on her orders! Why are you helping us now?"
Rowen looked at the young boy, his expression softening with immense guilt. He reached into his coat and pulled out an old, tarnished silver pocket watch. He snapped it open, revealing a portrait of a young man who looked remarkably like Leo.
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"Because I was the guard stationed at the nursery fifteen years ago," Rowen whispered. "And I didn't fail to save Prince Julian. I was the one who helped him escape."
CHAPTER 2 HOOK: The man who locked them away was the very person who orchestrated the Prince's escape fifteen years ago—and he just revealed the Queen's darkest secret!
