THE BLOOD ROYALS Book 2: Long Live The Queen!

Chapter Twenty Nine: Sleeper

Cray Thera
Prince Relian's POV
"I can't believe it. Are you lying?"

"No your highness. That was her on the phone. Trace it. I called her line at the palace. Nilsa pushed Thalia out of the window and she asked me to delete any footage that could have pointed to her."

I remember spending the morning hours and the rest of that day repeatedly going through the footage looking for anything to help solve the mystery of her death. I spent even more time talking to guards and anyone who could have seen anything. I was seated right next to the man who held the answer and he let my mind suffer in search for answers he held.

"And you deleted it."

"Yes your highness."

"And the two guards..."

"I told them to keep their silence. I threatened their lives."

"Why? Why are you covering up for Nilsa? Why? What does she have on you?"

He bent his head.

He is still on his knees.

"Ten years ago, shortly when I started at the palace as the head of the Royal Guard, Dylan Finch befriended me. He used to engage me in conversation every other time we crossed paths. We would talk about random things, nothing in particular. Over a span of weeks, we started going out together and I felt we were becoming friends."

"Which is against protocol! You're not supposed to befriend anyone at the palace! It will affect your judgement when something like this happens!" It's a rule that applies to all staff. It's impossible to fight off a connection to someone but it's dangerous when that connection comes above duty.

"Yes, I broke protocol." He agreed.

"Why was Dylan befriending you?"

"At first I thought he genuinely wanted a friend. He said he didn't fit into your family. It's natural for the woman to move to her husband's house. It's unnatural for a man to move into the woman's family home. Nilsa was supposed to move to Lokefar but she refused."

Nilsa is a hard headed woman. She is as headstrong as they come. Dylan wasn't a saint either. He was sly but he didn't have the balls to manage a woman of Nilsa's caliber. He was the son of a Baron. He was intimidated by my family but Nilsa was not downgrading to anything lesser than a palace in Carperia. Yet, their marriage was completely voluntary. She loved him, I think. I can't begin to explain her complex mind or why she makes the decisions she does.

"What did he want?"

"I opened myself up to him. I told him about the debt I had accumulated in an effort to care for my mother. She was terminally ill and it was getting expensive. My salary couldn't cover her health or the cost of living in Carperia. Dylan offered me financial assistance. He offered me a large sum of money. I needed it. There were no other opportunities opening up. I told him that I will accept it as a loan. I didn't want to owe him money. I will admit that his money made my life easier. I cleared most of my debts. As soon as I repaid it, he offered it again but this time not as a loan but as payment. When I asked what for, he insisted that I should sign an NDA before I'm informed. I was concerned. I backed out. I ceased any further conversation with him but the sly man found his way back. He told me something that moved me."

"What did he tell you?"

"Let's just say that I wound up in his bedroom. The Baron's son locked himself in the bathroom leaving Nilsa and I alone. I had sex with her, every night for a week. About a month later, the palace was in celebration over her pregnancy."

"What are you saying?"

"Everyone congratulated Dylan for his good work while I stood in the background watching in silence. There were millions in my bank account. Life was comfortable. All I had to do was fuck a princess because her man was shooting blanks and they didn't want that embarrassment. We carried on as normal. I didn't speak to Dylan or Nilsa. I paid little attention to them until the day the cries of a newborn echoed in the palace. Something changed for me when I saw Elsher. Reli, I was a father. I had fathered a child. I sneaked into the nursery soon after and I held her. I held my child in my arms and I knew it..." His eyes teared up. "I knew I could never leave the palace. I stuck to my role and I didn't attempt to hold her again. Soon after, the king offered me a position as General of the Iron Army. I declined. My place was in the palace next to Elsher, my daughter. My heart grew fond of the idea of fatherhood. I started seeing the little girl more often. I tried not to make it too obvious. So it was sneak peaks and stolen moments between us. I fell absolutely in love with my daughter."