Traces of Elijah: Legacy of the Queen

Chapter 6

After taking time to recover from my heat, I immediately got to work. We've been watching the borders closer than ever, I've been investigating the strays we've been finding who don't want to join us. I decide it's finally time to stop avoiding Liam and face him. He's tied into this whole mess somehow and I need to know why. I finally found her profile. The security footage near the cell chambers caught her and it was enough to search the data center and find a match. Elia Carter is her name. Elia...why do you hate my family so much and what do you need Liam for?

Liam does have a daughter...do you think she could possibly be her?

Ew, no. She looks nothing like him.

Well you also don't know what her mother looks like. I'm just saying it's a possibility.

Okay, enough. We need to focus.  Liam needs to give us answers today.
I arrive at the cell door, going through the same routine as usual before entering. Liam is sitting in the far left corner of his cage when I enter the room. He stands once he notices me.

"Your highness...to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you?"

"You heard all the commotion the other night. I just want to know anything about the people who wished to set you free."

"I didn't see any faces. I was stuck in this cage."

"You recognize any scents, voices?"

"Lina, I promise you, I can't tell you anything you don't already know." He sighs.

"What about your daughter? She must want you free right? She probably orchestrated the whole thing. You've been here all this time now she's old enough, strong enough to run her own pack, an alpha most likely, just like you." His eyes flicker gold. Now that got his attention.

"Leave her out of this." He attempts to hold his anger but I know I struck a nerve.

"You gotta tell me something, Liam. I will track her down and make sure she knows who she's messing with. I have been a kind and fair queen for a long time but do not underestimate what I will do to a potential threat to my pack." I step closer to the glass asserting my dominance over him, my own blue eyes glowing so much I can see them in the reflection of the glass.

"My daughter has nothing to do with this. I left her along with her mother before you were even born. She wants nothing to do with me." Liam responds with a swiftness but...I believe him this time. He's been held in this cell before my brothers were even born.

"Alright...say I believe you. She's old enough to have her own mind. You think she wouldn't use it to track you down?"

"I don't know. She was merely a child when I left. It's possible she grew to hate me. If I'm being honest, staying as far away from me as possible would be the best case scenario...but if she grew to be anything like me, you're correct, she would be strong and fierce but also reckless and impulsive, foolish even...just as all Browar's are..." he looks away in shame...sadness. He looks up at me again with that same expression.

"Well....I suppose this conversation has been useful...your daughter won't be tracked down so. I will be focused on someone else. Have you heard of or seen this woman?" I press the printed paper to the glass wall with her profile and photo on it.

"I've been in a cell for 19 years, your highness. I don't know who she-" he then pauses and fully takes the time to read over her information. "Carter..? Is that really his kid...?" Now we're getting somewhere.

"Who is she to you?" I ask, a bit gentler this time.

"I don't really know Elia but I knew her father, Damon Carter. Even as rogues we still had a hierarchy of sorts. He'd been my right hand man since I went off to make a name for myself as a teenager and broke away from the confines of my brother's pack...I must've forgotten after being in here so long that he and his wife finally had a baby when we came here for the Battle of the Hills...he was one of the unlucky ones in that fight...I'd promised his wife I'd bring him back in one piece but neither of us actually came back...I'd heard whispers of escapes...those few might have gotten back to where we had been holding up and gave his wife the news...it might be why Elia wants me back...either for revenge for getting her father killed or...to help in a second revolution." I listened to him speak...the Battle of the Hills. My parents never really talk about that battle, neither do any of the other people who were involved. I don't even know why that battle occurred, what happened leading up to it. All I know is that Liam was responsible for the attack on us and my parents stopped him. It was papa's first real show of force and leadership. I need to know more about this battle and if Liam is willing to talk right now, I have to try.

"Can you tell me more about what happened? I don't know much about that battle or why it lead up to that point. All I know is that it happened and it's the reason you're in this cage."

"I'm sorry. I've told you everything relevant to the girl and your current situation. That is all I am willing to discuss." He goes back to sit down.

"Seriously Liam? Why can't you tell me?" I ask, folding the paper back up.

"I wish you would just let this go. I thought I was bold enough to say it but I shouldn't have said anything. I apologize again, Your Highness but I can't tell you anything. I don't wish to waste your time any further." Liam gets comfortable on the floor yet again, going to grab the projector I gave him. He seems saddened that he can't tell me. Why is he so sad?

"Liam....if you tell me I promise you nothing bad will happen."

"You don't know the consequences of the words I hold, my Queen. I can't tell you anything. Please do not dig into this anymore. Please do not let your parents know I even suggested telling you anything. It will be better for everyone if you just drop it." I huff, shaking my head.

"I really thought I could trust you...you were always the one person I could trust to be honest with me, always."

"With this one thing, I can't be. I wish I could but...if you want to know anything you have to find out on your own."

"This is bullshit and you know it." I spit out, very much pissed off with him.

"It is and it's not fair to you but I have no other choice." I shake my head again, disappointed and head back towards the door, knocking on it to be released.

"Before you go...since I know you're too stubborn to give this up...look into my family. That's the best I can do." The guards open the door for me and I look back at him in confusion but I nod just slightly before heading back home. He gave me something. It's better than what he's been giving me before now which is absolutely nothing. I head back to the house and the first thing I do is head back to the database computer to look up Liam's last name; Browar and a plethora of things come up but the main thing I notice is two names and next to them the same word in bold red letters...deceased.

"So this is what she meant by people like them ending up dead...but why is it because of my family?" I click on the first profile, a man named Greg Browar. I begin reading the report pertaining to his death. Former Alpha of the Clint Wood pack for 12 years before being executed on the order of King Josiah for the assassination of Queen Amy and attempted assassination of prince Josilus and Jrusilla while they were still in utero.
"What the fuck...?how did I not know any of this?" I continue reading shocked and baffled, wondering just what the hell I'm going to read next. He left behind his only son after many failed attempts to find a suitable mate to bare his children after taking formerly a breeding slave- Queen Amy as his own to create an heir. His efforts with her failed numerous times with miscarriages before the young King claimed her as his mate and Queen, easily conceiving the royal twins within a month of marriage. Greg was furious and jealous of their love, his newest mate and his son Darius suffered that jealousy without mercy. Darius's mother succumbed to the injuries Greg left her not long after he was executed, leaving Darius to lead the pack at a very young age.
"Jesus...poor kid...." I felt sorry for the kid and what he went through. Greg's jealousy knew no bounds as he sent rogues to kill the queen. She was forced into labor and the royal twins had an early arrival that took her life. Josiah wouldn't let the death of his wife stand and had Greg sentenced to death without trial. "Damn...that's stone cold, grandpa...but understandable."
I go to click on Darius's profile next and a pop up comes onto the screen. Error: access code required.
"Access code? The fuck do I need an access code for? I'm the damn queen." The fact that his profile is coded and no one told you the code means someone didn't want you to read what was inside.

Why are there so many people lying and hiding from me! I just want to know what's going on!

Maybe Liam is right...what if it's better we know nothing? Something doesn't feel right about this...

No, no way. The fact that it's being hidden from me purposely is exactly why I need to know what he has to do with this. This Darius guy, his father, Liam- they have serious history with my pack and I need to know Darius' part in all of this.

I know you feel like you need to know but some things might need to stay in the past, Lina.

That's enough outta you. You're not being helpful. I shake my head, storming out of the room.