The Royal Heir - The Valtoria Diaries 2

Get the duck out of my duchy

Bloody hell. Olivia gazed at the printed report in front of her for the fourth time, still unable to digest its contents, or hide the grin on her lips. It contained the best news, but it had to be kept close to their chests. Which was why she had folded it up and tucked it into her clothing as soon as Amalas had presented it to her. Then, she'd waited until they were airborne on their way home to Cordonia, away from any potential eavesdroppers or hackers, to deliver the news to the rest of the team.

"Olivia, please," Rick said, from his seat next to her. "Don't delay the suspense any longer."

"Yeah, we know it's good news," Drake pointed out as he and Hana leant over the chair in front of her. Hana was trying to read the report's contents, but Olivia had been determined not to give her a clear view. "You're never this happy."

"Very well, if we're all ready to listen..." Olivia glanced across the aisle and cleared her throat. Jen and her joker were clearly making up for an entire day's worth of missed PDAs, which was far too many for Olivia to withstand. Annoyed, she removed one of her shoes and threw it at them.

"Ack!" Maxwell jerked his mouth away from his wife's in alarm.

Jen was peering across at her now, unimpressed. "Did you just throw your shoe at us, Olivia?"

"Yes, because you need to pay attention," she warned, but it seemed she had their undivided now. "I have a printed version of the unencrypted report in my hands. It is the only copy we have. Amalas has retained the digital file for safety reasons. But I have a feeling that this piece of paper will suffice to get rid of our little forced marriage problem once and for all."

Jen gasped. "Go on."

Olivia made sure her companions were all looking in her direction before she spoke quietly and clearly. "As we suspected, Reena's medical exam uncovered a little more about the twins than intended. In that the twins are Bradshaw's children, but not Isabella's. Meaning, they don't share her royal bloodline."

"So they're not true-born heirs," Hana pondered.

"An embarrassment and dishonour of the highest order," Olivia continued.

"But wait, Bella's not a true-born heir, and that's okay?" Maxwell made an excellent point, although Olivia pictured Bertrand shuddering in shame at his brother's lack of knowledge of Auvernese succession laws.

"Auvernese laws are far stricter than ours when it comes to the rules of succession," Rick explained. "Without royal blood, the twins are ineligible for the throne."

Hana's mouth made a little o as she processed the power of the information they now held.

Jen was gazing up at the ceiling. "Oh god, that twisted bitch!" She then looked back in Olivia's direction. "Hana, Olivia, remember Isabella saying to me when I was pregnant about how Auvernal would never allow a non-blood heir to the throne?"

"Oh I do," Olivia scowled, seething as she recalled exactly what else Isabella had suggested. Now that they knew the truth, it was nauseating. All these months, they'd been dealing with one of the biggest pairs of hypocrites to ever walk this earth.

"She had a similar conversation with me," Rick admitted, sheepishly. "But, knowing what I know about Auvernese affairs, there's simply no way Isaac or Lyra would ever be allowed to rule if this information got into the public domain."

"Which it obviously will now, right?" Maxwell chirped, but then his face fell. "But wait, surely that won't make any difference? Won't they be even more keen to get Isaac on the Cordonian throne if Lyra can't rule Auvernal?"