The Last Princess

Chapter 55

"What happened, Elvina?" Maple asked quietly, so the boys wouldn't hear.

Birch had gone on, taking the weapons, and about half the elves in our camp had gone with him, leaving only us and their families. I couldn't really process anything, though. Images from my parents' wedding swirled through my head, leaving only confusion and a dull certainty beneath it all- I'd got this all wrong.

Something was strange. I felt like I didn't know what actually had happened. Up till now, I'd been absolutely clear- my mother had been forced into marriage, she taken her revenge by murdering my father, and, for good measure, his children, and was with who she really loved- Branch.

But now? I wasn't quite so sure. What had happened to take my parents from that sunlit wedding to this? How had two elves, deeply in love, become separated and...one of them ended up killing the other?

Fighting was a part of every marriage, I knew, but this was not just that. Something had happened. And I needed to figure out what. I had to tell someone, to clear my mind, to hear some explanation, but who wouldn't tell anyone else or be very surprised. Someone who was naturally suspicious.

And only one person I knew was that.

On the pretext of gathering some food, I dragged Aiden deep into the Forest, where we wouldn't be overheard. "What is it?" He asked harshly.  I inhaled. "When we had the staffs, to connect with Nalvia, did you...see her? Did she show you anything?"

He furrowed his brows and shook his head. "Well, she did to me." I said, watching him carefully. He only narrowed his eyes. "What?" I sighed. "She showed me my...my parents' wedding." He raised his eyebrows. "The wedding of King Rowan Elowen and Lady Ivy Salix?"

Their titles made me flinch. "Yes." I said. "But, Aiden, something was wrong. Why do you think Ivy became the way she is- you know." "A psychopath?" He said, eyebrows still raised. I nodded. "Yeah." "She never wanted to marry King Rowan and loved Sir Branch and is now taking revenge by killing you and your sisters?"

I nodded. "That's what I thought." He leaned against a tree. "So?" "So, Aiden, the thing is...I saw the wedding. And they were happy. Ivy too."

He leaned forward, intrigued. I tried to ignore his shirt drooping forward at the chest. "Was she acting?" I shook my head, meeting his eyes. "No, That's the thing. They were completely in love. No elf can act that well. Believe me when I say they were crazy about each other."

He leaned back again, thankfully. "Okay. So then...obviously something happened." "Obviously." I agreed. "But what?" He looked up, breathing deeply. "Well...either something happened to Queen Ivy when they were married, after you were born, and she turned completely crazy."

"Or?" I asked, not wanting to believe this one. He looked back down, staring into my eyes. "Or...the King did something that made her hate him. Something really bad." I shook my head immediately. "No. He loved her. I could see it."

"You could also see that Queen Ivy loved him." Aiden pointed out. I shook my head again. "But- no. My dad wasn't like that!" "How do you know?" He said immediately. "He died right after you were born, right?"

I exhaled. "Yes, Aiden, but my sisters told me. He wasn't. It was all Ivy's fault." He looked back up, shrugging. "Then something happened to Queen Ivy after they were married." I looked down. "I guess." He looked at me. "You think she was cursed?"

I looked at him. "Well...maybe. But I don't think so. She's really powerful. And you saw her when she..." "When she captured us." He supplied without wincing. I didn't know how. He had almost died then. "Yes." I said. "When she captured us. She was completely conscious of what she was doing. She wanted to do it."

"Well, then, something went wrong. It happens." He said. For some reason, this comment rubbed me the wrong way. "It doesn't just happen that a wife, a Queen, kills her husband who she was in love it and his seven- almost eight- children!"

He grimaced. "Okay. Well...something happened. That's all." I nodded, taking deep breaths. "Okay." He finally smiled at me, the first smile he'd given me since we'd arrived in this camp after escaping the old one. "Maybe we should go back now?"

I smiled back. "Let's go." We walked back to our camp, only to be stopped by Grove.

"Where's the food?"