Heart of Radiance | Eternal Bonds: Book 3

Chapter Eight

AN: Hello and welcome to Chapter Eight! We'll be starting in Starlene's head and then switch gears. Hope you all enjoy! Be sure to drop some comments as you read! Now onward and forward to Chapter Eight!

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*Starlene*

Calder and I found Malcolm in the library. He was sitting in an armchair, with a book in his hands. I caught sight of the title and fought the urge to roll my eyes. History of Vampire Traditions. Malcolm would never change.

"Malcolm," I called out.

He looked up and smiled when he saw me and Calder.

"My King, My Queen," he greeted us, "How may I serve you?"

"We found this in one of Tată's journals," I told him as I handed him the first letter we found.

Malcolm looked at it and to my utter shock, he didn't seem surprised by the contents of the letter.

"You knew?!" I asked, shocked that he could have kept this a secret.

"Yes," Malcolm admitted.

"So you knew my Mamă was alive, but you didn't think that was something that me and my siblings should know?!" I demanded. I was furious. How could Malcolm have kept this a secret?!

"I didn't have a choice," Malcolm told me, "I wanted to tell you, but your Father swore me to secrecy. He didn't want anyone else to know, for fear of the Hunters getting word of Queen Maricara's location."

"What happened?" I growled.

Malcolm sighed.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked, "It's not a pleasant story."

"Very few memories in the Drake family have been pleasant stories, Malcolm," I countered, "What happened to my Mamă?"

"Very well," Malcolm conceded, "You might want to sit down for this."

Calder and I sat down on the couch across from Malcolm and the royal advisor hesitated as he tried to get his thoughts in order and figure out what to say.

Malcolm took a deep breath and somehow managed to muster the courage to speak.

"When you and your siblings were young, the Hunters were a huge threat and Lucian and Maricara were terrified of losing their children," Malcolm explained, "So, they boosted security and gave each of their children their own squadron of guards. But Maricara and Lucian both refused to take security details for themselves. And that's when disaster struck. The Hunters attacked the Dragon's Den and injured Maricara. Lucian feared for her life and sent her into hiding with Marius as her guard."

"But Marius abandoned her and she was killed wasn't she?" I asked.

"He abandoned her and watched as the Hunters harmed her, but he didn't stay long enough to see another vampire save her," Malcolm replied, "Marius informed us all that Maricara was dead. Lucian was devastated. But he received a video call from Maricara over a secure line. She was alive and safe. They continued to communicate through coded letters."