Roselyn bursted in her mother’s room with a defeated Newton trailing behind her. She would stop at nothing to hold the letter her father had written.

Isadora and Felista looked at the two surprised.

"I tried to stop her but," Newton explained. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"I want to see the letter," Roselyn demanded. Felista was the one holding it and she already knew the contents. How would her daughter take what was written? She’d blame herself forever!

"The letter was addressed to me only," Felista said. She made no effort to hide the tears that had blurred her eyes.

"You are lying mother. I heard Isadora say it was meant for both of us." She said, raising her voice for once.

"True," Felista said after a while. "It’s you that I care for dear. That’s why you can’t have this letter."

"It’s not reading it that I care for. I just want to confirm if that’s father’s handwriting. I am not content that he committed suicide," she explained.

"Yes it is," Felista answered. "It has the Arcadian seal on it as well."

Roselyn turned mute at that. So it was true? She had caused her father’s demise, and seeing her mother hiding the letter from her, he must have blamed her for everything. She turned away crestfallen and just as she was about to walk out, her mother said,

"Your father reinstated you as the princess. Arcadia is now your priority dear. It was his last wish."

Roselyn just stared at her mother blankly before walking out, the loud bang of the door closing a testimony of her anger.

Felista rubbed the tears with her hand and squared her shoulders. It was unlike her to cry in front of people, and the two pairs of eyes watching her made her feel disgraced. She was a queen after all.

"I want to see my husband’s body," she said putting on a calm face.

"It’s in the morgue. Newton will show you the way." Newton nodded and walked out leading Felista. Isadora was left alone in the room, a confused expression on her face.

She had this odd feeling that Henry’s death was linked to something... greater! Why would Henry kill himself when he had been living with the guilt all those days?

She walked back to her chambers trying to figure out the mystery behind the tragedy but no reason seemed applicable. The day moved crazily fast and it was only in the afternoon did she realize Alexander had been missing for quite sometime now.

Concerned, she looked for him around the palace but ended up disappointed each time. She gave up with the possibility that he might have gone to Valoria but when darkness set in with no sign of him, she got scared.

"You’ve not eaten anything Your Majesty?" A maid asked, concerned.

"Take the food away. I’m not hungry." The maid, though hesitant, complied and emptied the table. Just as she left, a Valorian knight walked in with his head held high.

"You called me Your Majesty," he said catching Isadora’s attention.

"Yes," she said hastily rising from her seat. "Where’s Alexander?"

The look on the Knight’s face was enough to send her heart accelerating. "I haven’t seen him since Yesterday my Lady. He didn’t come to the construction site either."

"Thank you. You may leave," Isadora dismissed him but her worry intensified. She paced back and forth in her room as darkness set in. It was already late yet he had not showed up.

She got tired and sat on her bed, but restless. What if something had happened to him? Oh no! She couldn’t bring herself to even imagine it. All the promised they had made to each other wouldn’t go to waste!

Or maybe she was being pessimistic, she thought. Not once had Alexander showed up late at night. Maybe she was worrying herself for nothing. She let out a sigh and laid on the bed but with a few candles on.

Her eyelids felt heavy after a while before she drifted off to sleep. In her realm of dreams, she saw Alexander running for his dear life but he tripped over a tree and fell on his stomach. When he turned around, a shadowy figure was towering over him with a sword in his sword. A part of his face could be seen under the moonlight and before Isadora could scream, he drove the sword through Alexander’s chest.

His blue eyes looked at her and when he moved in the clearing, she could make out his face. "Griffin? Im... Impossible!"

She woke up panting. Her eyes scanned around, slowly calming down when she noticed she was still in her bed. She fell back on her bed when a knock sounded on the door, at that hour! That was the worst mistake a knight could make unless they never admired the position of their heads. It was forbidden for anyone to wake a royalty unless the palace was under attack.

She lazily slipped her feet into her sandals and made for the door ready to execute whoever violated such an important rule. But she turned speechless when she saw Sir Brandon standing there looking all sweaty. Had he been running?

"Your Majesty?" He said trying to catch his breath. "The city will be under attack by morning. Alexander sent me to inform you to set the defenses."

"Alexander? Who is attacking us?" Isadora asked, confused. All her enemies had been killed and so was Alexander’s.

"It’s Griffin and the witches," Brandon explained which made Isadora scoff.

"I killed Griffin myself so you must be mistaken," she said, rubbing her eyes lazily.

"No! I saw him with my own eyes Your Majesty! Plus it’s Alexander who sent me. He even gave me this seal to march the Valorians towards the Crescian capital!" He explained.

Isadora looked at the seal in Brandon’s hand. It was unusual for a king to trust another person with the seal unless they were dying, an Arcadian at that! Was Alexander in danger?

"Is he alright?"

"He had been kidnapped earlier by Griffin but I managed to save him. He was left behind to slow down the witches so that you could have mobilized your army by now."

Isadora looked at Brandon in the eye. The fear in his voice and the intensity of his message were enough proof he wasn’t lying.

"I believe you," she said in the end. "So where do we start?"