The Monarch | ✓

Chapter XV

Leo's disappearance had been the product of purposeful planning. Someone had taken him and left the bomb for Leo to appear as the prime suspect. It didn't matter what The Council was thinking, Malia knew Leo wasn't capable of such a deed. Still, the thought remained, who was responsible for the fire and the sound bomb?

The Council was no closer to finding a suspect than the Guardians.

No unusual activity was reported during the castle, nor were there any guests that arrived on or before the day. Which meant one of two possibilities. Either the suspect was in the castle, or someone had snuck in and out in the time span of the events. The first was more probable.

With Elias's help, Malia had been tracking Council members, her first suspects. They met almost every day in the study. Occasionally, Victor would join them, but Isabelle was conducting her own investigation. Malia didn't press for answers.

She was listening to Elias rhyme off theories out loud, pacing around the small fire he had started in the evening, when Victor's hands fell on her shoulders. She had been sitting in the abandoned Guard Den for an hour now, discussing plans for the kingdom with Elias.

"Are you alright?" he whispered, squeezing her shoulder. She looked at Victor and started nodding, but tears started to escape her eyes before she could respond.

Victor guided her head down to his chest and let the stains press against his uniform.

He rubbed her arm reassuringly. Elias stopped pacing and sat on the opposite bench, pretending to look at some papers.

"It'll be fine," Victor said, quietly.

Malia started to cry harder, letting out all her emotions from the past several months after the announcement of her crowning. She couldn't have predicted the kidnapping, disappearance, or the possibility of a war.

Leo and King Roman's smiling faces came into her vision and she buried her face deeper into Victor's chest. She had fetched a white shawl from her mother's belongings, wrapping it around her shoulders, reminiscent of her dream. Everyone had sacrificed themselves for her sake and she was sitting in the castle, healthy and unharmed. Whoever was behind the events had been trying to get to her but there were too many people to breach first. For a moment, she wondered if she was better off without the throne. If the kingdom was safer without her in power.

Victor didn't say anything else, letting her cry until she was ready to speak.

Eventually, her broken cries became sniffles and she sat in place, exhausted from the tears and the memories. Victor didn't ask her to move and Elias didn't press on any matters.

She sat there, with her eyes closed. Basking in the nothingness that came with letting out all of her fears and frustrations.

With the new silence, she could hear her breaths, heavy and stagnant.

Now that the storm was over, Victor kissed her forehead and rested his head on top of hers. It reminded her of when she was a child.

Victor had always been the first one to reassure her when she was sad and try to cheer her up when she cried. In the beginning, she would be excited each time she saw Victor. She would launch herself into his arms or hold on to his waist from the back. He would lift her up into his arms and spin her around the Guard Den, pretending to sword fight. On days he met her inside the castle, he would bring her a flower that the Maidens would cut so that she could wear it in her hair.

She opened her eyes and saw Elias, now making some markings on a piece of paper. Elias surprised her in many ways. She had never expected the shy, subdued Elias, to be full of knowledge about warfare and policy. It was obvious that he was every bit as loyal and dedicated as his brother and his father, but there was something else different about him.