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She continued to stare at me blankly.
“Audrina, your mother, was the princess when the Order of Souls came for the Original family. They murdered your grandparents, uncles, and aunt. It was believed that your mother was among the dead in that fire as well. The Original family was thought to have been wiped out thirty years ago.”
I shook my head, biting on my lower lip.
Blood drained out of Mirielle’s face.
“She must have run off to start a new life with your father, out here in the woods, away from everyone where she wouldn’t be found,” I concluded. “Scared that they could come for her if she was discovered.”
Mirielle continued to blink at me.
“This is the answer we were supposed to find out here, Miri,” I told her when she still didn’t speak. “You are royalty. You are part of the Original family. Did you ever suspect any of this?”
“Are you crazy?” she blurted out. “I’m an orphan. We lived out here in the woods. My parents were killed…” She faded off as if reality were catching up to her. “Were they killed because of this? Did the Order kill them? Is that why Agnan wants me?”
“It certainly makes sense,” I told her slowly, extending my arm toward her. She was rightfully in shock, and I wasn’t sure I knew what to say or do to alleviate what she was feeling. She slid toward me, her body trembling.
“My mother was a princess?”
“And so are you,” I reminded her gently.
Her head popped up, and she laughed hollowly. “No, I’m not.”
“You don’t see it that way, but your right to the throne never diminished over the years. Just because the Order of Souls took what was yours doesn’t mean you can’t take it back. You can always reclaim your position and take your dividends from the continents—”
“NO!” she interrupted, pulling back. “I don’t want any of that! I’m not a princess, no matter who my mother was or wasn’t.”
“Why are you saying this? This is Agnan talking, not you!” I told her gruffly.
She exhaled and lowered her neck, rubbing the back of it with her hand. I took over, massaging her shoulders as she tried to wrap her mind around what was happening.
“My mother probably never wanted me to know any of this,” she added mournfully. “She went into hiding to keep me safe.”
I nodded in agreement. “But Agnan found you somehow.”
“Why didn’t he just kill me then?” she whispered. “They took out my whole family. Why leave me if he knew who I was?”
“I don’t know,” I replied tersely. “I don’t understand what half that warlock does. All that conferring with the underworld is rotting his mind.”
Her eyes were frigid. “He needs to pay for what he’s done. He and the entire Order need to be shut down once and for all.”
“That’s my plan,” I agreed grimly. “But now we know why he wants you so badly. He sees you as the key to this all, and he has kept you alive for a reason.”
“I’m not the key. I don’t want any part of it. Let that kingdom die with my parents. You said yourself that there’s nothing left, anyway. There’s no land, no money.”
“There is money. Each of the four kingdoms of Mystara has a trust for your family, which they add to each year. And the other two continents are held to the same standard. Plus, there’s a title, and that stands for something still, Miri.”
“I don’t care about it,” she sniffed.
I hugged her closely. “We don’t have to make any of those choices now.”
“I am making that choice now. You’re the only thing I want, Zen. I don’t care about castles or money or titles.”
My chest tightened, and I wrapped my arms tightly around her, my doubts about her dissolving as she embraced me back. Whatever we’d gone through, whatever mistrust that had formed between us, had not been born from our feelings toward one another. She loved me, and I loved her more than anything else in the world.
Sighing, Mirielle tilted her head back and looked at me sadly. “I don’t want to go back to the castle yet. Do you think we could stay here for a few more hours? I know we planned to leave right away, but I just need some time.”
“We can stay,” I reassured her, hugging her to my chest. “For as long as you need.”
