Chapter 5 - The King Who Chose His Enemy
Her name was Margaret Hart.
Amelia’s mother.
Clara’s grandmother.
And one of the nine most powerful people in the Northwest.
Dominic stared at the ring.
“You’re Circle.”
Margaret smiled sadly.
“I was.”
Clara lowered the poker slightly.
“You told me they were protecting me.”
“They were.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“By kidnapping her?”
“I did not order that.”
“Then who did?”
Margaret looked toward Varrick.
He went pale.
“No.”
Dominic followed his stare.
Margaret said, “Your oldest friend.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Name.”
“General Marcus Thorne.”
The room went silent.
Genevieve knew the name.
Everyone did.
Marcus Thorne commanded the royal guard.
He had trained Dominic after Edmund’s death.
He had stood beside Dominic during his coronation.
He had carried Helena Ashford’s coffin.
Dominic whispered, “No.”
Margaret’s expression showed pity.
“Marcus occupies the Ashford seat.”
“That belongs to me.”
“No. Your father surrendered it.”
“So Marcus took it?”
“He was appointed by Helena.”
Dominic stared.
“My mother gave my family’s Circle seat to Marcus?”
“To keep it away from you.”
“Why?”
Margaret’s gaze dropped.
“Because she believed you would become like Edmund.”
Dominic’s voice sharpened.
“What does that mean?”
“Unable to ignore injustice once you saw it.”
Genevieve almost smiled despite the danger.
That sounded exactly like Dominic.
Margaret continued.
“Helena knew the Circle would eventually demand your participation. She wanted Marcus inside as your shield.”
Elias laughed bitterly.
“He seems to have forgotten the shield part.”
Margaret nodded.
“He changed.”
“Power does that,” Varrick said.
Dominic gave him a look.
Varrick wisely stopped talking.
Margaret approached Clara.
“Marcus was supposed to protect her.”
Clara stepped away.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because telling a sixteen-year-old that a secret political organization wanted to control her bloodline seemed unhelpful.”
Clara glared.
Dominic unexpectedly said, “She’s right.”
Clara looked at him.
He almost smiled.
Then his face softened.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For not knowing you existed.”
Clara looked away.
Dominic took a careful step closer.
“I can’t fix sixteen years tonight.”
She tightened her grip on the poker.
“I’m not asking you to.”
“I know.”
Another step.
“I won’t demand you call me anything.”
Clara’s eyes filled slightly.
“I won’t tell you where to live.”
Her grip loosened.
“And I won’t pretend I have any right to your trust.”
Genevieve watched Clara finally look at him.
Dominic continued.
“But I will get you out of here.”
Clara whispered, “Why?”
He answered without hesitation.
“Because you’re my daughter.”
Clara’s expression broke.
Not acceptance.
Not yet.
But something moved.
Then gunfire echoed outside.
Everyone turned.
Elias rushed to the window.
“Royal guard.”
Dominic stared.
Margaret swore.
“Marcus.”
Genevieve’s stomach dropped.
Dominic looked around.
“How many exits?”
Margaret pointed toward the back hall.
“One tunnel.”
Varrick muttered, “Naturally.”
They ran.
Clara stayed near Genevieve.
Dominic stayed between them and danger.
They reached the tunnel.
Then Margaret stopped.
“Wait.”
“What?” Dominic demanded.
“The evidence.”
She turned back.
Dominic grabbed her.
“No.”
“I have the Circle registry.”
Everyone froze.
“Where?”
“In the study.”
Genevieve understood immediately.
Names.
Transactions.
Orders.
Proof.
Enough to dismantle everything.
Dominic looked toward the gunfire.
“No time.”
Margaret pulled free.
“Without it, Marcus controls the story.”
“I’ll testify.”
“They’ll call you compromised.”
“Varrick?”
“Traitor.”
“Elias?”
“Impostor.”
“Genevieve?”
“Treason suspect.”
Dominic looked at Clara.
Margaret nodded.
“And her? They’ll claim you fabricated her identity to alter succession.”
Dominic cursed.
“I’ll get it,” Elias said.
“No,” Dominic replied.
Elias grinned.
“You were bossy when you were nine too.”
“Elias.”
“I know this house.”
“You’ve never been here.”
“I know houses built by paranoid rich people.”
He ran before Dominic could stop him.
Dominic swore again.
Genevieve grabbed his hand.
“He’ll come back.”
“He better.”
They entered the tunnel.
Halfway through, an explosion shook the ceiling.
Clara screamed.
Dominic pulled her against him instinctively.
She froze.
So did he.
His arms loosened immediately.
“Sorry.”
Clara stared up.
Then something unexpected happened.
She did not step away.
For one second, she leaned against him.
Dominic’s eyes closed.
Genevieve looked away to give them the moment.
Then another explosion sounded.
They moved.
The tunnel opened in the woods.
Margaret led them toward an old barn.
A truck waited.
Dominic counted.
“Elias isn’t here.”
Genevieve looked toward the estate.
Flames rose from an upper window.
“Give him two minutes.”
“One.”
“Dominic—”
“One.”
Thirty seconds.
Forty.
Fifty.
Then Elias appeared running through the trees.
He carried a ledger.
And blood covered his sleeve.
Dominic ran toward him.
“You’re hit.”
“Scratch.”
“That’s not a scratch.”
“Fine. Dramatic scratch.”
They loaded into the truck.
Margaret drove.
Royal vehicles appeared behind them.
Dominic looked at Varrick.
“Where?”
Varrick answered.
“The castle.”
Everyone stared at him.
Genevieve said, “That’s where Marcus controls the guard.”
“Exactly.”
Dominic understood.
“If I run, I look guilty.”
Varrick nodded.
“If I return?”
“You force Marcus to act openly.”
Genevieve looked at Dominic.
“That’s dangerous.”
“Yes.”
Clara spoke from the back.
“Do it.”
Dominic turned.
She looked terrified.
But determined.
“They kidnapped me because they thought you’d hide me.”
Dominic studied her.
“If you go back with me, they’ll target you again.”
“They already did.”
Margaret smiled faintly.
Dominic shook his head.
“She’s definitely yours.”
They reached Ashford Castle before dawn.
The gates were closed.
Royal guards lined the walls.
Dominic stepped from the truck.
Genevieve grabbed his hand.
He squeezed once.
Then walked alone toward the gate.
“Open it.”
No one moved.
Dominic’s voice carried.
“I am your king.”
A captain appeared above.
“Your Majesty, General Thorne ordered the gates sealed.”
Dominic smiled coldly.
“Then General Thorne has forgotten whose gates they are.”
Whispers spread among the guards.
Dominic stepped closer.
“Any man or woman who believes I have committed treason may arrest me now.”
Silence.
“Anyone?”
No one moved.
Dominic raised his voice.
“Then open my gate.”
The mechanism groaned.
The doors began to part.
Genevieve exhaled.
Then every torch along the wall extinguished at once.
Darkness swallowed the entrance.
A single shot cracked through the night.
Dominic jerked backward.
May you like
Genevieve screamed his name.
And blood spread across the king’s chest.
