The King's Queen

Chapter 23

Garrett and I managed to leave the Western Palace without incident. I was glad that I'd decided to go there. I learnt so much about Lady Freya and her unique ability and I'd even gotten some information about my biological father-well, not directly, but at least now I knew that there was someone out there who knew him. That one fact made Lucas feel more real, more tangible.

If I could somehow locate Ezra, then I'd be able to find Lucas. It was weird how he never tried to contact me in all these years. Maybe he'd found out about what Emperor Caden did to my mother and decided it would be best if he stayed as far away from me as possible. Or perhaps he simply wanted nothing to do with me. What if I was doing all of this just to get in touch with someone who couldn't care less about me? That would be truly heartbreaking.

"Hey, do you think you'd be able to travel back to the Western Palace using your portal?" I asked Garrett.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Why would I do that? Let me guess, you're worried about the emperor's soulmate."

I nodded with a light sigh. "I don't want her to stay down there for the rest of her life."

"I'm all for a good old fashion jailbreak," he mused, "but you don't expect me to waltz back into the emperor's territory and whisk his soulmate away, do you? I'd be signing my own death sentence."

"You wouldn't have to break her out. I'd do it. You'd just have to take me there."

"You're forgetting that one, you don't have a key to open her door and two, I can't take other people through my portal. My unique ability only works on yours truly."

Oh yeah. I'd been so caught up in thinking of ways to free her that I'd forgotten that little detail. We'd just have to find another way somehow. No-one deserved to live the way she was.

"You should push the limits of your ability," I teased him. "At this rate, you'll let Violet outdo you."

"I have tried it before, angel eyes. It simply doesn't work. If you insist on trying, then be my guest. What's the worst that could happen?" He paused and pretended to think about it. "Maybe you'll just float away into oblivion never to be seen or heard from again."

"Very funny."

After a lifetime of driving, we met up with the doubles and swapped cars before heading back to the palace. As I'd requested, they'd bought a few stuff at the shopping centers they'd been to. It would look way too suspicious if we went back to the palace empty handed after being gone for the whole day.

I had a conference to attend tomorrow. It would finally be made official to the public that Ashton and I had been betrothed and were in a serious relationship with each other.

I was nervous about that, but it wasn't something I could run from forever. I still hadn't gotten used to being all over the news and I knew that by tomorrow evening I'd be news all over the world. It wasn't the most comforting thought, but this was what I'd chosen and I loved Ashton. I would stand beside him proudly as his fiancée tomorrow.

Garrett and I contemplated the hieroglyphs as we drove back to the main palace. As I expected, he had no clue what they meant and responded with undiluted sarcasm. Perhaps Violet would have an idea. When we got back, she was outside waiting for us.

"Elizabeth, I'm so glad you're back," she greeted.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Garrett raised an eyebrow.

"You don't have time to dawdle out here," she retorted and pushed a docket at him. "The emperor wants a detailed report of today. Make sure you include everything that happened while you were away."