"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"I know you are worried for Princess Aria, and I too share similar concerns. Because of her recent... disappearances, I ask that you keep a closer eye on her, Sir Evan." The King ordered.
"Of course Your Highness, I-"
"I want her under no circumstances to leave the right wing of the palace, unless I or the Queen allow it. Understood?"
"Yes, my King."
"Good. I know of her hesitance about her engagement with my third son. I am also well aware of her tendency to... run from her troubles. I don't want her to go searching for answers about her father's death. You are the only one I trust to handle this, as she is a lot like her father. I know you get along well."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
—
"What in the gods' names are you doing, Evan? Since when was I not allowed in the library?" Aria complained as Evan's sword blocked her exit from her bedroom.
"The King has ordered that you stay in the right wing. And because you have almost cost me my position as your royal guard, I'd suggest you allow me to keep the King's orders, Your Highness."
"You can't be serious?! I'm not a child! He can't just expect me to sit here and wait till I'm married off?! What of Nikolaus's funeral? Am I not allowed to attend?!" She asked incredulously.
Evan entered the room and closed the door behind him as if to avoid eavesdropping.
"While I understand your concern, it's been twice you've completely disappeared under my supervision. The first time, I was completely stranded, and almost killed in my sleep! So the least you could do, Your Highness, is explain to me what happened."
"I-" Aria could feel her heart being tugged at, as though she knew the warlock would want her to keep silent.
"I can't say." She answered.
The sentry sighed in disappointment.
"I care for you Aria, and not just because I am your guard, but because I knew you since you were born. I knew your father as well. So I need to know if you're in danger of something, or someone." He explained.
"My father?" She gasped.
"He was my friend," Evan admitted.
"Do you know how he died? I've just been told that what I knew my whole life was a lie."
"Yes, Princess. I knew the truth. I was there." He admitted, his shoulders dropping slightly from the weight of such a somber memory.
She paused for a moment.
"Did you know the child? Ezriel? Did he kill my father?"
"I've been sworn to secrecy, Aria."
"Evan please, he was my father. I deserve to know how he died after being lied to for so long."
Evan was conflicted between his old friendship and his king's orders.
"...Yes, the child unfortunately caused your father's death. It was not an illness as the King and Queen had led you to believe. However, it was an accident."
"An accident?" She repeated.
"When a child born with magic doesn't know how to control their abilities, it can cause a catastrophe. Their emotions can trigger explosions of power they didn't realize they had."
Hearing this gave Aria a sense of déjà vu. She recalled the warlock's similar words about the boy at the marketplace.
"Elliott and Ezriel got along so well, you would think Ezriel was his own son.
While returning the child to his mother, we came to an empty house and a note.
According to the note, Ezriel's mother was not returning home, and she wanted no responsibility for what happened to him."
YOU ARE READING
Once Upon an Ever After
Romance----- "I see you've got your magic back." She feigned disinterest, quickly tilting her head toward the the other side, to look at anything but his gaze. She felt a finger under her jaw gently pull her back. "Does that scare you?" He asked in a low...
