The Traitor Queen

Chapter Thirty-Five

My hands stretched out towards the box and then snatched themselves back again. How long had it been sitting here? Did my parents know I was going to be coming here? Were they watching us?

With a deep breath to steady my nerves, I reached out for the paper and unfolded it slowly. Inside was a note written in the same careful handwriting.

Dear Sabre,

If you are reading this, then you know the truth and we are more than likely gone from this world. We are so sorry it had to be this way, that we couldn't tell you ourselves, but what rightfully belongs to you is in this box.

After the years we spent with you and then sending you away for your protection, we realised we should have been more open and honest with you. If we did, we might have been able to at least act as a functional family.

Please give Trik our regards for taking care of you up until now. He was the right person to entrust our secret to, we're sure of it. Icrodeia will pay for what they did to their people whether or not we can be a part of it.

Use the Idaphite shard to bring back peace to the kingdoms. It is the duty we should have trained you for.

All the best,

Carmin and Jasper.

I couldn't feel my body. My hands had gone numb and my legs felt like they were going to give out from underneath me. They were gone. My parents were gone. After building myself up to finally see them again and ask them all the questions that had been plaguing my mind for nearly all of my life, all of my hopes came crashing down to shatter around me.

The note I held clutched to my chest had to be one of the last things they wrote, otherwise, why would they mention they weren't alive anymore? I fought the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. Perhaps there was a possibility that they were still alive. Maybe they just moved away to a far, distant kingdom so Mace wouldn't catch them. But then why had they left the Idaphite shard for me?

My eyes traced over each word again, savouring them as if they'd disappear when I looked away. Though, the more I read, the more questions filled my mind. What did they mean by the truth? Had my parents known about Trik? Had the man who had taken care of me since I was sold known the truth this whole time? He lied to me.

Placing the note down carefully, I unsheathed my dagger and cut the rope securing the box. I had no slither of a clue what they meant by 'bring peace back to the kingdoms', but that wasn't my concern right now.

All I wanted to do was scream and cry for the parents I couldn't properly remember. The parents who might not have actually sold me. If they sent me away for my protection, did that still count as heartlessly selling me to some slaver? Did they know how much pain and suffering that man had caused me?