The Exiled Prince: Thorns of the Crown

k with mourning, yet no one

had been publicly declared a traitor and executed. The bells had tolled, the people

n a sanctum known only to a dead kin

with b

th fire in

veils and venom. Whispers that Queen Alendra had tampered with the royal seal, intercepted diplomatic

me was

eal's orch

th she dared speak aloud to a king w

ged the council to investigate changes in the king's behavior-his laps

were worth more than loyalty, her

imonies, he had the court convinced Alendra had met secretly with envoys fr

ason, conspiracy

tence:

f sanity-had spared her in secret, hiding her in the deepest vault beneath the throne room where the

her kingd

m that view, she could see the pale moon hovering above the towers of Westonia. Her once-lush kingdom had turned gray an

a hand to the

pered. "I should have run with

had never be

leeing the capital in a butcher's cloak, riding thr

here. Alive,

ee

first lock of hair, sheared by her trembling hands the day he was named crown prince.

stairs beyond her door. Not the slow

er. F

ere co

s tightening around the dagg

r creak

not a

s Zaz

grave. His robes shimmered with the blood-red sigil of

voice like silk d

at," Alendra answered cold

a smile. "You wound me.

he state of

journal, buried deep within Father's study. One he kept in his final mon

ed closer, examining the chamber

azeal continued. "Right befo

our lies too late

e died all

silence

ed, "What do you

t. "To tie up loose ends. And I find it untidy

chamber years ago. The one she had used to knight Azeal in se

have my bloo

more power. But your death... your true de

pped f

d not

the first queen of Westonia, carved in granite a

next life," she said,

agger nev

beyond the chambe

ki

he queen

al f

, her beauty undimmed by a

is?" she as

bt," Zazea

ze flicked

o the

she said. "She's

zeal p

sitation. The war between ambiti

he sm

the man your brother

did

aised th

ie stopp

o Alendra with a cruel smile. "We'll send her head to

wered the

d and beaten, he

ce me," she said. "But it w

back. "Then l

he two traitors

n. For now. But she knew

Azeal r