Chapter 1
Byron
The cleansing of the palace started two days after Victoria was taken. I was tasked with bringing in soldiers and palace staff from Easteria, whom we could barely afford, to take control of Château le Hart. This was kept quiet until the transport arrived, then the palace was put on lockdown. All palace staff and guards were quarantined, then interrogated, to determine what insurgents were left. After a day of this, we realized how widespread the threat was. Frank would not retain power within the palace for long, but the cost would be high, and this didn’t account for the greater army and other ward officials spread throughout the Kingdom. We had to start somewhere, and securing the palace was our first priority.
The Queen was ready to hang the bodies of the insurgents from the palace walls, but I convinced her otherwise. We lived in a civilized society and needed to remain as such, even in the darkest of times. Even though the lives of the insurgents would not be spared, we would not be digressing to allowing dead bodies to rot on walls or in any public forum. I also had to make the Queen understand that such a grisly display would only fuel the fire of protestors gathering outside the palace since the information about Princess Amelia had been leaked. So far, the protestors had not resorted to violence, though tensions were high.
After all this time and everything that had happened, I finally felt I was on the same side as Queen Dorothea. We were finally working side by side and it seemed I was actually accomplishing something. There were only a few people left I felt I could trust, and strangely enough, that intimate list included Kale and the Queen.
There had been no words to describe how I’d felt to awaken in Bethany’s closet and find Victoria gone. I’d just gotten her back, and this time she’d been taken from me through no fault of my own—though I could always scold myself for not anticipating more. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the man who’d attacked me, but Bethany filled me in.
Mackenzie.
How I hated him. Now, he was on par with Ramsey himself. I wished I’d killed them both in the desert—I should have slaughtered them for all their prior offenses. If anything ended up happening to Victoria or the other girls taken, I’d only have myself to blame.
I already had Gabriel and Kale looking for the girls, and as soon as the palace was relatively secured, I’d be out there with them. In the meantime, I had inquiries being made for any information about who else had been in the limousine that night with Victoria. Besides Ramsey and Mackenzie, Victoria had said there were two other men—two other men who could be integral to finding and getting her back—two other men who also didn’t deserve to live.
I ran into Tabatha, the Executive Assistant to the Sovereign, while walking through the extensive halls of the palace, after checking in on the interrogations.
“Have you seen Bethany?” I asked. “I haven’t seen her all morning.”
“Not since yesterday,” Tabatha said. “Have you asked the Queen?”
“No. I saw her earlier before I thought anything of it.”
Tabatha adjusted her headset and pressed a button on the earpiece. I was about to say something when she held a finger up to quiet me. “Your Highness, have you had any contact with Bethany this morning? Prince DuFour is asking. Thank you. I will tell him.”
I waited for her to bring her attention back to me.
“The Queen hasn’t seen her today either,” Tabatha said after tapping her earpiece. “But that’s not uncommon. It’s still early. However, since you’re in more regular contact with the Princess, I will make inquiries.”
“If you could let me know when you find out anything, I’d greatly appreciate it,” I said.
Tabatha assured me she would and hurried off to finish whatever task the Queen had assigned. I continued to the front staircase to reach my room two floors up, but I planned to stop at the Orange and Yellow rooms, to check for Bethany again. They both were still empty. I lingered in the Yellow room, where we’d found Bethany tied up—and where Victoria had been savagely ripped away from me. The closet was clean now, everything back in its rightful place. But I remembered all too well what had transpired there.
Not wanting to waste any more time in reverie, I headed for the door, only to be stopped by my buzzing cellphone.
“Yes,” I said. It was one of my guards, Rod Emerson. He had been with me the night I’d had Gabriel shoot me, and he’d taken the brunt of the beating. I was still sorry about that, though I couldn’t tell him anything.
“Your Highness, in sweeping the lower levels of the palace, we found something,” Rod said. “I think you should come down here and see for yourself.”
“From the tone of your voice, what you found isn’t good,” I said.
“No, Your Highness. It isn’t.”
“I’ll be right there,” I said and headed back for the stairs. I remained on the line as he described the general area of Sub-level One the sweep team was on, then ended the call once I reached the closest hidden passageway to the cellar. I hurried down the much smaller set of stairs and passed endless construction, finding Rod standing in the doorway of a room at the end of a blocked hallway.
“Your Highness,” he said with a nod, and stepped aside so I could enter. There were two more of my men in the room, Pax, and Joshua. They stood adjacent to a body on the floor—one that was covered in blood.
As I drew closer, I saw a large gash across the dead man’s throat, then noticed the soiled scalpel on the floor beside him.
“Any idea who did this?” I asked as I knelt beside the body.
“No,” Pax said. “There seem to be no cameras in this room.”
“There aren’t a lot of cameras on the lower levels at all,” Rod said.
“There sure is a lot of equipment in here,” I said. “I would think someone would want to keep it safe.”
“The door was locked,” Rod said.
The room was filled with medical equipment, all alive and seemingly agitated with blinking lights and a secret language of beeping. And apart from the equipment, there were three empty gurneys.
Three beds? Three thought to be dead clones. Could this be the room in which Victoria had found her sisters?
I brought my attention down to the man lying on the floor—the whole reason I had been called down here. It took me a moment through the mask of blood, but I certainly recognized the man.
“Dr. Sosin,” I said. “Did one of the girls do this to him?”
“I beg your pardon, Your Highness?” Rod asked.
“What would you like us to do with him?” Joshua asked.
After everything that had happened, I didn’t know how much more bad news the Queen could take. The elite team of doctors meant the world to her, because of all they’d done for Princess Amelia. And I knew she held Dr. Sosin in especially high regard.
“Nothing,” I said, getting back to my feet. “Leave him here and continue your sweep. I will make a call and get someone down here to clean up. I want you to continue your sweep. There is still a very real threat here, gentlemen. We must get this palace secure. I’ll break the news to the Queen.”
My men saluted and quickly exited the room to fulfill their mission of fortifying the palace. The maze down there may very well have been a lost cause. It might even have been wiser to lock down all entrances from the main house—but then again, there were so many, and one or more would most certainly be missed; I doubted even the Queen knew them all.
I pulled a sheet off one of the gurneys and draped it over Dr. Sosin. Even though I despised the doctors for what they’d done to the girls in one way or another, he always seemed gentler and kinder—less clinical—so I had despised him less than I did the others.
If this was the room Victoria had found the girls in, then where were they now? Had they actually escaped or simply been moved? Was Bethany playing into this somehow?
There were so many things now plaguing me, I thought my head might explode.
One thing at a time, I told myself. Get this palace as secure as possible, then find Victoria.
And if I had the opportunity to kill any of her abductors or tormentors, then I’d gladly take it.
On my way upstairs, I called Tabatha to find out where the Queen was. She would want to hear what I had to report and it was something better said in person.
Chapter 2
Victoria
Master Ramsey sat at the far side of the dining room table, awaiting me to serve him. The pot with the tomato soup I’d prepared was set in the center of the table. I poured his first and carried over his bowl, then poured one for myself. Afterward, I cut the bread with a knife Master Ramsey had provided for me—in this room only. After our meal, the same knife would be confiscated.
I walked on agonizing bare feet to the far side of the table, where the place setting was arranged for me. I sat on a pillow to make sitting somewhat bearable, and gazed at the steaming bowl of soup before me. How I wanted to throw that soup in his face—maybe that, in combination with the knife, would give me enough of a head start to escape—but my electric collar deterred me just enough from such action so far. There was more I needed to learn before allowing myself to consider something of that magnitude.
Master Ramsey sat, staring at me from across the table, his food untouched, waiting for me to take the first bites. I slurped a spoonful of soup, then broke off a piece of bread and chewed. Moments later, Master Ramsey had joined me in eating the simple dinner.
What supplies we had in the estate were all we had to work from. There was no going into town to replenish—not anymore. He was a fugitive, and I was a captive, and I had no idea what his long-term plan was, which couldn’t be staying here. The estate was empty for now, but for how long? A new Duke and Duchess would be assigned to the 24th Ward, for which this estate would then become their home. I was kind of surprised this hadn’t been done already, but I supposed the Queen had had enough on her mind from the events of late.
“I’m sorry we can no longer afford the luxuries you’ve become accustomed to,” Master Ramsey said and took a sip of scotch. “But it does feel good to be home.”
In a sickening way, it did feel like home and my upturned life of the past several months had been a dream. This was real life, what I had always expected. I didn’t want to revert back to the mentality of my old life, the one I had been fighting so hard to escape, but it was familiar and painfully comforting.
“I never deserved such luxury,” I said, placating him.
He looked taken aback by my comment and smiled. “Very true, princess.”
“There’s no reason to keep calling me that since we both know it isn’t true.”
“Victoria it is then.”
Once we were finished eating, I was directed to clear the table and clean up the kitchen. Master Ramsey took the knife as expected, cleaned it himself, and returned it to a locked drawer. In fact, a great many drawers and cabinets in the kitchen were now locked—any with potentially dangerous items being stored. I could now do my work without being a threat to him or myself.
As I washed the dishes, I periodically glanced up at the overhead camera. It had always been there, but I’d never felt so watched as I did now. Any suspicious activity I attempted would be recorded and eventually discovered. I had to choose my movements very carefully.
Once I was nearly finished, I heard voices coming from outside the kitchen. At first, it seemed like casual conversation, but the sounds became increasingly frantic. I carefully opened the swinging door and peeked into the dining room. The escalating conversation seemed to be coming from the entryway.
“Get off him!” a shrill voice screamed, then there was a crash like something heavy falling to the floor.
I silently made my way toward the desperate sounds. Whoever was here didn’t seem to be friendly with Master Ramsey and may very well be my salvation. Before the confrontation came into view, there was another terrible thud, followed by shrieking.
I no longer worried about my silence and hurried as fast as my switched feet could take me. When I reached the hallway leading to the entryway, I found Master Ramsey with a man and woman I had never seen before. The woman continued to scream from her position on the floor. The man was lying motionless on his side. Master Ramsey stood over them both.
I stood frozen in the hallway and it didn’t take long for the woman to notice me.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” she cried, and I couldn’t tell if the sentence was directed at me or Master Ramsey—though it was probably the both of us.
Master Ramsey paid no attention to me and bent down next to the sobbing woman. She fought to get away, but he grabbed her by the hair with his single hand, pulling her closer until he could wrap his handless arm around her neck. Then with the help of his good hand, he twisted. A loud crack sounded and the sobbing stopped. The woman went limp like I’d seen three of my sisters do at the Choosing Ceremony—like a switch was flipped and they were simply… turned off.
Master Ramsey let the woman fall from his arms and stood to face me. I was so sick of all this death—it seemed to be following me everywhere.
“Who were they?” I asked, my lips trembling. Whoever they were, they wouldn’t be helping me now.
“The Duke and Duchess of the 24th Ward,” Master Ramsey said. “It seems they were recently appointed and the Duchess wanted to view the condition of the estate and see how their furniture would fair here. They were going to determine which of my furniture would remain and which would be thrown out—my furniture!”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing—that he had just killed the newly appointed Duke and Duchess of the 24th. Certainly, word would soon get out that they had disappeared, then this estate would be flooded by authorities. What would he do when that happened? He must be anticipating that. And if he was, I feared what was really going through his head.
“This is not their house—it’s mine—it will always be mine! It’s been in my family’s name for generations and if it ends with me, then it ends, period.” Master Ramsey stepped over the bodies and came in my direction.
I saw there was blood around the man’s head, probably as a result of his head hitting the floor.
He stopped when he was only a few steps away. “I will dispose of the bodies. You will clean up the blood. No one takes from me what it rightfully mine,” he spat. “No one.”
I waited until he was gone before retrieving cleaning supplies from the kitchen and allowing the tears to flow. They weren’t for those people I didn’t even know. They were for another setback aimed at breaking my spirit, which I simply couldn’t allow.
Chapter 3
Byron
“Bethany is gone,” I told the Queen.
“And Dr. Sosin is dead,” she said. “What do you want me to do? You have all the resources. I have practically nothing left.” She sank into one of her conference room chairs.
Bethany had been gone for twenty-four hours. I slept on the couch in her room all night, hoping at some point she’d return, but she didn’t. At some point, I must have drifted to sleep because when I awoke it was light outside. When I found the room still empty, I ventured into Victoria’s room, then returned to my own. All of them were empty.
“I have secured as many resources from my parents as they could spare. Any more, and Easteria would be left defenseless.”
“The fighting has subsided.”
“For now,” I said. “We pushed back their armies temporarily, but they’ll be back in full force before long. And we’ll need reinforcements before that day comes.”
“If these rebels have control of an unknown quantity of my men, then they will surely get access to Kingdom finances. If I lose that, then there will be nothing left to give your suffering kingdom.”
“Except our prayers,” I said, then paced around the large circular table in silence. After a full rotation, I stopped, thinking that if we truly were working together now, we needed full transparency. “There’s something else,” I said and cleared my throat.
The Queen looked up at me expectantly.
“Before she was taken—before she became Princess Amelia—Victoria discovered the other girls. She found them in the palace’s lower level, perhaps in the very same room where I’d found Dr. Sosin.”
“What are you talking about? What other girls?”
“Danielle, Jane, and Eleanor,” I said. “And they weren’t dead.”
I could tell from the look on the Queen’s face that this was news to her. Her eyes went wide, her mouth dropping open.
“They were alive… and still within the palace?” she asked.
“According to Victoria,” I said. “I did not personally see them, but she’d have no reason to lie. She said they were under some type of trance, which freaked her out.”
“What makes you think they were in the room you found the doctor in?”
“The room had a lot of medical equipment and three empty beds. I realize that could be coincidence, but maybe not. It seemed right.”
“And perhaps that’s why he was killed,” the Queen said.
“You think one of them killed him?”
“If they were still alive as you say. It was my understanding that their bodies were disposed of after the Choosing Ceremony—though I didn’t personally oversee it.”
“I thought they were dead,” I said.
“As did I—and I’m sorry if that’s insensitive, but we should be past all that now.”
I shrugged. “A lot has changed since that night.”
“And a lot is still changing,” the Queen said, ominously. “Dr. Sosin was one of the first doctors I’d spoken to. He was the first to introduce the idea of cloning as a viable option for Princess Amelia. He never spoke of them as experiments, but real people. He was the one who gave me hope that things could and would work out. He had an important hand in raising the girls—all of them. Despite how badly things have gone as of late, none of this would have been possible without him. The woman you love would not be alive today.”
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