Free Web NovelChapter 244: Chapter 244
Gunnar’s POV
Riley stared at Cane like he had completely lost his mind.
"What silly Elyndorath are you talking about?" she snapped, her voice shaking. "I’m a princess of a fucking damn kingdom?" She let out a dry laugh and dragged both hands through her hair. "Okay, I understand I’ve become quite accustomed to everything weird that’s been happening in this Obsidian Veil pack and I understand a bit at least, but saying I’m some princess? Isn’t that barbaric?"
The tension between us crackled softly, but the heat drowned out every other sound. Riley looked overwhelmed, angry, confused all at once. Her breathing had gone uneven and I could see the way her fingers trembled at her sides.
Cane stayed calm.
"Riley," he said carefully, "your father Emberwyn was a king and your mother was queen. You and Carian were the two princesses of Elyndorath."
She blinked repeatedly like she was trying to force the words out of her head.
"No," she muttered immediately. "No, stop saying it like it’s normal."
"It is normal there."
"Well, it isn’t normal to me!"
Cane took a slow breath before continuing.
"In the whole of Elyndorath, it was unheard of for a female to rule before your mother. The throne always passed to men. Always. Your mother changed that when she ruled beside your father and gained the loyalty of the people. But when she gave birth to daughters instead of a son, the kingdom became divided."
Riley frowned deeply."What does that have to do with me?"
"Everything," Cane answered. "The moment you and Carian were born, you both became targets."
Silence dropped heavily between us.
Riley laughed again but this time it sounded weak as she shook her head quickly. "No. No, this is insane."
"Your existence threatened people," Cane continued. "Some believed no woman should ever inherit the throne. Others feared that if your father died without a son, the royal bloodline would weaken. Enemies began gathering long before you were old enough to speak."
Riley swallowed hard.
"You’re going to go back there someday," Cane said firmly, "and take what rightfully belongs to you before someone else does."
That made her freeze completely.
Her eyes slowly lifted to his face.
"Someone else?" she repeated quietly. "Do you mean there’s someone already ruling Elyndorath?"
Cane nodded once.
The air immediately changed.
I watched Riley’s face carefully. She looked terrified to ask the next question but she still did.
"Who?"
Cane stared into the fire for a few seconds before speaking.
"After your parents died, Elyndorath became a nightmare."
Riley’s lips parted slightly.
"What happened?" she whispered.
Cane leaned back against the wall behind him, his expression hardening.
"Your father kept the kingdom together through strength. He wasn’t just feared, Riley. He was respected. Entire armies refused to move against Elyndorath because they knew Emberwyn would crush them before sunrise. He protected the borders himself. He kept peace between clans that had hated each other for centuries. No one dared challenge him openly including obsidian Veil."
"Then how did he die?" Riley asked immediately.
Cane’s jaw tightened."Dracula."
The name alone darkened the atmosphere.
I saw Riley stiffen beside me.
"But Dracula alone couldn’t bring down your father," Cane continued. "No. Your father was too strong for him. Too powerful. Dracula knew he couldn’t defeat Emberwyn without help."
Riley stared at him without blinking.
"So he found someone on the inside."
My chest tightened slightly as Cane finally looked directly at her.
"He connived with the man your father trusted the most."
Riley’s voice came out barely audible."And who was that?"
Cane answered without hesitation."Your uncle."
Riley looked confused for a second before the realization slowly hit her. frёeωebɳovel.com
"My... uncle?"
"Yes."
"No." She shook her head quickly. "No, that makes no sense. If I had an uncle, why didn’t nobody ever tell me?"
"Because everyone were trying to protect you."
Riley stepped backward slowly like the ground beneath her feet had become unstable.
Cane stood up.
"Your uncle envied your father for years," he said. "He believed the throne should have been his. He hated the way the people loved Emberwyn. He hated your mother even more because she influenced your father’s decisions."
Riley stared at him with wide eyes."So he helped murder them?"
"He did."
The answer came too easily. Too coldly.
Riley shook her head again. "No... no. How do you know that?"
"Because I was there, we were all there, all of us."
That silenced her instantly. Even I felt my body tense hearing those words.
Riley looked like all the air had been punched out of her lungs.
"You all saw it?"
Cane nodded slowly.
"I saw the kingdom burn from the inside. I saw guards turn against each other. I saw people who swore loyalty to your father open the palace gates for Dracula’s army. Your uncle planned everything carefully."
Riley covered her mouth with one hand.
"He poisoned the royal council against your father first. Spread lies that Emberwyn was becoming weak because he had no son. Then he promised power to the men who followed him."
Her breathing became shaky. "No, stop..." She said as she instantly clutched to her head as if some kind of memory was about to hit her.
But Cane continued.
"The night they attacked the palace, Dracula’s forces came through the eastern gates. Gates only royal blood could access."
Riley slowly lowered her hand from her head. Tears started forming in her eyes but she angrily wiped them away.
"So what happened?" she demanded. "Tell me everything."
Cane remained quiet for a second before answering.
"Your father fought them." His voice lowered slightly. "And they still tell stories about it in the whole of Elyndorath."
Riley’s eyes stayed fixed on him.
"Dracula arrived with hundreds of soldiers, dark beasts, blood hunters and Tithers and assassins. But your father kept cutting through them. He killed men faster than they could reach him. Dracula himself fought him for hours."
I noticed Cane’s hands slowly clench.
"Your mother fought too. She stayed beside Emberwyn until the very end."
Riley’s tears finally slipped free."They died together?"
Cane looked at her silently before nodding. "Yes."
Riley broke then. She just turned away suddenly and covered her face, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hold herself together.
I wanted to move toward her.
But Cane got there first. "Riley..."
"Don’t," she choked out. "Please don’t touch me right now."
Cane stopped immediately.
She wiped her face roughly before turning back around.
"If all this is true..." her voice cracked slightly, "then how am I alive?"
Cane answered quietly.
"Because my mother and your mother’s guard took you and Carian before the palace fell."
"And then your mother’s guard took you out to crescent hollow and left us with Carian for some reasons."
Riley frowned. "So that’s how I was brought to Crescent Hollow?"
"Yes."
She looked confused again."So my human parents..."
Cane’s face darkened completely."They were never random."
Riley stared at him."What?"
"Your human parents were chosen carefully. They were trusted people. Loyal people. Your real parents believed you girls would be safer hidden among humans."
Riley looked completely lost."So everything was fake?"
"No," Cane said immediately. "The love they gave you was real."
Her eyes watered again."But they knew who I was?"
"They did."
She closed her eyes tightly for a second."And they still raised me anyway?"
"Yeah."
The silence after that felt painful. Riley slowly sat down on the floor and stared blankly ahead.
Then suddenly she looked back at Cane. "You said my uncle is still alive. And he had my human parents killed too?"
Cane nodded once.
The look on Riley’s face shifted instantly from heartbreak to horror.
"What are you not telling me?"
"Well your uncle discovered where you were hidden years ago."
"Then why didn’t he kill me?"
"Well he did try after looking for you and couldn’t find you but when he did, he tried."
My eyes narrowed slightly at Cane’s words.
Riley stood back up again. "What do you mean he tried?"
"The accident that killed your human parents wasn’t an accident, Riley."
Her face drained of color completely.
"Your uncle ordered their deaths."
She stumbled backward slightly.
"And the person who carried out the assassination was our stepsister Daphne." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
The moment Cane said Daphne’s name, Riley looked physically sick.
I watched her breathing quicken. Riley looked like she couldn’t process the words anymore.
Cane stopped directly in front of her. "Do you remember the first day you saw Daphne?"
Riley froze. Her expression shifted immediately.
"You witnessed her stabbing an old woman down an alley in Crescent Hollow right?"
Riley’s breathing stopped for a second.
"That scene gave you nightmares," Cane continued. "It haunted you for years. Even after you tried to forget it."
Riley’s lips trembled badly now.
"The reason you despise Daphne so much is because of that woman, right?"
Riley couldn’t even answer.
Cane gently held her shoulders before asking softly,
"Do you know who that woman was, Riley?"
