Chapter 187

Maeve’s POV

2 weeks later.

“And you haven’t spoken to him?” I asked, my eyes wide as I stared at Charlotte across the small table in the queen’s garden. She grabbed her teacup and brought it to her lips, taking a small sip. Her eyes were clouded with the emotions she was trying desperately to keep us from seeing.

My heart went out to her fully as she explained to me about thinking Nicholas was her fated mate. She isn’t sure completely, but she’s pretty sure. It seemed that they had both been ignoring one another, and it confused me to think why Nicholas would be avoiding Charlotte. She was everything he would want in a future Luna and mate. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny, not to mention she had a ton of experience in leadership. She was the princess after all. Why wouldn’t he want her as a mate?

“We barely said two words to each other. I’m not really sure what any of it means but it’s so confusing,” Char sighed, stirring her tea aimlessly.

It was only me and her this morning; typically, Queen Leonora would have joined us and continued her morning lessons with me while we enjoyed tea together, but she had something to do this morning, so it was just Char and me. Not that minded, it was nice to have a break and just do some girl-talk with my future sister in law.

It’s been two weeks since Eric kidnapped me and brought me to the Lost Island. Two weeks since I discovered there were survivors in the Red Oak tribe. Two weeks since I told them that I would not only get them a meeting with the King but also get a very important spellbook back from the King’s clutches.

I already knew that the book was in a safe hidden within the library. I spent the last couple of weeks spying on the King, recording everything that I could and finding information on the whereabouts of the safe and how to access it. The more information I had, the better the chances of me being able to get that book. I also needed to figure out how to convince the King to meet with the witches and not start a war.

“Earth to Maeve,” Char said, waving her hand in my face with a small frown. “Everything okay?

I blinked my eyes, focusing my attention on her.

“Sorry,” I murmured softly. “Just a lot on my mind I guess.”

She nodded thoughtfully.

“Mia and Lucas are returning to the kingdom today. They are getting married in a week,” Char pointed out.

They had left a couple of weeks ago to go to the Vixen territory and now they are returning to the wolf territory. I still couldn’t believe that Lucas finally got his head out of his ass and decided to not be a jerk to Mia. Since they’ve bonded this past month or so, they are closer than ever. The palace had been bustling with wedding preparations and Queen Leonora had consumed herself with this project. I couldn’t blame her; this was a huge event. It wasn’t just a wedding; it was a merger between two species. It was an agreement between two kinds and now our armies are going to be stronger than ever.

“What time will they be arriving?” I asked, taking a long and steady sip of my own tea.

“In a few hours,” she replied.

I nodded thoughtfully.

“Charlotte, can I ask you a question?” I decided to say, nibbling on my lower lip. I wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but after 2 weeks of coming up empty on the safe location, I decided to just ask.

“Sure,” she said, taking another sip of her tea, a concerned frown marring her lips. “Everything okay?”

I nodded, not sure how to bring this up, but knowing that I had to.

“In the palace library, have you ever come across a safe?” I asked her.

Char’s eyes grew possibly big once I asked that question; she stared at me for a long while, memories surfacing in her eyes and I could see the recognition in them. It gave me an answer before she even spoke.

“Why do you ask?” She finally asked, narrowing her eyes at me. “And how do you know about the safe?”

“So, you have?” I asked, ignoring her question entirely.

She nibbled on her lower lip, and then she nodded, her eyes dropping from mine and looking at the table before her.

“Yes,” she said softly. “I found a safe a while ago in the library and my father freaked out that I went near it. It was the first time he’s ever truly yelled at me.”

I flinched at her words and I could see the hurt in her eyes as she replayed the memory in her mind. It haunted her and I wondered what it was that Arlen said to her to invoke such fear in her eyes.

“Has he ever told you what was inside of it?” I asked.

“Of course not; he had always been protective of that thing,” Char said, shaking her head. “I don’t know what could be inside that would give him such a reaction, but I barely stepped foot in the library since then.” She studied me for a long while, my mind reeling with this information and even more questions. “Why do you ask about the safe and how do you even know about it?”

“Because I believe he’s keeping something in that safe that could be dangerous if put in the wrong hands,” I admitted softly.

Her eyes grew wide at my response, and she leaned forward, like she was getting ready to hear a forbidden secret. But I didn’t have any more information to give her; the less she knew, the better.

“How do you know?” She asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“Rumors,” I decided to tell her. “I’ve heard a lot of rumors around the palace, that’s all. It’s nothing to worry about; I’m sure your father wouldn’t put anyone in danger.”

She nibbled on her lower lip, a crease forming between her brows as she thought about it. Then she nodded thoughtfully and took another sip of her tea.

“I suppose you’re right,” she said softly.

“Where did you find the safe?” I asked.

“There’s an opening beneath the desk, I think there was a button to open it somewhere around the desk area. I just happened to find it and press it,” she said softly. “But I’m not sure if it’s different now.”

Under the desk… I checked the desk area the other day and it didn’t look like there were any hidden compartments around it, but then again, maybe it was because I didn’t know what I was looking for.

After we were finished with tea, Char went on her way to sort through her own issues concerning Nicholas, and help her mother with wedding preparations. While I waited for Xaden to finish with his duties for the day, I went to the library to look around a bit more. I searched the entire desk area; thankful nobody was around to spot me. I tried to be quick with it; my heart racing the entire time.

I felt underneath the desk and then my finger bumped into something, making me freeze. As I lightly tapped it, I realized that it was a button, or a switch and it was under the desk. I pressed it harder, and I heard something unlocking.

With a racing heart I peeked beneath the desk to see that there was a small doorway on the floor that was now open. It blended in with the ground so well that I never would have thought the doorway existed, but here it was, open and in front of my eyes.

Slid beneath the desk to get a closer look and as I opened the hidden doorway, I sucked in a sharp breath when I finally came across the safe. Charlotte was right; he was hiding the safe in a hidden compartment under the desk.

I wasn’t sure if this thing had an alarm system, but I needed to be quick. I pulled out the safe, seeing that there was a small screen for the passcode. I grabbed my notebook and went through everything I knew about Arlan. The passcode was going to be a date of some sort, but the question was, which date would he use? I also had no idea how many failed attempts I got, so my best bet was to keep it around 3.

At first, I tried Queen Leonora’s birthday, but that failed, so I tried their anniversary… that also failed.

One attempt left. I flipped through the notebook, glancing at everything I had gathered over the last 2 weeks. Then I thought of something; if this safe was truly holding a spellbook taken from the Red Oak tribe, maybe that’s what he was thinking of when creating the code. He sent Eric’s mother away without killing her himself, so maybe there was a part of him that cared about her.

I decided to try using her birthday, which was also written in my notebook. When the safe chimed to life and the door opened, my heart swelled and broke at the same time for Queen Leonora. I knew that Arlan loved her, but the thought of him having an affair… it must have destroyed her at the same time.

Once the safe was opened, my mouth swelled when I saw the book inside. It was the spellbook that the witches were after. The second my fingers grazed the gorgeous looking cover, I felt it… the power, and the darkness.