Chapter 193

By the end of the third day of searching, everyone is dead on their feet. Nicholas, Julian, and their men had searched most of the palace, with very few exceptions, like the King’s quarters.

Since Veronica said the talisman had to be close, most of the places they had searched would be too far, but they still felt it necessary to scour every nook and cranny. Anything to help save Elva.

Elva, who was growing weaker and weaker in the bed. She was so pale. She hadn’t opened her eyes in several hours. She hadn’t said a word to me in days.

Her weakness only drove Nicholas further into his determination. But without sleep, his thought process seemed sluggish. He started bringing Veronica things that didn’t make sense, like the adornments from the banisters or the cutlery from the kitchen.

Anything Jane could have touched was on the table for him at this point.

Veronica continued to implore me to think on the past.

It hurt. But for Elva, I did. Yet every hobby or every item I remembered Jane attaching herself to as a child, she ripped out of her life as a teenager.

Still, I continued to think. And remember.

And then I remembered when Jane taught herself how to sew. She’d been clumsy with it, stabbing herself with the needle. But her diligence had been something to be admired. I recognized that, even as a child.

Once, I had hooked my chin over her shoulder from behind and looked down at her work.

“Whatcha doing?” I had asked.

Initially she’d tried to hide it from me, but after a pout she’d never been able to ignore, she gave in and showed me.

“Mom wanted me to get rid of my skipping stone, but it’s the best one on the block.” Jane lifted the garment she’d been sewing and then I could see it was her jacket. Inside, she had stitched in a piece of fabric, a crude inner pocket that our Mom might not have noticed.

Maybe a rock wasn’t too far from the mark, after all.

Could that be the answer then? Was the item a rock? Or… no, was it stitched into one of my garments?

I jumped to my feet at once.

“Remember something?” Veronica asked.

I called for the guard. “Please bring back Prince Nicholas and Julian at once! I have a potential lead.”

Ten minutes later, the three of us plus Charlotte stood in my walk in closet.

“How well did you search the gowns?” I asked Charlotte.

“I looked for any that were new or off-looking. We checked every pocket.”

“This pocket would be secret,” I said, “Likely stitched inside the dress.”

Charlotte frowned. “No, we didn’t think to turn the dresses inside out.”

“Let’s do it, then,” Julian said, and reached for a gown.

“You take that side,” Nicholas said. “I will look over here.”

Charlotte and I did the same, splitting one of the racks. We carefully and thoroughly searched every dress. We tugged at every lose string. Julian cut into a few of them with a knife, any spot that looked suspicious.

By the time we were finished, every garment of clothes in the closet, both Elva’s and mine, was ripped up and thrown on the floor.

A waste that would have been well worth it had we found the talisman.

As it was, we’d come up empty.

“Shit,” I cursed, and my legs gave out. I slumped down to the carpet. I tried to hold back the tears, I knew they wouldn’t solve anything. But I was so tired, so bereft, I couldn’t hold back.

Sobs racked through my body and I crumbled. I dropped my forehead down to the ground.

Nicholas was at my side in an instant, down on his knees beside me. He held back my hair and whispered soothing gentle words to me. I couldn’t hear them.

I could only cry and cry.

“I’m sorry,” Nicholas said.

“We’re not giving up,” Julian said, louder. “Maybe it’s in someone else’s garments. Which room is next door?”

“Jessica’s,” Charlotte said.

“With me, then, Charlotte,” Julian said, and the two rushed out of the closet.

Nicholas stayed with me. He rubbed my back.

“It’s not over, Piper. This was as good a guess as we could have managed. The best idea any of us had so far. Please just keep thinking. Don’t give up.”

I didn’t want to. To give up would mean to accept Elva would die.

But I felt so hopeless, and so trapped.

“How will I ever survive this?” I said. “My sister is trying to kill my daughter.” I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, but nothing could stop the hurt that quaked through me. I was ruined down to my foundation. Even if everyone lived, how would I?

I was losing everything.

And if Elva didn’t make it…

“You’re strong,” Nicholas said. “You’ve made it this far. You’ve survived so many things. Elva is just like you. She’ll hold on. And you’ll hold on for her. And I’ll hold on for both of you.”

His words gave me pause.

“I won’t lose you or Elva, not to Jane, not to some curse. I don’t care if I have pull the truth out of Terry through his eyeballs, or tear down the entire organization myself, I will never let them take you and Elva from me.”

His words shook in their ferocity. He was earnest and pure.

And with his strength filling me, I didn’t feel so alone anymore.

I opened my eyes. And that’s when I saw the curled edge of a photograph jammed into the crevice between two shoe drawers.

A picture? That didn’t belong. I didn’t bring any photos from home.

Surely it had been previously noticed? Why wouldn’t anyone have brought it to Veronica?

I twisted my body, and reached into the crevice. I yanked the photo free, then brought it closer.

Sitting upright on my haunches, I understood at once why no one thought this was suspicious.

It was a picture of me and Elva, from when Elva was very young. A mother cradling her baby to her chest. A mother who looked very tired and very thin. Elva, a newborn, rested peacefully in the cradle of her mother’s arms.

A mother who wasn’t me, but Jane.

To any onlooker, they would think I kept this photo as a keepsake of a tender, precious moment. The truth, however, was Jane did.

This was the talisman. It had to be. I had not placed the picture here. I didn’t know anyone else who would have, but Jane.

But for this to be the talisman meant that Jane had strong emotions for this photo. If that were true, she must feel something for her girl. But if that were true, why would she try to kill Elva?

Nicholas looked over my shoulder. “It’s a beautiful keepsake,” he said. But then he frowned. He looked closer. “That’s not you.”

I looked at him, surprised. Though maybe I shouldn’t have been. Who else knew me as well as he did, especially from that time?

“That’s Jane,” he said, meeting my gaze. His eyes were wide, hopeful. “The talisman.”

Together, we scrambled to our feet, then rushed out into the bedroom.

Veronica was standing beside Elva, frowning down at her with worry. She looked up as we came nearer. Immediately, her eyes zeroed onto the photo in my hands.

“That’s it,” she said. “That’s the talisman.”

And my heart both soared and crumbled at once.