Chapter 143

ISABELLA

I retreated to my tiny room in the attic, guilt and dread overwhelming me. If everything in the letter from my mother was true, that meant that Fresonia was in peril. I may have had my own issues with the royal family, but I still cared about my kingdom more than anything else.

Well, almost anything else.

I had the good sense to bring the letter with me to my room. I knew that Mila’s adoptive family was, to put it lightly, trouble, and it would not do anyone any good if they found out about her death. The least I could do was hide that news from them until it was time to go public.

Despite the fact that I locked the door behind me, it was not long before someone started pounding on the cheap wood.

“Isabella!” Nadine yelled. “The phone won’t stop ringing! It’s for you!”

I stumbled over the door and cracked it open, ever-so-slightly. I knew better than to give Nadine any space that she could use to barge in.

“Here.” She thrust the house phone at me, glowering. “I wasn’t going to give it to you originally but it was never going to stop ringing otherwise.”

“Uh, thanks,” I said, grabbing the phone from her.

Nadine leaned against the doorframe, using her toe to stop the door from closing entirely. “What’s so important that people are so desperate to get in contact with you?”

“Not sure,” I lied. I slammed the door as hard as I could before running back over to my tiny bed.

“Hello?” I said into the phone, uncertain of who would be on the other line.

“Isabella,” the person on the other line breathed. “My god, it is good to hear your voice.”

Tears sprung to my eyes almost instantly. “Charles?!”

“Yes,” the prince on the other line purred. “I needed to get in contact with you.”

“I… I heard that there is some trouble in Fresonia,” I said, instinctively slipping into my native tongue. I could only assume that Nadine was listening with her ear pressed to the door.

“Trouble is an understatement,” Charles said, responding in Fresonian himself. “Mila is dead.”

My heart clenched again hearing him say those awful words. “The kingdom is in great trouble if the Queen is dead.”

“And if the former King and Queen are the ones who gave the orders to kill her,” Charles said ominously.

I nearly dropped the phone. “What? What are you talking about?!”

Charles told me everything–how Felix had been growing more and more ill, how Esmeralda had been struggling to find a cure, how finally, the dowager royals had determined that the best course of action was to sacrifice Mila.

All along, I was nodding and gasping, alarmed and heartbroken by how the curse had eaten away at Felix. I could never truly be his friend again, if we ever were, but it still hurt to think of all the pain and suffering that had occurred in the weeks since my banishment.

And then Charles lowered his voice and told me the biggest secret of all: that the magic of Fresonia was dying and somehow connected to Mila. The only way forward was to find both the missing Queen and heal all the magic in the kingdoms in hopes that all could be fixed.

Truthfully, I did not like the Queen. I still harbored a great deal of resentment towards Mila for floating into the kingdom and stealing the life I coveted so greatly. Even after the war, Mila had been willing to show me grace and mercy, rubbing in how much better of a person she was than me.

How far from grace I had fallen in my own selfish pursuits.

I may not have liked Mila, but Fresonia was a different matter.

“How are you doing with all of this?” I asked softly.

Charles laughed humorlessly. “I’ve been released from the dungeons, sort of. Felix has me in these magical shackles to make sure I don’t attempt another coup.”

“He does not trust you?” I dared to ask.

“No,” Charles said. “And I don’t blame him. I suppose that in his shoes, I would not trust me either. But I am being permitted to help, which is enough.”

“It is very courageous of you to put kingdom over personal gain,” I said. I meant it honestly. Charles might be an extremist, but I had never once doubted his patriotism.

“I am hoping that once all this is over, I can negotiate exile over imprisonment,” Charles continued. “I’ve already lost my dragon. There’s not much else for me to do.”

“Did Hades…” my voice trailed off. I was terrified to ask the question we were both thinking.

“He fled after the battle. I doubt I will ever see him again,” Charles said. His voice was sharp and tight. I knew that losing the beast must have been a hard blow for him.

“I am sorry,” I whispered.

“I wanted to call for other reasons besides to tell you about our current issues,” Charles said. There was an unfamiliar tone in his voice that made me sit up a bit straighter.

“Yes?” I asked, trembling.

“Truth be told, Isabella, I miss you,” Charles said. “I thought about you every day in those dungeons. The memory of your face was the one ray of light in all that darkness.”

My face flushed. “Are you being serious?”

“I know that I sometimes took your presence for granted,” Charles continued, “but I always appreciated the fact that you chose me over your old life. You could have easily just been Felix’s little puppet for the rest of your days, but instead you allied yourself with me.”

“I cared about you,” I whispered. “I believed in you.”

“Believe in me once more,” Charles urged. “I mean it now when I tell you that I will never take your support for granted again. Once this is all over, I’m going to ask Felix for exile so that I may come and see you.”

“Do you think he will allow it?” I could not focus on any other part of his statement without feeling that heat rush through my body, and that unnerved me.

“I hope so,” Charles said. “I do feel bad about some of the destruction that was caused, especially the innocent civilians harmed. Being in the dungeons broke any delusions of grandeur out of me. I don’t think I’ll ever fully support Felix as King, but I at least will not stand in his way any longer.”

“I would like to see you,” I finally said. My heart was splitting and healing all at once. I had cared so deeply for Charles, for the hopeless rebellion we had both thrown ourselves into. Now faced with the consequences of our actions, we had both changed.

I did not want to be in exile any longer myself.

“Just wait until things calm down here,” Charles said. “And then we can figure out a way to be together.”

“I know I’m not allowed back into the kingdom, and I doubt that’s changing anytime soon, but is there anything I can do from here?” I asked.

There was a long pause. Then, Charles said, “Actually, Isabella, there is something you can do to help.”