CHAPTER 476: LAYERS DEEPER

Arabella rubbed at her reddened and sore eyes after the hours upon hours spent reading maps that went back decades.

To no avail, unfortunately as most of the updates in the past thirty years to their date held no great weight or significance.

The changes to the land were quite small and could certainly not serve as a hiding place for a vampire.

Still, Rubius’ words continued to blare across her mind. Sometimes they resonated in the background of other thoughts but other times, they hogged the limelight of her full attention, making focusing on them inevitable.

For a good reason! His idea was so brilliant, the only thing that stung was the fact that she hadn’t come up with it herself.

How did she remain so oblivious to such an evident possibility?

It was during that short pause that the first knock after so many hours came to land on the map room door.

That time around, it was Carlton that made his appearance inside before bowing.

"My Lady, I have a word from the prince of Lustris,"

"Does he want to meet again?" she sighed.

"No," Carlton straightened, "It was his wish that this package be left in your care,"

Upon laying eyes on the said package, Arabella’s heart plummeted to her heels despite the thick knot that lived in her guts since the beginning of that week.

Small, white and glossy that box was... Very similar to the ones holding the ears he so proudly paraded in front of her two nights prior.

The four sides of that rectangle were wrapped with the finest of berry blue ribbons, his favorite color, apparently.

"You must know that Madame Morgana has assessed it and found no traces of magic lingers on it," the furrowed eyebrows on the young woman prompted him to elaborate, "All sealed packages from unknown or untrustworthy sources are to always be assessed. ’Tis a common practice here, my Lady,"

"No, of course," she shook her head.

"It was not opened if such is your concern,"

"That does not concern me," she blinked one too many times before speaking again, "Is Silas back yet?"

"I am afraid not, my Lady. However, the prince wanted me to inform you that they will be leaving us in about an hour or so from now,"

"I see that hasn’t changed, at least. Thank you, Carlton. You may take your leave,"

After he did so, Arabella examined the box, flipping it slowly between her hands to see all angles of it.

Upon closer glance, it became evident that the container wasn’t identical to the previous two boxes. Not exactly, at least.

It had the same length and width but not the depth. Indeed, the one in front of her eyes might have been two inches thicker than the others.

With a lot of hesitation in her shaky motions, she pulled at one loose end of the ribbon to undo the soft and otherwise beautiful bow topping it.

Lifting the top off to reveal its content was done with a few levels higher of caution.

Although, once her eyes landed on the pretty thing inside, her shoulders relaxed as her weight sank further onto the chair.

A meticulously modeled golden brooch, adorned with the most sublime of emeralds. The quality of which rivaled the gem decorating her mother’s pendant.

The royal family would, of course, have access to all mines in Lustris despite those properties having their respectful owners.

He did say he had one more present to give but was that it? An actual, simple and generic gift for once? Under different circumstances, a brooch gifted by the prince of the land she once walked would have been an honor. A sign of genuine exoneration for her desertion, but with Cedric, Arabella knew better than to even consider the thought.

On the cushy, velvet bed of the box, beneath the brooch lay a small card. The paper used to make it was a tad thicker than parchment and certainly substantially pricier than that.

The ink painting its surface read: To the queen that could have been. It goes layers deeper than words can ever reach. I will always wait for you on the path that leads home.

The handwriting was so neat, perfect at the curvatures and sharp where needed, fitting every word on such a restrictive space. There was no way the hands of that man could have been the author of such an art piece.

But the words on it on the other hand... Those were a different story.

To the queen that could have been? Cedric still believed that she was as daft as to fall for such an obvious deception.

It goes layers deeper? As in his true feelings?

And what about the last line? By home, he definitely meant Lustris but... The path that led to it as well?

The open box remained in her second hand, weighing heavier by the second. When that realization hit, it struck her at once as Arabella had been about to put it down.

The brooch was out of it and yet it was as though it held something else. Something hidden from sight.

She held it up again and shook it lightly. The result confirmed her theory as something small jiggled following the movement of the box, but it also seemed as though whatever it was, the item did not reach the walls of its hiding place. Almost as if niched or contained within something softer.

Layers deeper than words... she whispered to herself with narrowed eyes.

It took her less than a second to figure it out before ripping the velvet bed out of the box.

Utterly frozen in place she was, eyes widening, refusing to blink even when the air stung them.

Still in her hand, the box remained until her fingers instinctively but gradually uncurled to release the cursed thing.

A perfectly conserved ear... Yes, another ear lay in the box.

That was not the worst part, however. That was not the only reason her stomach churned empty air, forcing her to bend forward and clasp her mouth.

On that specific ear lived a small, distinguishable cut. One she recognized almost immediately.

"Arthur...," she cried her brother’s name quietly.