Chapter 11 - The Return to the Capital
The return procession to Ashenmore Castle was a triumph unlike any the kingdom had seen in decades. Riding at the forefront of the royal guard was King Kalin, Princess Meera seated safely on a second mount beside him, and Eloin riding proudly at his right hand.
When the gates of the capital swung open, the populace erupted into thunderous cheers. Word had spread like wildfire: the lost princess had been rescued from a clandestine southern prison, and the low-born servant girl who had been mocked on Selection Day was the one who uncovered the plot.
Celestine Vain stood frozen on the marble steps of the grand palace as the royal party dismounted. The color had completely drained from her face. She looked past Kalin, expecting her uncle to step forward from the council line to protect their house—but Chancellor Vane was nowhere to be seen.
"Looking for your uncle, Lady Celestine?" Kalin’s voice boomed across the courtyard, cold and sharp as winter ice.
Vane’s guards had already been disarmed and placed in iron chains near the palace gates. The Chancellor himself was dragged out from the inner chambers by two elite knights, his expensive robes stained with dust, his arrogance completely shattered.
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Eloin stepped forward, her emerald silk gown sweeping across the pristine marble. She locked her strange, dual-colored eyes onto Vane’s terrified face.
"You thought burying my mother would keep your secrets safe forever," Eloin said, her voice carrying clearly across the silent courtyard. "You thought you could buy silence with stolen gold and forged trials. But the truth always has a way of coming to the surface."
