Chapter 34 CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
ROSALINDA
Diana? Cyrus's ex? My heart lurched at the news. I didn't stop to think, I hurried down to the palace gates, only to find a disheveled woman being held back by guards.
"Let her pass!" I commanded, instantly making the guards stand aside. Immediately, Diana rushed to me, her face pale and tear streaked, she didn't look like someone who came to visit, she looked like someone whose world was coming down to an end.
"Princess Rosalinda," she gasped. "I-I-"
"Diana," I said, holding her steady in my arms, my maids attempted to take her off me but I told them to stand down. "What is it?"
"I heard what happened," she admitted, her eyes widening with each word. "Cyrus, he-"
"Diana," I said calmly despite my inner turmoil. "Take a deep breath, he won't die-"
"I have to tell you something. Somewhere private."
I looked around, noticing how almost every one eyes were now on us. I nodded and led her quickly to the library. "Stay out and keep guard, let no one in." I instructed my maids and guards who nodded and stood outside as I slammed the heavy oak doors.
Diana sat on a chair, breathing hard, she was fidgeting with her fingers as she gnawed on her bottom lip.
"Diana," I moved closer to her, holding her shaking hands as I bent low. "You didn't just come here for nothing. What is it?"
"When, I-" she gasped and then shook her head, her ginger hair falling to her sides. "When I heard that Cyrus was going to be sentenced, I- instantly knew why...especially-"
"Especially when what, Diana?"
"Especially when..." She looked up, her eyes widening with a fear that threatened to consume her. "I heard Prince Valerius was the one who captured him."
"I don't understand... You also believe it's a set up?"
"I know it is," she frowns, her voice hardening. "Rosalinda, it's high time I tell you the truth,"
"And that is?"
"It's about Cyrus... I know you think I'm just his ex lover, but that's not it. Cyrus and I...we are from the same kingdom. The Elrondi kingdom. Princes Valerius's realm."
My eyes widened at her words, my breath shuddered as I remembered the pendants.
'There's a connection between Valerius and Cyrus that I don't understand.' Zade's words from earlier rang in my head.
"If Cyrus is a subject of Elrondi..." I whispered as the worse possible case scenario began to play in my head. "Then why would Valerius have him killed?"
"Because that's not all..." Diana broke down, her sobs racking her thin frame. She gripped my arms strongly. "He swore that I should never say this...but this is the only way to save him...I love him more than life itself that I can't let him die because of this..."
"Diana...I don't understand... What are you saying...."
She sniffled and looked up, staring at me dead in the eyes. "Princess Rosalinda. Grayson is Cyrus. He never died..right now..he's in that cell..."
The world titled as the words left her lips. The library, the books, the very floor beneath my feet seemed to vanish, leaving me falling into a dark, freezing void.
I had always had my doubts.
I always thought I could have been imagining things but this...
If Diana was telling the truth then that means...Grayson was alive.
And I had just left him to die once again.
"But..." She continued, her already trembling hands began to tremble even more, indicating that she had something more darker to reveal. "That's not all. The real reason why Valerius wants Grayson is out is because. They are stepbrothers. Two Princes born the same day in the house of the Grants," her voice broke as she continued. "However...one was born by a maid, the other by the Queen....Cyrus was born by the Queen-but-" she suddenly stopped, her breaths coming in ragged, then she took a deep breath and continued. "Valerius's mother was ambitious and had the babies switched."
I let go of her hands as I fell on my knees, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. The air in the small, cramped room felt thick, like I was breathing in wool.
The pendant.
'It's a Royal Crest.'
'There's a connection between Valerius and Cyrus that I don't understand.'
'Valerius wants him dead and I don't know why.'
It all made sense.
"My mother saw it happen," Diana still continued, but my mind was already in a maze, trying to put all the words together. "Actually," Diana had now broken into tears, her small frame trembling as she let out strangled sobs. "She was the maid who had the babies switched."
"But even though, the king took a liking to the supposed bastard son that was kept away in the shadows....and..."
"And what?!" I suddenly blurt out, my anger overtaking my fear and shock. I stepped foward, and grabbed her. "What is it?!"
"In order for the truth to be concealed....Valerius's biological mother ran away with Cyrus and came here. Your father, King Theron, upon knowing the truth as he and Valeriu's mother are distant cousins, kept his mouth shut and let her stay. However, a bastard is a bastard. When Valerius somehow found out that his mother was related to King Theron and the true Prince still lived, even as a child, he sought to find him and kill him to secure his place ...permanently and forever hide the truth from the public," Diana's voice cracked, a jagged sound that tore through the silence of the room. She looked up, her eyes swimming with a mixture of guilt and terror. "And when Valerius found out that the girl he was meant to marry had already fallen for his brother... He planned with his father...lied and manipulated everyone to stage a war...just for only one purpose. Kill Cyrus or rather Grayson." She was now sobbing, heavy racking heaves that made her small frame look even more fragile. "When Grayson's body was pushed off the cliff years ago, my mother found me and together we took care of him, for some time his memories were lost, and we all prayed it remained that way, but one day...he got them back and since then he never forgot. In order to keep him safe, we had him change his identity. However when he save Prince Zade years ago, we couldn't hold him back. Mom died...and I was left alone."
The room spun as if the floor had titled in its axis. Grayson. He wasn't just alive... He was the future King to the Elrondi kingdom... My father....he knew....all along....he knew. Again, my knees gave out, this time it felt heavier than before, almost as if they were suddenly made of water. The weight of Diana's words felt like a physical ache, a mountain of lead pressed down on my shoulders.
A wave of nausea rolled over her. Every interaction, every thing I had ever been told was a lie. I reached out for a chair to stand up, only to fall again. Diana rushed to my side but when we held each other, we burst into tears.
"I'm sorry," Diana sobbed as she held me tighter against her chest. "I just had to tell you the truth."
All of a sudden, something snapped in me. I gently pushed Diana off me and stood up. "I'll end this."
"Rosalinda, Don't-"
"No. Don't you get it? All Valerius wants is to get Grayson out of his way for good! It was all a plan!"
"Rosalinda, Please," she got up and held my arm but I snatched it away immediately.
"Do you want him to die?"
She lowered her gaze and nodded. "No, I don't. But...this is too much...we both can't just-"
"I don't need you to. I'll do it alone." I said, and turned, headed towards the door. "I can cry later, but now I'm going to do the right thing everyone should have down before." Just as I reached out for the door knob, the door burst open, revealing Seraphina who was standing there with red rimmed eyes, almost as if she had been crying.
She looked at Diana, then back at me. "What did you just say?"