He had clearly just awoken and looked confused, glancing behind me. “Princess Sophie! This is unexpected. You are alone?”
I ignored him, ordering the guard to close the door. I didn’t think Cole would tell me the truth if he thought a guard might overhear us. When the man hesitated, I snapped, “Now!” He complied, the door swinging slowly closed, a mute protest against my order. I knew there was some risk, but I didn’t think Cole was likely to harm me, even if he was lying. Not locked in a cell with guards outside.
“I wanted to speak with you alone. I think there’s something you’re not telling me.”
Cole shook his head. “You’re very perceptive, Princess. You’re right, I didn’t tell you the truth before.”
I stepped back hurriedly, and he amended his words. “I didn’t tell you the whole truth, that is. I couldn’t, with the…prince standing there.” He had noticed my reaction to his previous references to Dominic as the Beast, then.
“Well he is not here now. I will have the truth, if you please.”
He sighed and rubbed his face. “It’s hard to know where to begin. I escaped the prison in Marin with the help of some true friends, who did not wish to see me imprisoned. But I knew that I couldn’t simply walk free. As I told you, I needed to atone for my past conduct.”
He paused and glanced at me, ruefully. “I will admit that rescuing you did not immediately occur to me. However, a party of guards sent from Marin caught up with me, somewhere inside Talinos. Prince Jonathan and Princess Lily were with them.”
I gasped at the mention of my sister. It did sound like her, though, to go chasing off after the escapee herself. Especially when she had been forced to sit idle in Marin while I came here. Although she hadn’t mentioned it to me when we had spoken in the forest. But that had been many weeks ago. Perhaps my clue from the mirror had directed their search.
“I had as little luck convincing them of my change of heart as I have had with you. But it quickly became apparent to me that they were far more concerned about the darkness in Palinar than they were about me. They seemed to think I was spreading the curse around the kingdoms or something.”
He shrugged as if confused by such a concept, and I narrowed my eyes in thought. Once again that sounded like something Lily and Jon would have said. It was, in fact, exactly what we had feared. But I knew more now than I had known previously. The curse on Palinar, if it could even be called that, was far more complex than we had assumed. It wasn’t the whole of the kingdom that had been cursed, only the royal family, and then Dominic separately—possibly, that part was still conjecture.
Jon’s godmother had been clear that the darkness twisting Dominic had found its way through him into the Tourney, and that the Tourney must therefore be destroyed. But we had merely assumed that the same darkness infected Cole and his family. Perhaps it had been pure greed that motivated them after all?
Cole had paused, as if aware I was considering his words, but when I said nothing, he continued. “I could also see how concerned Princess Lily was about you. So, I offered to prove the truth of my words by rescuing you. And all of Palinar, if I could manage it. They didn’t like the idea, of course, but I was their only option. And I suppose they considered anything better than you remaining betrothed to a cursed monster who would keep you prisoner here.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that I wasn’t a prisoner, but closed it without speaking. In every way that mattered, I was one. And I could no more deny that Dominic was cursed than that I was trapped here. I didn’t need Cole to tell me how much Lily hated the situation.
“The question is whether you know about Palinar’s succession laws.” Cole’s abrupt change of topic caught me by surprise.
“Succession? No, I don’t think it’s ever come up.” Uneasily I wondered why it had not. I knew the king was dead—why had I never asked why Dominic remained a prince? I suppose I had just assumed that everything was frozen while the curse remained.
“I’m not surprised.” Cole’s voice sounded dark, his eyes expressing anger and disgust that I somehow knew wasn’t directed at me. “I’m sure he has done everything he can to conceal the truth from you.”
I wished I could deny it, but it was exactly what Dominic had done, even ordering the servants to silence.
“Palinar has rather unusual succession laws. The heir doesn’t automatically inherit on the death of the previous monarch. Instead, the throne is considered vacant and the heir a regent, until such time as he—or she—speaks the binding words of the coronation in the great throne room in the palace of the capital.”
I frowned at him. Why would Dominic not have been crowned?
Sudden realization broke through. While the curse continued, he could not speak. There was no way for him to speak the coronation oath. So, I had been right that the whole kingdom was trapped in place until the curse was lifted.
“But,” said Cole, immediately dispelling my wrong impression. “There is a limit. The heir must speak the oath within three years, three months, three weeks and three days of the death or abdication of the previous monarch.”
I stared at him, my eyes widening. When exactly had King Nicolas died? Time is running out, the servants had said.
“But…what happens if the heir does not do so?”
Cole took a deep breath. “Then the heir forfeits his position, and the crown goes to whichever Palinaran royal is the first to make the oath. Of course, usually that would be whichever royal had the most support from the nobles, people, and guards. Especially the guards. I believe it has only ever happened once before, and they barred the entrance to the throne room to all except their preferred royal.”
My mind raced. “But what if there are no royals?” None who could speak the oath, anyway. The entire kingdom was as incapacitated as Dominic.
“What, indeed. We fear it means the whole kingdom will remain forever cursed.”
I leaned back against the stone wall, clutching my robe around me. “But what can we do?”
Cole leaned forward. “It’s clear you have some sort of softness for the prince, you even seem able to understand his growls, somehow.” He paused as if hoping I would explain, but I remained silent. “But it is equally clear that he cannot—or will not—fulfill the coronation requirements. The allocated time must be getting close. Do you know the date King Nicolas died?”
I shook my head, and he looked disappointed. “Well, we will need to find out, somehow or other.” He took a deep breath. “Because it’s up to you—to us—to save Palinar.”
I had come to this castle with exactly that aim, but I still wasn’t sure how I could do so, or what role Cole thought he would play. “What do you mean?”