POV: Evangeline
Adrian sits trembling on the floor, his tears falling faster the longer we stare at him. My heart beats in my throat, painful and frantic.
I cup his cheeks again. “Adrian, sweetheart… tell me everything. Please. I need you to explain.”
He hiccups through a sob, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “Marc… Marc believed him.”
“Believed who?” Sebastian asks gently.
“William,” Adrian whispers.
Rosemary exhales sharply behind me. Georgina covers her mouth.
Adrian continues, voice cracking, “Marc is… he’s too nice. Too trusting. William was always sweet to him. He said Marc was special. Said he wanted to be his friend. Marc believed all of it.”
My stomach twists. “And you didn’t?”
Adrian shakes his head violently. “No! I knew something was wrong with him! I could feel it. Every time Marc came back after seeing William, he was different. Too excited. Too… trusting.”
He squeezes his eyes shut. “I tried to stop it. I swear I tried.”
Sebastian’s brows knit. “How?”
Adrian hesitates, guilt flooding his face. “Sometimes… I went to meet William myself.”
I pull back, stunned. “What?”
Rosemary steps forward. “He’s telling the truth, Your Majesties. I saw him speaking to William in the orchard.”
Adrian looks between us with frightened eyes. “I only wanted to tell him to stay away from Marc. I told him to stop talking to him. I told him Mother said he wasn’t allowed to be near us.”
I whisper, “Adrian…”
“He just smiled at me,” Adrian says, trembling. “He said he wouldn’t hurt Marc. That Marc liked him. That they were meant to be friends. And Marc… he believed that. He followed him today because William said he needed him.”
My hand covers my mouth.
“He said he needed him,” Adrian repeats, voice shaking. “And Marc—he just went. He didn’t even look back.”
Sebastian stands slowly, fists clenched at his sides. “Henry orchestrated all of it.”
Rosemary nods grimly. “Marc was the perfect target. Innocent. Warm-hearted. Easy to deceive.”
“I should have noticed,” I whisper, a wave of nausea rolling through me. “I should have seen the signs.”
Adrian’s voice wavers. “I—I tried to tell you, Mother.”
My throat tightens. “When?”
“That day…” His voice breaks. “The day you shouted at me. When I said I met William and you told me never to speak to him again. I tried to explain. I tried to tell you Marc was getting closer to him, not me. But you… you didn’t let me talk.”
My breath collapses.
Sebastian kneels beside me, eyes widening in alarm. Rosemary looks away, jaw tight. Georgina presses a hand to Adrian’s shoulder, silently comforting him.
Adrian sniffles. “You were sad about Uncle Alexandro. You didn’t want to hear anything. And Father’s always gone trying to fix the curse. So nobody listened to me.”
I feel something sharp crack inside my chest.
I failed him. I failed both of them.
“Oh, Adrian…” My voice breaks as tears rise. “I am so sorry. I should have listened. I should have—”
“I tried,” he whispers. “I really tried.”
I pull him into my arms and hold him tightly. He clings to me, still shaking.
I look up at Sebastian with wide, terrified eyes. “Marc is with Henry now. Henry—” My voice shatters. “He’ll hurt him. He’ll kill him.”
Sebastian stands abruptly. “No. He won’t.”
“You don’t know that!” I scream, rising to my feet. “Henry wants to destroy us. He took my brother. And now he has our son.”
Sebastian reaches for me, but I step back, trembling. “No. No more waiting. No more pretending we have time.”
“Evangeline—”
“I’m going to kill him,” I whisper, voice cold and cracking. “I’m going to kill Henry myself if I have to.”
Rosemary’s head snaps toward me. “My Queen—”
But I don’t hear her. My mind is already spiraling with one goal, one truth, one path. I march toward Rosemary and rip her sword from her sheath before she can react.
“Evangeline!” Sebastian shouts, moving after me.
“I’m done sitting in fear!” I snap. “I’m done letting him take my family piece by piece! I will end him myself if that’s what it takes!”
I turn toward the hall.
Sebastian grabs my wrist—not hard, but firmly enough to stop me. “You’re not going.”
“I am.”
“You’re not,” he repeats, voice shaking.
“Sebastian—let go.”
“No.” His grip tightens. “You think I’m letting you walk into Henry’s hands? You think I’m letting you die? Absolutely not.”
I fling his hand away. “He has our son!”
“I know!” Sebastian shouts back, eyes filling with anguish. “Do you think I don’t feel the same fear you do? Do you think I don’t want to tear the world apart to get Marc back?”
He steps closer, desperate. “But if you go alone, Henry kills you. And then what? Marc dies anyway. Adrian loses you. I lose you.”
My breathing is ragged, tears burning my eyes. “Sebastian, please—”
“We will get him back,” he promises, voice raw. “Together.”
I swallow hard. “And if we don’t?”
“We will,” he insists.
I shake my head. “You don’t know that.”
He gently places his hands on my shoulders. “Give me time. Give me a chance to find where Henry is, to gather a plan, to bring Marc home safely.”
My lips tremble. “I can’t wait forever. I won’t.”
“You won’t have to.” Sebastian leans closer. “Give me two days. Just two. And I swear to you—I will move heaven and earth to bring Marc back.”
I stare at him, trembling, torn between terror and hope and desperation.
“Two days,” he repeats softly. “Please.”
My fingers loosen around Rosemary’s sword. My throat tightens painfully.
Finally, I whisper:
“You have two days… or I go myself.”