Marshall nodded. "That was when the council rose to power. The royal house fell, and the heads of the two noble houses were murdered." He looked over at Amelia. "That would be your great-grandparents and the Ashleighs' great-grandparents. The two noble families wouldn't be able to return to Storm Keep for nearly one hundred years, and even then, they weren't allowed to move back into the royal palace. So, the surviving family members slowly bought up most of the land around the castle and built the two enormous estates that still stand today, the left and right sides that create the gate tower for the upper city.
"To this day, we have carried out our sworn duties to protect the royal family. We, the Ironwoods, act as the royal shield; the Ashleighs act as the royal sword. We protect the royal family from harm and they destroy their enemies."
"Well, obviously y'all did a real bang-up job, seeing as how they were kicked out of their own castle and have been missing for five thousand years," Meryn said sarcastically.
Marshall winced. "I have spoken with Thane's father and compared the journals that we have from our parents. There is more to the story than we know. Despite actually being there and witnessing everything firsthand, their accounts of the events of that night are sketchy. Even our covert interviews with the few remaining witches who were alive at the time revealed the same exact vague details. Whatever happened was so subtle and so precisely done that the entire kingdom failed to realize something huge had taken place. It was only after I compared my notes with Thane's that we even saw the pattern. When asked certain questions, everyone gave the exact same response. It was as if one day we had a king, and the next, we had a council, and no one marked the change."
"That's impossible! The people must have turned on the king, there's no spell that can affect so many different people all at once," Kendrick insisted.
Marshall nodded. "You're right, which is what led Thane and me to Noctem Falls."
Kendrick sucked in his breath. "The vampires?"
Gavriel shook his head, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Wait a moment, what you are suggesting could be grounds for the next Great War; be very careful what you say."
Anne gripped Kendrick's hand tightly. He squeezed her fingers and covered their joined hands with his right hand. He turned to her, and she watched his lips move silently. She felt the pressure in her ears build.
He turned to her. "We don't have much time before Marshall notices that I cast a soundproof bubble."
"What do you need me to do?" Anne asked. Whatever was happening, she knew she would do anything he asked.
"My levelheaded nurse." He smiled tightly. "I will have to reveal some things that may change our lives forever. But if you tell me right now that you don't want any part of this mess, I won't say anything. We can remain an archivist and a nurse and probably live a fairly normal life."
Anne searched his face for a clue to what he was talking about; all she saw was sadness. "If you say whatever you were going to say, could it save lives?"
He nodded once.
"If you don't say anything, could good people die?"
He nodded again.
She brought his hand up to her lips and kissed his hand. "Then I think you already know what we should do."
He turned their hands over and kissed hers in return. "I love you, Anne Bennett. I wanted you to know that before everything changes. I loved you from the moment I saw you in my dreams. I loved the way you wept for my brother because you saw your friend was hurt. I love how you can watch a love story and be swept away. I love how, in a crisis, you remain a rock in the storm. Fate could not have chosen better for me."
"And I love you, too, Kendrick Ashwood. I love how you can tease one moment and be serious the next. I love how protective you are of the ones you care about. I love how patient you were with me, how you weren't pushy or angry about our situation. I love that you are probably the most powerful one at this table, but you're also the kindest."
"I have to collapse the bubble now." He leaned forward and kissed her lightly.
She smiled. "Remind me to tell you about our sons later."
"What!" Kendrick exclaimed.
All eyes turned to them. Aiden looked around as if evaluating possible threats. "Everything okay, Kendrick?"
Anne looked up at her mate and smiled. She reached up and patted his cheek. "He'll be okay," she said casually.
Kendrick blinked, then blinked again. He turned, looked at everyone, and blinked again.
Anne, super nurse, one. Almighty Kendrick, zero. This will probably be one of the best moments of our relationship. I should take a picture!
Anne reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. "Kendrick, look this way."
He turned, still looking shocked. She clicked the picture and put her phone away.
"You are a very, very evil woman," he croaked.
"Don't be silly." She looked at Marshall. "I'm sorry, what were you saying? We may have missed a bit."
Marshall had an amused expression on his face as he looked between them. "Kendrick, welcome to being mated." He tuned back to Gavriel. "As I was saying, we don't believe that the entire vampire race is plotting against the witches. Hell, we're not even saying a large faction even knows what happened, but the only explanation for that many people suddenly being perfectly fine with losing their beloved king is if they were manipulated by either a very powerful vampire or a small group of vampires working together."
Amelia looked at her parents. "Why? Why didn't you tell me? Why did you let me think that you just didn't want me?"
Lily covered her face, and Marshall reached past his mate to run a hand over Amelia's hair. Anne could tell Amelia had been hurt by her parents' revelations.
Marshall smiled at his daughter. "Because my darling, it was the only way to keep you safe. There wasn't a day that went by that we didn't think of you."
Amelia wiped at her eyes. "What about that day when I was little, in the forest, when you tried to teach me to commune with nature, and I ended up covered in bug bites? Was that just an act to make me believe your story?"
Lily shook her head. "We were being tracked and monitored. It was the only way I could think of to make you sit still. We didn't come home for a long time after that."
Darian held Amelia close. "Why now? After all these millennia, why did you have to leave right after Amelia was born?" His voice was stern. It was clear he didn't like anything upsetting his mate, even her own parents.
Marshall responded. "Thane Ashleigh had a vision that our king would return. So, we started searching for him while he and his brothers tried to uncover the truth about what happened five thousand years ago. We're supposed to find our king and queen and protect them, and they are to eliminate any remaining threat to them."
Marshall looked at Amelia with tears in his eyes. "The safety of our king and the future of our kingdom are the only things that could have taken us from you."
Beside her, Kendrick took a deep breath. "What if I asked you to abandon your search? What if I reached out to Thane, Justice, and Law and called them in? What would you do?"
Marshall frowned. "Why would we give up now when we're so close? Why should we abandon our missions? For decades we have sacrificed so much to see our kingdom restored. You may not see it Kendrick, but I do. Every day, witches are moving away from who we are as a people. They are abandoning the old ways, and the only thing that matters to them are their assessment scores. Storm Keep has become a corporation where the council is practically selling the services of our people to the highest bidder. King Kiran would never stand for this. He believes in the connection to nature and our Gods. King Kiran--"
"Is dead," Kendrick said softly.
Marshall stared at him. "You lie," he choked out.
Kendrick shook his head. "I wish I were. I buried them both, with my own hands, three hundred years ago."
Lily began to shake. "But we found a cabin; we found King Kiran's signet ring."
Kendrick looked at her, pity in his eyes. "Do you think that the king would leave something so important behind?"
Marshall took a deep breath. "They have to be alive, or everything was for nothing."
"They are buried about a half mile behind the cabin, in a small clearing at the edge of the forest, under a large oak tree." Kendrick's voice was calm, even gentle.
Marshall slammed his hands on the table. "How could you keep something like this a secret?" he demanded.
Kendrick looked him in the eye. "Who was I to tell? Their enemies knew they were dead, and their people had long since forgotten them."
Lily eyed him with suspicion. "Why you? Why did you know where they were? Did they contact you? Why couldn't you save them?" Her voice was filled with emotion.
Beside her, Kendrick clenched both fists. "You think I didn't want to save them? That I wouldn't trade places with them in an instant if I could?" He threw his head back and laughed.
Anne's eyes filled with tears. The laughter she heard wasn't born of mirth; it was dredged from the darkest places of his soul, through pain and a sorrow so deep she couldn't imagine ever smiling again after laughing like that.
Kendrick's macabre laughter echoed through the room. When he was done, his eyes looked empty. He smiled, but it was hollow. "Forget about your grandiose dream of a kingdom that will never exist. Even if he was still alive, I would never stand by and allow him to give up his happiness to serve a bunch of weak-willed sycophants who allowed their one true king to be routed from his home and chased like an animal." There was a sharp edge to his words. "Storm Keep deserves exactly what they got, a council that dictates their lives according to the rule of power."