Chapter 5: The Name Written in Blood

Silas stared at Daniel.

For a moment, he thought he had misunderstood him.

"Repeat that."

Daniel swallowed.

"They found your father's name written on the body."

Silas's fingers tightened around the silver ring.

"Written how?"

"I don't know, Master Silas. I only heard the guards talking. They said the body was hidden behind a locked door in the western wing."

"Who discovered it?"

"Commander Rowan."

Silas looked towards the corridor.

"Where is the prince?"

"With the commander, I believe."

Silas reached for his coat.

Daniel moved in front of him.

"You cannot go there."

Silas raised an eyebrow.

"Are you giving me orders now?"

"No, sir. But the guards have been instructed not to allow anyone near the western wing."

"Then they will have to decide whether they want to stop me."

Daniel looked genuinely frightened.

"Master Silas, please. If the prince discovers you went there, he will be furious."

Silas gave a humourless smile.

"Daniel, the prince is already furious with me. I would rather give him a good reason."

He opened the door.

Daniel followed.

The western wing was darker than the rest of the palace.

Even the torches seemed reluctant to illuminate its narrow corridors. Dust covered the stone floor, and the heavy curtains hanging from the windows had faded almost completely.

Two royal guards stood before a large wooden door.

Their weapons crossed immediately when Silas approached.

"Stop."

Silas looked at them.

"I need to speak with Commander Rowan."

"The commander is occupied."

"Then inform him that Silas Vey is here."

The guards exchanged glances.

One of them stepped forward.

"You cannot enter this wing."

Silas studied him.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you should understand why I am not leaving."

The guard hesitated.

Before he could answer, a familiar voice came from behind them.

"Let him through."

Commander Rowan appeared at the end of the corridor.

He looked irritated.

"Your Highness will not appreciate this."

Silas glanced around.

"Is he here?"

"Yes."

"Then I am certain he will find a way to express his displeasure."

Rowan sighed and stepped aside.

"Stay close. Do not touch anything."

Silas walked past him.

Daniel remained behind.

The room beyond the door was enormous.

It appeared to have once been an office or private study. Tall shelves lined the walls, most of them empty. A large wooden desk stood near the window, and several cabinets had been forced open.

Cassian stood beside the desk.

His coat was removed, leaving him in a black shirt with its sleeves rolled to his elbows.

He looked up when Silas entered.

His expression darkened.

"What are you doing here?"

Silas ignored the question.

"Where is the body?"

Cassian's gaze moved briefly to Rowan.

"I see my instructions are becoming increasingly difficult to enforce."

Rowan folded his arms.

"He arrived before I could stop him."

Silas walked towards the centre of the room.

"Show me."

Cassian stepped into his path.

"No."

Silas looked at him.

"Move."

"Do not mistake my patience for permission."

"And do not mistake my presence for obedience."

For several seconds, neither moved.

Then Cassian turned towards Rowan.

"Take him to the body. I will join you."

Rowan nodded.

Silas walked past the prince without another word.

But as he crossed the doorway, Cassian caught his wrist.

"Listen carefully."

Silas looked down at his hand.

"Release me."

Cassian did.

"If what you see is connected to your father, you will not act without speaking to me."

Silas's expression became unreadable.

"That depends on what I find."

"Silas."

It was the first time Cassian had said his name without sounding irritated.

Silas looked at him.

"I have spent six years waiting for answers. I am not going to stand quietly while you decide which truths I am allowed to know."

Then he followed Rowan.

The body lay in a smaller room behind the study.

A physician's uniform covered it.

The man's face was almost unrecognizable, but his age appeared to be somewhere between forty and fifty.

Silas stopped at the entrance.

There was a strange smell in the room, a mixture of dust, old leather and something metallic.

A piece of parchment rested beside the body.

Silas approached slowly.

"Is this the man who was found here?"

Rowan nodded.

"He was hidden behind the cabinet. The door was locked from the outside."

Silas looked at the body.

"How long has he been dead?"

"The palace physician estimates six years."

"Six years," Silas repeated.

He crouched beside the body.

The man's left hand was clenched.

Silas carefully examined it.

There was something beneath his fingers.

A small piece of black fabric.

He looked at Rowan.

"Did you see this?"

Rowan shook his head.

Silas carefully pulled the fabric free.

It was embroidered with a small silver symbol.

A raven.

His breath caught.

It was the crest of House Vey.

"Where did this come from?"

Rowan leaned closer.

"I don't know."

Silas stared at the fabric.

His father had worn a cloak bearing that same emblem on the night their family was attacked.

He remembered it because his father had placed the cloak around his shoulders before sending him away.

Silas looked at the dead man's face again.

"Who was he?"

"We haven't identified him."

Silas examined the uniform.

The royal physician's crest was sewn onto the breast pocket, but the stitching was different from the uniforms currently used by palace staff.

He touched the edge of the badge.

"This is old."

Rowan nodded.

"It belonged to the previous royal medical staff."

Silas looked at him.

"Before my uncle?"

"Before him as well."

"How many royal physicians served under the late king?"

"Three, according to the official records."

"And how many are alive?"

Rowan did not answer.

Silas looked towards the body.

"Do you know this man?"

"No."

"You're lying."

Rowan's jaw tightened.

"Be careful, Silas."

Silas stood.

"You have the expression of a man who has recognized a ghost."

Before Rowan could respond, footsteps sounded behind them.

Cassian entered.

"What have you found?"

Silas held up the black fabric.

"House Vey."

Cassian examined it.

"Where did you find that?"

"In his hand."

The prince turned towards the body.

"Do you recognize him?"

"No."

Silas looked at Rowan.

"But someone here does."

Cassian followed his gaze.

"Commander?"

Rowan hesitated.

Then he stepped closer.

"I believe this man served in the royal household before I joined the army."

"Name?"

"His name was Master Corvin."

Cassian's expression changed.

"Corvin?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"That is impossible."

Silas looked between them.

"Who was he?"

Cassian took a moment before answering.

"He was my father's private secretary."

Silas felt the room grow colder.

"Your father's secretary was found dead inside a sealed room in the western wing, wearing a physician's uniform?"

Cassian stared at the body.

"Apparently."

"Why would he wear it?"

"That is what we are going to discover."

Silas looked at the parchment beside the corpse.

"Has anyone read this?"

Rowan shook his head.

"It was found beneath his body. We were waiting for you to arrive."

Silas looked at Cassian.

"May I?"

The prince nodded.

Silas picked it up.

The paper was yellowed with age. Several lines had been written in faded ink, but one sentence remained clear.

The prince must never learn what happened to the seventh child.

Silas read it again.

The seventh child.

He looked at Cassian.

"What does this mean?"

Cassian's expression had become completely unreadable.

"I don't know."

But Silas noticed something.

The prince's right hand had closed into a fist.

And for the first time since Silas had met him, Cassian looked afraid.

"Everyone out."

Cassian's command was immediate.

Rowan frowned.

"Your Highness?"

"Leave us."

The commander hesitated before bowing.

Silas remained beside the body.

Cassian waited until the door closed.

Then he turned.

"Where did you get that ring?"

Silas looked down at his hand.

His father's ring.

"Why?"

"Show me."

"No."

Cassian stepped closer.

"Silas, this is important."

"Then explain why."

The prince looked at the ring.

"That symbol."

Silas turned it over.

"The raven?"

"No. The inscription inside."

Silas's stomach tightened.

He had not told anyone about the inscription.

"How do you know there is an inscription?"

Cassian stared at him.

"Because I have seen it before."

"Where?"

"My father's private collection."

Silas looked at him carefully.

"Why would my father have the same ring as something belonging to your father?"

"Perhaps because your families were closer than you were told."

Silas laughed bitterly.

"My father was murdered, my family destroyed, and you expect me to believe there was some secret friendship between our houses?"

"I expect you to consider that you may not know the entire story."

Silas looked away.

He hated that possibility.

He had spent years building his revenge around a simple truth: the royal family had destroyed his family.

Now every new discovery seemed to pull another stone from beneath his feet.

Cassian approached the table and examined the parchment.

"The seventh child," he murmured.

Silas watched him.

"You know something."

Cassian did not deny it.

"When I was a boy, I heard my father arguing with someone about seven children."

"Who?"

"I don't remember."

"Convenient."

"I was young."

"How young?"

"Ten."

Silas studied his face.

"Did you ask him?"

"No."

"Why?"

Cassian looked at the body.

"Because the following morning, the person he had been arguing with was gone."

Silas felt his chest tighten.

"Who was it?"

"My father's private secretary."

"Corvin?"

Cassian nodded.

Silas looked at the dead man.

"So he disappeared twenty years ago, and now we find him dead in a room that has been locked for years."

"Yes."

"And my father knew him."

"Apparently."

Silas stepped closer.

"What happened to the seven children?"

Cassian's silence lasted too long.

"Silas, I don't know."

"Then we find out."

The prince looked at him.

"We?"

Silas gave him a cold smile.

"Unless you intend to solve this without me."

"I intend to keep you alive."

"How romantic."

Cassian's eyes narrowed.

"Do you ever take anything seriously?"

Silas looked at the dead man.

"More seriously than you think."

That evening, Silas returned to his chamber with more questions than answers.

He placed the ring on the table and took out the parchment he had copied from the western wing.

The seventh child.

He wrote the words on a separate sheet.

Then he added the names of the five people on his private list.

Cassian Vale.

Lord Adrian.

Two former royal officials.

And one name he had never been able to trace.

He stared at the list.

If his father had known about the children, perhaps the destruction of House Vey had not been about political betrayal.

Perhaps it had been about silence.

A knock interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in."

Daniel entered carrying a tray.

"Your dinner, sir."

Silas looked at him.

"Has anything happened?"

Daniel hesitated.

"Not that I know of."

"You're a terrible liar."

The young servant placed the tray on the table.

"I heard something."

Silas leaned back.

"Go on."

"The guards were talking about the physician."

"Elias?"

Daniel shook his head.

"No. The dead man."

Silas waited.

"They said someone had already entered the room before Commander Rowan found the body."

Silas sat upright.

"Who?"

"They don't know."

"Was anything missing?"

Daniel looked towards the door.

"One of the guards said the dead man's tongue had been cut out."

Silas went still.

He remembered the body.

The pale face.

The closed mouth.

The way the darkness had hidden certain details.

"Are you sure?"

Daniel nodded.

"That's not all."

Silas's eyes narrowed.

"What else?"

"The guard said there was a message carved beneath the desk."

Silas stood.

"What message?"

Daniel swallowed.

"Three words."

"Tell me."

The servant looked directly at him.

"THE HEIR IS ALIVE."

Silas felt the blood drain from his face.

The heir.

Which heir?

Cassian?

A child of the late king?

Or someone from House Vey?

Before he could ask another question, a loud crash sounded from the corridor.

Daniel jumped.

Silas reached for his knife.

Then came the unmistakable sound of guards shouting.

"Secure the prince!"

Silas rushed towards the door.

But before he could open it, someone struck it from the other side.

Once.

Twice.

Then a familiar voice called his name.

"Silas!"

Cassian.

Silas unlocked the door.

The prince stood outside, his shirt stained with blood.

His face was pale with fury.

Behind him, Commander Rowan was holding a wounded guard upright.

"What happened?" Silas demanded.

Cassian grabbed his arm.

"Elias is missing."

Silas's heart stopped.

"What?"

"The eastern guest chamber is empty. The guards are unconscious."

"Did someone take him?"

Cassian looked directly into his eyes.

"No."

He paused.

Then said something that made Silas's stomach turn.

"The guards claim your uncle walked out willingly."

Silas stared at him.

"That's impossible."

Cassian's expression hardened.

"Then explain this."

He opened his hand.

Resting in his palm was a small piece of parchment.

Silas recognized the handwriting immediately.

It belonged to Elias.

The message contained only one sentence.

Tell Silas that his father did not have one son.

Silas read it once.

Then again.

His fingers began to tremble.

He had always believed he was the only surviving child of House Vey.

But if his father had another son—

Who was he?

And why had everyone hidden him?

Cassian folded the parchment.

"Silas, how many children did your father have?"

Silas looked at him.

"I was an only child."

Cassian's eyes darkened.

"Then someone has spent a great deal of effort making you believe that."