Chapter Five The Lost Princess

Aria couldn’t hear anything.

The room was full of people, yet everything sounded distant.

The guards.

The servants.

Prince Kael.

Even the Queen’s quiet sobs.

All she could hear were three words repeating inside her head.

The lost princess.

She stared at King Darius.

“No.”

The word came out barely above a whisper.

Darius didn’t move.

“You are my daughter.”

Aria shook her head.

“No, I’m not.”

“You are.”

“I can’t be.”

Her voice grew louder.

“I was a servant.”

Elara stepped toward her.

“You were never a servant.”

Aria looked at the Queen.

“You don’t understand.”

“I do.”

“No, you don’t!”

Everyone went silent.

Aria’s eyes filled with tears.

“You can’t suddenly tell me I’m your daughter after eighteen years!”

Elara’s expression broke.

“I know.”

“You don’t know anything about me!”

“I know you were taken from me.”

Aria stared at her.

“I know I searched for you every day.”

The Queen’s voice trembled.

“I know I kept your room exactly the way it was because I couldn’t accept that you were gone.”

Aria’s lips parted.

“You had a room?”

Elara nodded.

“I never stopped believing you’d come home.”

Aria looked away.

She didn’t know what she was supposed to feel.

Anger?

Happiness?

Relief?

She felt everything at once.

Darius approached slowly.

“You don’t have to accept us today.”

Aria looked at him.

“But you deserve to know the truth.”

He pulled the silver pendant from around his neck.

“This belonged to your mother.”

He opened the pendant.

Inside was a tiny painting.

A young Queen Elara holding a newborn baby.

Aria stared at it.

The baby had white fur.

Silver eyes.

And a tiny crescent-shaped mark on her shoulder.

Aria instinctively touched her own shoulder.

Her breath caught.

“It was you,” Darius whispered.

Aria couldn’t answer.

That night, Aria sat alone in the room the Queen had given her.

It wasn’t a servant’s room.

It was enormous.

A large bed stood against the wall, covered in white sheets. Moonlight entered through tall windows. There was a wardrobe filled with clothes she had never owned before.

Everything was beautiful.

But she didn’t feel comfortable.

She sat at the edge of the bed.

For eighteen years, she had dreamed of having a family.

Now she had one.

And somehow, that made her more afraid.

A soft knock came at the door.

Aria looked up.

“Come in.”

The door opened.

Queen Elara entered.

She wasn’t wearing her crown.

She looked less like a Queen and more like a mother.

“May I sit?”

Aria nodded.

Elara sat beside her.

For several moments, neither spoke.

Then Elara reached into her pocket.

She brought out a tiny white ribbon.

Aria stared at it.

“I tied this around your wrist the night you were born.”

Aria took it carefully.

“I kept it all these years.”

Her fingers trembled.

“I don’t remember.”

“You were only a few hours old.”

Elara smiled sadly.

“You used to make the strangest little sounds.”

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“And you hated being wrapped too tightly.”

Aria looked at the ribbon.

“Why didn’t you find me?”

Elara closed her eyes.

“We tried.”

“Then why couldn’t you?”

“We didn’t know where they took you.”

Aria’s voice became bitter.

“Did you give up?”

Elara immediately shook her head.

“Never.”

She reached for Aria’s hand.

“We searched every village. Every neighboring kingdom. Every rogue territory.”

Her voice cracked.

“Your father nearly started a war.”

Aria looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because someone sent us a message saying you had been killed.”

Aria froze.

“Who?”

“We don’t know.”

Elara looked toward the window.

“But whoever did it wanted us to believe you were dead.”

Aria’s fingers tightened around the ribbon.

“Why would someone steal me?”

Elara didn’t answer immediately.

Finally, she whispered:

“Because of what you are.”

Aria frowned.

“What am I?”

Elara looked into her silver eyes.

“A White Wolf.”

The next morning, the palace was in chaos.

News had spread.

The lost princess had returned.

Servants whispered about it.

Guards bowed whenever Aria passed.

Nobles arrived from different parts of the kingdom.

Everyone wanted to see her.

Aria hated it.

She had spent eighteen years being invisible.

Now everyone was staring.

A royal attendant helped her into a simple white dress.

“I don’t need all this,” Aria said.

“You are the princess.”

“I don’t feel like one.”

The attendant smiled.

“You will.”

Aria looked into the mirror.

She barely recognized herself.

Her hair had been styled.

The dress was elegant.

A small silver crown rested on the table.

She stared at it.

She wasn’t ready to wear it.

At breakfast, Aria sat beside Queen Elara.

King Darius sat at the head of the table.

Kael sat across from her.

He hadn’t said much since the previous night.

Aria noticed him watching her.

“What?”

Kael looked away.

“Nothing.”

“You’ve been staring at me.”

“I was thinking.”

“About what?”

He hesitated.

“About how different everything is now.”

Aria frowned.

“How?”

“Yesterday you were a maid.”

“And today?”

“Today you’re a princess.”

Aria sighed.

“I don’t feel different.”

Kael looked directly at her.

“You’re not.”

She blinked.

“What?”

“You’re still Aria.”

Something about those words comforted her.

Before she could respond, the dining hall doors opened.

A group of nobles entered.

The first was an older man with gray hair.

He bowed to Darius.

“Your Majesty.”

Darius nodded.

“Lord Victor.”

Victor looked at Aria.

His expression changed.

For one brief moment, fear flashed across his face.

Aria noticed.

“So this is the princess.”

He smiled.

But there was nothing warm about it.

“I heard she was beautiful.”

Darius’s eyes narrowed.

“Choose your words carefully.”

Victor bowed.

“Of course.”

Aria studied him.

There was something strange about him.

She couldn’t explain it.

Her wolf reacted the moment he came near.

A warning growled inside her mind.

Danger.

Aria stiffened.

Victor noticed.

His smile disappeared for half a second.

Then he turned away.

That afternoon, Aria walked through the palace garden.

She needed fresh air.

Everything had changed too quickly.

She touched one of the white roses growing beside the fountain.

Then she heard footsteps.

She turned.

Kael stood behind her.

“You followed me?”

“I was looking for you.”

“Why?”

He shrugged.

“Father wants you protected.”

Aria laughed bitterly.

“I survived eighteen years without royal protection.”

“That doesn’t mean you were safe.”

She looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

Kael became serious.

“The person who stole you may still be alive.”

Aria’s smile disappeared.

“You think they’ll come for me?”

“I know they might.”

She stared at him.

“Why?”

“Because you are no longer hidden.”

He stepped closer.

“Everyone knows you’re alive now.”

Aria swallowed.

“And what happens if they find me?”

Kael looked into her eyes.

“They won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’ll make sure they don’t.”

For some reason, his words made her feel safer.

Then—

A sharp pain struck Aria’s chest.

She gasped.

Her eyes flashed silver.

The world around her blurred.

She saw a woman.

The same woman from her visions.

The hooded figure.

This time, the woman’s face was visible.

Aria stared.

She knew her.

She had seen that face in the palace.

Recently.

Very recently.

The vision disappeared.

Aria stumbled.

Kael caught her.

“Aria!”

She grabbed his arm.

“I know who stole me.”

His expression hardened.

“Who?”

Aria looked toward the palace.

Her face had gone pale.

“She is here.”

“Who?”

Aria whispered:

“The Queen’s closest lady.”

Kael froze.

“You’re certain?”

Aria nodded.

“I saw her face.”

Then a scream echoed from the palace.

Both of them turned.

Guards came running through the garden.

“Princess!”

Aria stood.

“What happened?”

The guard was breathless.

“The Queen has been poisoned.”

Aria’s blood turned cold.

“What?”

“And…”

The guard looked at her.

“We found a black rose beside her bed.”

Aria’s heart stopped.

The same symbol.

The same warning.

The same enemy.

And suddenly, Aria realized something terrifying.

The person who stole her eighteen years ago hadn’t returned.

They had never left