Stellan Aphelion's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

Three days after the tower, Stellan returned to the palace with the dead assassin's seal in his glove. He laid it on Evangeline's desk under candlelight. The wax was deep red, stamped with a crowned beast and twined silver lines. It carried no name. "Every noble sits beneath one crest," he said. "This one hides its owner." The ice wolf lay protectively by the door, its pale eyes tracking the hall. Evangeline lifted the seal and turned it to the flame. Her thumb traced the twisted silver. "These loops aren't decoration," she said. "My mother used marks like this. A private code, carried only by those she trusted most." She set the seal down. "Whoever sent my killer sits close to me…close enough to copy her hand." "Then do as I say and stay in your room" Stellan growled in a low voice. "I cannot guard you against a face I do not know." Evangeline turns to Stellan frustration on her face."I won't hide while a traitor wears my colors." She crossed to a locked cabinet and drew out a small scroll. Its seal matched the assassin's twined silver, but beneath it she had hidden a second, truer mark. "My mother kept records of every private crest she ever granted. I know where she stored them." They set out together through the sleeping silent palace. The wolf padded ahead, cold breath misting through the air. Slowly and quietly they make their way through the winding halls, Evangeline leads him her hand in his looking back over her shoulder locking eyes with him. A small smirk begins to tug at the corners of her lips. “Almost there” she whispers. In light circular motions she she treads her thumb over the back of his hand. Stellan’s breath catches “Evangeline” he says. He glides his fingers down her arm. Before she could react they finally reached the unused chapel. Evangeline takes out a crystal carved snowflake and presses it the wall. A panel slides back and insides lay a shelf of ledgers. Stellan held the seal to the open pages while she read. The twined silver pattern repeated on one line only. Her finger stopped. The color left her face. "The steward of the inner court," she whispered. "My uncle's men. He has served this house since I was a child." She closed the ledger. "He stands outside my door every night." Stellan felt the cold rise behind his ribs. He gripped his mother's amulet and the wolf turned toward him. The surge went quiet. "Then he is already inside your guard," he said. "Tonight he waits at your chamber." They climbed back to her room. The steward stood where he always stood, hands folded, head bowed. Stellan holds up the seal to the stewards face. "You pressed this into a dead man's hand." The steward did not deny it. He smiled, slow and certain. "You found one crest," he said. "You think one crest is the whole plot." His eyes moved to Evangeline. "I was never meant to kill you, Your Majesty. Only to keep them watching the wrong door." He cracked an eerie smile. Guards seized him before he finished. Stellan held his blade to the man's throat but the words had already landed. The traitor had a face now. He also had masters still hidden, and a plan Stellan had not yet seen. Evangeline met Stellan's eyes over the kneeling man. "We’ve caught the hand," she said. "Not the head."