Chapter 2 - The Fallen Empire
The silence that followed Alexander’s declaration was absolute, broken only by the steady, rhythmic dripping of rain from the shattered ceiling and the distant, low thrum of the idling helicopters.
"Princess?" Victoria Kensington gasped, her voice cracking as she stared at me, then at the towering prince kneeling in the dirt. "That's... that's impossible. She's an orphan! A charity case! We took her in out of the goodness of our hearts! She has no family!"
Alexander slowly rose to his full height. The warmth that had filled his eyes when he looked at me vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, calculating malice as he turned his gaze toward Victoria.
"The goodness of your hearts, Mrs. Kensington?" Alexander murmured, stepping toward her. Victoria instinctively took a step back, her back hitting a ruined serving table. "Is that what you call forcing the future ruler of Eldoria’s sovereign wealth fund to cook her own wedding dinner? Is that what you call striking a member of the royal house of Oakhaven?"
"I... I didn't know!" Victoria stammered, her face pale, her perfectly applied makeup running down her cheeks in dark, sweaty streaks. "She... she never said anything!"
"Because she didn't know," Alexander said coldly. "When our parents were assassinated twenty years ago, our sister was smuggled out of the country by a loyal bodyguard. He was killed in the streets of Boston before he could return her to us. For two decades, we believed she was dead. But a sovereign state does not stop searching for its blood."
He turned back to his lead operative. "Colonel. Begin the liquidation."
"What?" Preston gasped, struggling to stand up, his hand still clutching his bruised ribs. "Liquidation? What are you talking about? You can't touch our assets! We are a protected shipping empire!"
Alexander let out a soft, humorless laugh. It was a terrifying sound. "A shipping empire? Preston, your family’s shipping company has been running on bad debt and forged international bills of lading for the last seven years. You are bankrupt. The only reason your creditors haven't seized Cliffside Manor yet is because my family’s sovereign bank bought up ninety percent of your outstanding debt three weeks ago."
My jaw dropped. I looked from Alexander to Preston, whose face had gone completely gray.
"You... you bought our debt?" Preston whispered.
"I did," Alexander replied, his voice deadly calm. "I wanted to see exactly what kind of people had taken in my sister. I wanted to see if you would treat her with the dignity and love she deserved. If you had, I would have forgiven your debts. I would have made the Kensington family wealthier than they ever dreamed."
He stepped closer to Preston, his presence completely eclipsing the shivering heir.
"Instead, you treated a princess like a slave. You humiliated her on her wedding day. You let your mistress mock her. And so, Preston... I am calling in the debt. All of it. Effective immediately."
"You can't do this!" Victoria screamed, clutching her pearls so hard they snapped, scattering across the wet marble floor. "This is our home! This is Cliffside!"
"Not anymore," Alexander said. "By the authority of the Eldorian Sovereign Court and the international maritime registry, all Kensington ships are currently being detained in international waters. Your bank accounts have been frozen. This manor, and everything inside it, now belongs to the Crown of Eldoria. You have ten minutes to vacate the property before my men throw you into the sea."
"No!" Camila, Preston’s mistress, shrieked, realizing her wealthy sugar-daddy was suddenly penniless. "Preston, do something!"
But Preston was frozen, his eyes wide with a blank, terrified shock. His entire world, his entire identity of wealth and superiority, had been demolished in a matter of minutes.
Alexander ignored their screams. He turned back to me, his expression softening instantly. He took off his charcoal wool coat and gently wrapped it around my shivering shoulders. The scent of cedarwood, rain, and expensive cologne wrapped around me, instantly grounding my racing mind.
"Come, Amalia," he said gently, extending his arm. "Let us leave this pathetic house behind. It is time to go home."
I looked down at my raw, burned hands. I looked at the shattered glass of the ballroom where I had spent the last three hours preparing a feast for people who hated me. Then, I looked at the strong, steady hand of the brother I never knew I had.
I reached out and took his hand.
May you like
As the tactical guards ushered the screaming, hysterical Kensingtons out into the pouring rain, Alexander led me toward the waiting helicopter. For the first time in twenty-six years, I didn't feel like a defenseless orphan running from the shadows.
I felt the first spark of a royal fire igniting in my chest.
