Chapter 382: The Child They Took

Chapter 382: Chapter 116: The Child They Took

Destiny sat beside Dane with her hands folded in her lap, deliberately keeping them still so she wouldn’t betray her nervousness. Neither of them had spoken on the walk to the hall; Vance’s request had been strange enough that small talk felt wrong, and Dane’s tense silence showed he felt the same.

Across the room, Alpha Ramon occupied the chair nearest the wall, his posture rigid. Vance sat a short distance from him, and beside Vance stood a man Destiny had never seen before, an older man dressed in plain clothes, with gray streaking his temples. He kept his head down, anxiously rubbing his thumb along the side of his hand.

Ramon glanced toward the entrance.

“Are we waiting for Aurora?”

“She’ll be here soon,” Vance replied, his voice carrying the careful evenness of someone who had rehearsed the sentence. “Give her a little more time. She’s been through a lot.”

“Of course,” Destiny said softly, though the response came out smaller than she intended.

A quiet settled over the room again.

Destiny used the silence to study the stranger, wondering how long he had been standing there before they arrived. He hadn’t looked up once.

Addressing Destiny and Dane, Vance gestured toward the man.

“Before Aurora comes, you should know who this is. He was the wagon driver assigned to the royal carriage the night Aurora was born.”

Destiny felt her stomach tighten.

Beside her, Dane went still, his knee freezing against hers. Ramon sat forward instantly.

“You found him?”

“He came to us after he heard what happened,” Vance explained.

The driver’s eyes flicked to Vance and then back to the floor.

“I should have spoken sooner,” he murmured.

Destiny leaned in slightly to catch his barely audible voice.

“Then speak now,” Ramon commanded.

“I drove the carriage that carried the infant princess that night,” the driver said.

Destiny’s fingers curled into her palm.

She looked back toward the entrance, but the doors stayed shut, and Vance didn’t press the driver to continue. He was waiting for Aurora, and the rest of the room held its breath with him.

When the doors finally opened, Elara entered first, holding one side open for Aurora.

Aurora stepped inside, scanning the room, looking from Vance to Ramon, then to Dane and Destiny. She gave Destiny a brief nod, which Destiny returned, though she had no idea what expression her own face was making.

Aurora’s gaze then settled on the stranger, remaining fixed on him until Elara touched her elbow and guided her toward the empty chairs.

Once Aurora and Elara sat down side by side, Vance remained standing.

“Aurora, this is the man who drove the royal carriage the night you were born.”

Aurora looked at the driver, who kept his gaze firmly fixed on the floor between his boots.

A heavy silence fell over the hall.

Destiny watched Aurora go completely still with shock, processing the man’s presence.

“The night I was born,” Aurora said slowly, testing the weight of the words. “Why is he here?”

“There are things about that night you should have been told a long time ago,” Vance answered.

Aurora turned her gaze to Vance, her voice eerily level.

“You already know what he’s going to say, don’t you?”

Vance dropped his gaze.

“I knew there had been an attack. I knew you had been taken from the royal residence.”

Beside Destiny, Dane reached out and took her hand, covering it with his own.

“I was told you had been recovered,” Vance added quietly.

“That isn’t what I asked,” Aurora countered sharply.

“No,” Vance admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “It isn’t.”

Aurora turned back to the driver.

“Tell me.”

The driver swallowed hard, his shoulders rising and falling.

“There was an attack on the royal residence. We fled with the infant princess once the fighting began.”

“With me,” Aurora clarified.

“Yes. We were taking you to the northern garrison because we’d been told it was safer, though I don’t remember who gave that order. But we were ambushed on the road by men coming out of the trees. Four that I saw, though there may have been more.”

“Only four?” Ramon interrupted from across the room, his tone flattening into that of a man taking inventory. “And the guards?”

“They fought,” the driver said, his voice catching. “We lost two men.”

Destiny felt a pang for the two unnamed guards lying dead on a forgotten road.

“And then?” Aurora urged.

“The attackers took the baby,” the driver said. “They had a second wagon waiting farther down the road. We chased it as far as the northern woods, but we lost them there.”

Aurora’s chin lifted a fraction.

“You lost the princess.”

The driver’s mouth opened and closed before he spoke to the floor.

“Yes. We searched until dawn, and eventually we found a baby under a tree in those same woods. She was alive.”

Aurora’s voice dropped.

“Was that baby me?”

“I don’t know,” the driver confessed. “We couldn’t be certain. We were searching for the missing princess and found an infant abandoned in the same stretch of woods where we lost the guards, so we assumed it was you.”

Aurora turned back to Vance, her eyes burning.

“And you just accepted that?”

“I was told you had been found in the northern woods by him,” Vance said.

“Did you know it might not have been me?”

“I knew there had been confusion.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

Vance’s mouth tightened.

“I should have told you,” he admitted, looking as though the confession cost him dearly.

Aurora let out a harsh breath that was almost a laugh.

“What happened to the baby after you found her in the woods?” she asked the driver.

“We took her to the BloodMoon garrison,” he replied, shifting his weight nervously. “That’s where we were ordered to take her, though I don’t remember by whom.”

Ramon sat up straight, his eyes narrowing.

“BloodMoon? You don’t remember who ordered a royal child taken to the BloodMoon garrison?”

“No,” the driver stammered. “I don’t remember everyone there, but I do remember a woman who had been with the men who attacked the carriage. I saw her by the wagon in the dark, helping the kidnappers.”

Aurora glanced at Vance, who immediately shook his head.

“I didn’t know that part,” Vance said.

Destiny believed him, though the truth offered little comfort.

“I remember what the woman wore,” the driver continued, rubbing his hands together. “A silver oval pendant with a dark stone in the middle.”

All the color drained from Ramon’s face.

“Lorena had a pendant like that,” he whispered, referring to his first wife.

He stared intently at the driver.

“You’re telling me the woman assisting the kidnappers wore the same pendant as Lorena?”

“I’m telling you it looked like hers.”

Ramon stood up so fast his chair scraped loudly against the floor, making the driver flinch.

Taking a step toward the man, Ramon demanded, “Are you certain you saw it clearly?”

“Not for long, but I remember the shape.”

“What became of the pendant?” Ramon asked.

The driver hesitated, his throat moving nervously as his gaze fell.

“What pendant?” Aurora asked, confused by the sudden shift.

“After we found the baby in the woods, there were items with her,” the driver explained to Aurora. “A piece of cloth and that silver pendant.”

“The pendant was with me?” Aurora pressed.

“I don’t know if that baby was you,” the driver said gently.

“Don’t,” Aurora cut in, her voice trembling. “Don’t say it like that.”

The driver fell silent, his hands hanging uselessly at his sides.

Aurora turned to Vance, her voice breaking.

“You told me I was found in the woods and brought straight back.”

Vance said nothing, looking down at the floor in shame.

Aurora turned her focus back to the driver.

“What did you do with the pendant found with the baby?”

“I sold it,” the driver confessed softly.

Ramon stared at him in disbelief.

“You sold a pendant taken from a kidnapped child?”

“I didn’t know the full story at the time!” the driver pleaded, his voice cracking. “I knew it belonged with the infant, but I needed the money.”

“Where is the pendant now?” Aurora asked.

“I don’t know.”