“What’s that?” I stare at the letter-sized envelope, trepidation stiffening my muscles.
“It’s a letter your father sent to mine.” He slides it to me. “Dated the week before your parents’ plane went down.”
I push it away. “Just tell me what’s inside.”
“Very well.” With a sigh, he settles back into his seat. “King Van Buren asked my father to ensure the safety of you and your nation…should something happen to him and his wife.”
I blink rapidly as Landon’s words filter through my brain in disjointed confusion.
Ensure the safety of you…should something happen…dated the week before…
“You’re telling me—?” My voice cracks, unable to put the implication into thought, let alone words.
“We don’t believe the plane crash was an accident. Someone conspired to have your parents assassinated.”
“Rowan?” I choke out as hot devastation bleeds from my eyes.
“We believe so.”
My mind flashes back to when I was under the thumb of a harsh, uncaring uncle who only saw me as a means to an end. A man who might have killed my parents. “Why did your father leave me there with him? For six years, Landon.”
“He did it to protect you.”
“Protect me?” I scoff. “Well, he failed.”
“No, he didn’t, Novalee. My father used the auction to make you valuable to Rowan, all while preserving the secret of your paternity, and that meant you were safe.”
“Safe from what?”
“The same fate as your parents.”
I hold my stomach, about to be sick. “He wants the throne.”
“Yes. We think he’ll attempt to have you assassinated after the auction.”
“But whoever I marry will be the king consort. He’d have to get rid of us both.”
Landon clenches his jaw. “Not if the man you marry is working with Rowan.”
I gape at him as it dawns on me. “All he’d have to do is abdicate, and my uncle would become king.” Rising on shaky legs, I pace in front of Landon’s desk as my world once again rumbles under my feet. “But what makes you think Rowan’s working with someone in the Brotherhood?”
He taps the letter on his desk. “The king discovered the plot. That’s why he contacted my father for help.”
I place a hand over my galloping heartbeat. “You know who it is, don’t you?”
He nods, mouth a grim line as an apology lights his emerald eyes. “Rowan was in contact with Chancellor Castle in the weeks leading up to the crash.”
“Liam’s father?” My voice is high-pitched, disbelieving. Instantly, my heart denies it. “No! That can’t be right.”
“It’s true, my queen.”
Landon’s certainty quakes underneath me, and that’s when the ground fissures. I fold into the chair before my feet slip through the cracks.
Because Liam Castle isn’t the safe haven I thought he was.