Love Between Two Worlds - Chapter 21

  

Chapter 21 — The Woman Behind the Veil

"That's my mother."

The words had barely left Adrian's mouth when the chamber erupted. The Hollow screamed — not with anger, but with something worse.

Recognition.

Every one of its countless eyes turned toward Eleanor, and for the first time Amelia saw something in them that looked almost like hunger.

Eleanor didn't move. Her eyes stayed fixed on Adrian.

"Hello, my son."

His face went completely blank.

Amelia looked between them, unable to make sense of it. Eleanor — her grandmother, the woman who'd raised her, the voice that had guided her through the Veil all night — stood a few yards away wearing the face of a woman barely older than Adrian himself.

But he knew her. Not as Eleanor. As his mother.

"You were dead," he whispered.

"I was supposed to be."

"You died before I was old enough to remember you."

"I know."

"I saw your grave."

"I know."

"Then who was Eleanor Hart?"

Her eyes moved to Amelia, guilt flickering through them for a second. "Your grandmother."

Amelia shook her head. "You just said—"

"I said I'm not the Eleanor you remember."

The First King stepped forward, his face draining of color. "You were supposed to be sealed."

"I was."

"Then how are you here?"

"Because the seal broke."

"Who broke it?"

She didn't answer him. Adrian did it for her.

"You did."

Her gaze returned to him. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I had to find you."

His jaw tightened. "You found me thirty-two years ago."

"I found the boy." Her voice caught. "I lost the man."

The words hit harder than any blade could have. Amelia moved closer to Adrian, but he wasn't looking at her.

"Why did you let me believe you were dead?"

"Because if you'd known I was alive, the Hollow would have found you."

"It found me anyway."

"Not until you remembered."

A silence stretched between them until Amelia broke it.

"Start from the beginning." She swallowed the fear tightening her throat. "No more secrets."

The first Hart lowered her head. The First King looked away. Eleanor studied Amelia for a long moment before nodding.

"All right."

She stepped forward. The Hollow shifted behind her, and Adrian's blade came up instantly.

"Don't," Eleanor said, lifting a hand.

The blade stilled.

"You can control it?" Amelia asked.

"No."

"Then why did it stop?"

Eleanor glanced back at the dark. "Because it remembers me. I was its first prisoner." She turned to face them both fully. "The Hollow doesn't destroy worlds. It consumes what separates them — memories, names, bloodlines, choices." Her eyes moved to Adrian. "And eventually, people."

"You were inside it," he said.

"For thirty-two years."

"And you survived?"

"No." The word came out so quietly Amelia nearly missed it. "I died there."

Adrian went rigid.

Eleanor touched her own chest. "What you're seeing isn't my body."

"Then what is it?"

"A memory. Of who I was before the Hollow took me."

The First King let out a laugh with no humor in it at all — closer to despair. "So that's what you became."

"No, Lucien." Her voice sharpened. "That's what you made me."

He flinched. Adrian rounded on him. "What did you do to her?"

Lucien said nothing.

"Father."

The Crown above Adrian flickered. Lucien's eyes lifted to it. "You don't want the answer."

"Tell me."

"You were too young."

"Tell me!"

The chamber shook, silver light exploding out from Adrian and forcing everyone back a step. The Crown descended toward him, and the Hollow recoiled from the light.

"Adrian, stop!" Eleanor shouted.

The light vanished. He stared at her. "You knew."

"Yes."

"What did he do?"

She looked at Lucien, then at Amelia. "Your grandfather created the first Guardian. Not the order — not the title. The blood itself." She pointed at Adrian. "He took the blood of the First King, the Hart blood, and the Hollow."

Amelia's eyes widened. "The Hollow?"

"Yes."

The first Hart closed her eyes.

"The Guardian was built to be a bridge," Eleanor went on.

"Between what?" Amelia asked.

"Between the Crown and the Hollow."

Adrian stared down at his own hands. "That's why I can hear it."

"Yes."

"That's why it can control me."

"Yes. And that's why the Crown chose you." Eleanor's voice softened. "You were never merely its Guardian."

"Then what was I?"

"The lock." She let the word settle before continuing. "The Hollow was imprisoned inside the Veil. The Crown governed the prison. But neither could hold it forever — not without a key."

"Or a lock," Amelia whispered.

Eleanor nodded, and Amelia looked at Adrian. "You."

"Yes."

The realization seemed to empty him out completely. "Then why does it want Amelia?"

Eleanor's expression darkened. "Because the lock is breaking."

A deep vibration rolled through the chamber. The Hollow moved, one enormous eye widening past all the others.

Lock.

Adrian turned toward it.

Open.

His body stiffened. Amelia grabbed his hand — his fingers had gone cold.

"Don't listen."

"I can't."

Open, the Hollow said again, louder, and silver light crawled up his arm.

"Amelia, don't let go of him," Eleanor said.

"I wasn't planning to."

"You don't understand. The Hollow doesn't want him."

Amelia's blood ran cold. "Then what does it want?"

"You."

The Crown flashed overhead. Amelia stepped back. "Why?"

"Because you're the first person in centuries who can exist on both sides of the Veil without being torn apart." Eleanor's eyes dropped to the ring, where black smoke moved faster beneath the silver band. "The Crown recognized you."

"And the Hollow recognized Adrian."

"Together, you can open the door completely."

Amelia's heart sank. "That's what it wanted."

"No." Eleanor's voice hardened. "That's what someone wants it to do."

The chamber fell quiet. Adrian looked up. "Someone?"

"The Hollow doesn't have a master."

"Then who called it?" Lucien whispered.

Eleanor turned toward him. "The same person who broke my seal." His face changed. "Who?"

Her eyes moved past him — to Caelan.

Everyone turned. He stood frozen at the edge of the chamber, his face bloodless.

"No," he said.

Eleanor's smile was sad. "Hello, Caelan."

He stepped back. "You're lying."

"I wish I were."

"You died."

"So did you."

His eyes flickered gold. "I survived."

"No." Her gaze hardened. "You were never the one who survived."

The Hollow stirred behind him. Caelan looked over his shoulder, and for the first time Amelia saw fear in his eyes.

"What did you do?" she asked him.

He didn't answer. Adrian raised his blade. "Caelan."

"I didn't know."

"Know what?"

"I thought I was calling the Crown."

Eleanor shook her head. "You called the Hollow."

"No."

"You wanted the First King returned."

"Yes."

"You wanted the Crown restored."

"Yes."

"You believed you could control both."

"I did."

Her expression turned almost pitying. "And you were wrong."

Every one of the Hollow's eyes opened at once. Caelan turned toward it. "No."

Something moved in the dark behind him, and he began to shake. "Stay back."

Servant, the Hollow whispered.

His face collapsed. "Please."

The darkness reached for him. Adrian stepped forward. "Caelan!"

Amelia caught his arm. "Wait. Something's wrong." The Hollow wasn't attacking him — it was pulling something out of him. A thin strand of golden light emerged from his chest, and he screamed.

"What is that?" Lucien said, horrified.

"His memory," Eleanor answered.

The strand stretched toward the Hollow, and Caelan dropped to his knees. "I remember."

"What?" Amelia asked.

His eyes found hers. "I remember who called it. It wasn't me."

The strand snapped. Darkness exploded across the chamber, and for one second Amelia saw a figure standing behind the Hollow — a woman, tall, silver-haired, crowned in black glass.

Then the vision was gone.

"No," the first Hart whispered.

"You know her," Amelia said.

The ancient woman had gone pale as bone. "I thought she was dead."

"Who is she?"

She didn't answer. Eleanor did. "The second Queen."

Amelia's heart stopped. "Second?"

Eleanor looked up at the Crown still hovering above Adrian. "Before you, there was another."

"Who?"

"Someone who believed the Crown should never belong to humans at all."

The chamber shook violently, and the Crown cracked. Adrian pulled Amelia toward him. "Eleanor!"

The young woman's face softened as she looked at him. "Listen to me. If she comes back, she won't come for the Crown."

"Then what will she come for?"

Her eyes moved to Amelia. "You."

The crown of black glass reappeared in the darkness — and this time, the woman wearing it stepped forward, her silver eyes opening slowly.

"At last," she whispered.

The Hollow bowed. Lucien dropped to his knees. Eleanor grabbed Amelia's hand.

"Run."

"From what?"

Eleanor looked at the woman stepping out of the dark. "From your first Queen."

The woman smiled. "I've been waiting for you, little Hart."

And above Adrian, the Crown shattered completely.