Page 133 of Shadow Queen
“Did you know Alexander had another brother?”
Caspian’s head snapped up. “Where did you hear this?”
They stood in the library, and Norah pushed the book in her hand back onto its place on the shelf. “Did you know?” she asked again.
He nodded with a long exhale. “I did.” His eyes grew somber. “Lucien.”
“Why has no one talked about him? No one told me.”
He gave an apologetic tilt of his head. “It was a long time ago.”
“Still, it seems important.”
“It was,” he admitted. “Is.”
“Will you tell me about him? What happened?”
Caspian glanced down uncomfortably. She knew he didn’t like speaking about others, especially their private lives, and especially Alexander’s.
“If I were in Mercia, I’d ask Alexander himself,” she added. “But I can’t, and it’s not something I’d write him about.”
He still seemed to mull over her ask.
“Would he not tell me?” she asked.
“Of course he would.” He glanced around them to ensure their conversation stayed private, before giving a relenting sigh. “They were very young when Lucien died. Seven, eight. They were very close.”
Norah waited for him to continue, but he didn’t say anything else. It was as if he thought that were enough. “How did he die?” she pressed.
“A sickness took him.”
And?Caspian was the worst storyteller. “Is that when Alexander came to stay at the castle?” she prompted. “When did Adrian come? And what happened to their mother?”
Caspian sighed again, not pleased at all with her questions. “After Lucien died, their mother went mad with grief. She would have nightmares and couldn’t sleep. She would hear him.” He paused again, but continued before Norah asked another question. “She became confused and would lock everyone out of the house. Massey would find Alexander forced outside almost every time she stopped by.”
Norah’s heart hurt. “Who’s Massey?”
“She ran the kitchen in the castle. Still does. Lady Catherine had Massey take meals to Alexander’s mother because her mind was too far gone to look after herself. One day, Massey came back and said Alexander was forced outside again—it was the dead of winter—and Lady Catherine went and got him and brought him back to the castle.”
“My grandmother?”
He nodded. “She does have a heart, Regal High.”
“What happened to his mother?”
“She went through a period where she seemed to get better. But it wasn’t long after Adrian was born that she started to deteriorate again. Things were rough for a long time, and she ended up taking her own life. That’s when Adrian came to the castle.”
“Oh,” Norah breathed. That was so much more terrible than she’d thought. She was actually relieved she hadn’t asked Alexander about his mother. She’d come close several times. Surely it would have been hard for him to have told her this story. Her mind turned to Caspian. He’d been close with Alexander growing up. He obviously knew everything about him, even the most private of details.
“Did you live in the castle?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “No, but I was always there, it seemed. My father was a field captain, gone a lot, and my mother taught the nobles’ children there. She even helped tutor you.”
Norah smiled. “Were you and I close as children?”
Caspian shook his head again. “No. We didn’t know each other, really. Alexander and I studied and practiced together, but you had private schooling.” He chuckled. “But I know Alexander taught you the sword. I used to ask him all the time if he wanted to spar, and he would tell me he wasn’t up to it. Then I’d see you both in the field behind the stables with your swords. That’s how he got so good, you know. He wasn’t sparring with other boys; he was sparring with you.”
They both let out a laugh. An easy quiet returned between them.
