The Heiress Carrying Chapter 75 - 76: The betrayal

Chapter 75: Chapter 76: The betrayal

Lena’s pov

I stood in the queen’s empty chambers, staring at the door she’d just walked through, and felt sothing crack inside .

"We’ll talk. I promise. When I return."

I laughed, short and hollow, at the empty room.

Of course. Of course that was how she’d left it. Another promise. Another delay. Another ti she’d make it right later, and later never seed to co. I’d heard those words so many tis over the past weeks. Later. Tomorrow. When things settle down. But things never settled down. They just got worse, and I got pushed further away.

I moved chanically through the space, straightening things that didn’t need straightening. Smoothing bedcovers Elara had barely disturbed. Folding the nightdress she’d discarded on the floor like I was her laundress, not her–

Not her what?

What was I, exactly?

Everyone in this palace knew how close we were. Everyone saw us together, saw the way she trusted , saw the way I was always there. so called . Her only real friend, others whispered. We’d been together for years. I’d held her when she cried. I’d celebrated with her when she won. I’d been the one constant in a life full of change.

And now I was just furniture. Just useful. Just there. Sothing to be used when needed and ignored when not. I might have had a mission or different intent in mind at least I did a good job at pretending to be a good friend, sothing Kaelen wasn’t grateful for.

I was so tired. Tired in a way that had nothing to do with sleep.

Tired of being everyone’s afterthought. Valued until I wasn’t. Trusted until I asked for sothing in return. Loved until love beca inconvenient.

I was halfway to the door before I fully decided where I was going. But once the thought entered my head, it wouldn’t leave.

****

Malakor’s recovery quarters were in the east wing, removed from the council chambers, tucked away where Elara could comfortably forget he existed while he convalesced. Stripping him of his seat had been cleanly done. Politically elegant. She’d walked in there like she owned the place, which she did, technically, and taken everything from him in front of everyone.

I’d admired it at the ti. Watched him crumble and felt almost satisfied. He’d tried to control her, and she’d beaten him.

Funny how things looked different now.

The guard at his door recognized

and stepped aside without question, the queen’s handmaiden, her closest companion, no cause for alarm. I almost smiled at that. Even now, my position gave

access no one else had. Even now, I was useful for getting through doors.

I knocked once and entered without waiting for a response.

Malakor sat by the window, a book open in his lap, afternoon light falling across him in a way that made him look older than he had in the council chamber. Weaker. Smaller. The past weeks had not been kind to him. His face was thinner, his hands trembled slightly as he held the book.

But his eyes still had that sharpness. That calculation. That hunger.

He looked up, and his expression shifted into sothing like surprise.

"Lena?" He set the book aside carefully, marking his place with a finger. "This is unexpected. Did Her Majesty send you with a ssage? Perhaps a decree of banishnt ?" His voice dripped with dry sarcasm.

"No." I closed the door behind

and stood with my back against it. "She doesn’t know I’m here."

His eyebrows rose. "Then what brings you to my humble prison?" A dry laugh escaped him. "Co to check on the old man? Make sure I’m still breathing? Report back that I’m properly suffering?"

"I’m not here out of concern for your health."

"No?" He leaned back in his chair, studying

with those sharp eyes. "Then why? We’ve never spoken privately. You’ve never sought

out. In all your years serving the queen, you’ve never once co to my chambers or requested a eting. And now, when I’m stripped of everything, when I’m nothing but a mory in this palace, you appear at my door." He paused, letting the words hang. "Forgive

if I’m confused. Forgive

if I’m suspicious."

I moved further into the room but didn’t sit. Let him wonder. Let him wait. Let him see that I wasn’t going to be rushed.

"You lost everything," I said finally. "Decades of work. Your position. Your power. Your influence. All gone because she decided you were inconvenient. Because she wanted to prove she could."

Malakor’s eyes narrowed. "I’m aware of what I lost. I was there. I rember every mont of it quite clearly."

"She does that, you know." I kept my voice even, calm. "She keeps people close until she doesn’t need them anymore. And then she pushes them away. Makes them feel like they were never important at all. Like everything they gave her ant nothing."

He studied

for a long mont. The silence stretched between us, heavy with aning.

"That sounds personal," he said quietly.

"It’s observation."

"It sounds personal." He tilted his head, and I could see sothing like understanding dawning in his eyes. "You and the queen are close. Everyone knows that. Everyone in this palace has seen the way she trusts you, the way you’re always together. She relies on you more than anyone. And yet here you are, in my room, speaking of her like–" He stopped himself.

"Like what?"

"Like soone who’s been hurt." His voice was quieter now. More careful. "Like soone who’s been pushed away herself. What happened, Lena?"

I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. The words were too raw, too close to the surface.

He waited. Patient. Whatever else Malakor was, he knew how to let silence work for him. He knew that people would fill empty spaces with truth if you just gave them enough ti.

"What do you want?" he asked finally. "If you’re not here from her, if you’re not here to check on , if you’re not here to gloat, what do you actually want from this conversation?"

"Options." I t his eyes directly. "You still have connections. People on the council who owe you favors. Resources she doesn’t know about. Gold hidden away. You didn’t lose those when you lost your seat. Power isn’t just about titles."

His expression shifted. Wariness now, mixed with sothing else. Interest, maybe. "And if I did have such things, what would that have to do with you?"

"I’m in rooms you can’t enter anymore." I took a step closer. "I hear things. See things. She trusts

completely, everyone knows that. I’m invisible when I need to be, present when it matters. I’ve spent years watching, listening, learning." I paused. "I’ve just never had reason to share what I know with anyone else. Never had reason to think about who else might find it useful."

Malakor sat forward slowly. His eyes were sharp now, calculating. "You’re offering

information about the queen."

"I’m offering you information, yes."

"About Elara." He said her na carefully, like he was testing it. "Your closest friend. The person you’ve served for years. The woman who trusts you with her life."

"Yes."

He stared at . For a long mont, he just stared, like he was seeing

for the first ti. Like everything he’d thought he knew had just been turned upside down.

"I don’t understand," he said finally, and for once the sarcasm was gone. He sounded genuinely confused. "Everyone knows how close you are. You’re always with her. She trusts you implicitly, more than she trusts any of us, more than she trusts anyone in this palace. And now you’re here, offering to–" He stopped, shook his head. "Why? What could possibly make you turn on her like this?"

"She trusts

implicitly." I laughed, short and bitter. The sound echoed off the walls. "She trusts

to fetch her tea. To lay out her clothes. To draw her bath and fix her hair and be there when she needs soone to talk at. She trusts

to be convenient, to be available, to ask nothing for myself."

I took another step closer, my voice rising slightly.

"But when it cos to actually caring about ? When it cos to treating

like a person instead of a piece of furniture? When it cos to sharing what’s actually going on with her instead of pushing

away with empty promises?" I shook my head. "She’s made her feelings very clear over the past weeks. I’m useful. I’m convenient. I’m not important."

Malakor was quiet for a mont, processing. I could see him weighing my words, fitting them into whatever picture he was building.

"What are you offering, exactly?" he asked.

"Information. Access. I can tell you things no one else can. Things that could be useful to soone in your position, soone who wants to rebuild." I paused. "In exchange, I want gold. Enough that I have choices, that I’m not dependent on anyone’s goodwill. And when things shift, because they will shift, one way or another, I want a position. Sothing real. Not handmaiden to whoever ends up on the throne. Not soone’s servant or shadow. Sothing that’s mine."

He looked at

for a long mont. "That’s a significant ask."

"It’s a significant offer."

"And what information do you have that’s worth that?"

"The queen is hiding sothing." I kept my eyes on his. "I’ve noticed things, patterns, behaviors"

Malakor’s eyes sharpened. "What kind of sothing?"

"I’m not sure yet." I held his gaze. "Not completely. But I can find out. Give

a few days. I’ll have sothing concrete, sothing you can use."

He was quiet for a long mont, weighing, calculating. I could almost see the thoughts moving behind his eyes.

Then he nodded slowly. "A few days. Bring

sothing real, sothing I can verify, and we’ll talk about gold. We’ll talk about position."

"That’s all I ask."

I turned toward the door, my hand reaching for the handle.

"Lena."

I paused. Didn’t turn around.

"She was fortunate in you," Malakor said. His voice was quiet, almost gentle. "All these years, she had soone loyal at her side, soone who truly cared. She just didn’t know it. She just didn’t value it."

I stood there for a mont, my hand on the door, feeling the weight of his words.

"No," I said quietly. "She didn’t."

And I left.