The walk to the North Wing was unlike any journey Salvador had ever taken through the castle.
The king walked at the front, his steps quick and restless, as though every second spent away from the woman he had just remembered was another second stolen from him.
Salvador followed closely beside Ella, with Felix and Harvey behind them.
The present queen was not allowed to leave.
Two guards followed her from a distance under the king's direct command.
For once, she did not protest.
She simply walked in silence, her face pale and her eyes fixed on the floor.
The castle corridors seemed different now.
The same walls that had once felt grand and welcoming suddenly appeared to Salvador as witnesses to a crime that had lasted for decades.
Every portrait seemed to carry a secret.
Every locked door seemed to hold a memory.
As they approached the North Wing, the king slowed.
He stopped before the large wooden doors.
His hand rose toward the handle but remained suspended in the air.
