What was his name?
Fragments of memories Catherine had almost forgotten… rose abruptly to the surface.
Catherine did not know Maximilian's older brother, the crown prince.
She couldn't recall his name. Nor his face.
She had met him once, perhaps twice, when she was very young. All she retained was a vague memory of large hands lifting her off the ground, the faint warmth of laughter, the sensation of being carried around like a favored child.
That was all.
He had rarely visited Elyndra. Only Maximilian had, because Maximilian was the one meant to marry her, the Crown Princess of Elyndra.
She herself had never visited Dravencourt.
After her mother's death, her father had unraveled. He ruled, but not as he once had. And when Catherine was formally announced as Queen of Velmont, she returned there immediately, leaving Elyndra behind in the hands of a grieving king.
She tried... she truly did... to keep Elyndra's factions in check from afar.
