Chapter Fifty-Two

"No! Stop, Lucie!" Gabriel yelled at her, his hands ducking forward to her front as her back faced him and she ran to the other end of the hallway. She held the roll of newspaper up at him.

"You can't keep hiding secrets from me, Gabriel!"

"No, please, Lucie," he said. "You don't want to know."

"Know what?"

"You don't want to know, please," he said. "Give that back to me."

She ran across the hallway and sped inside a room. She locked it behind her and put her back against the door. Gabriel pounded his fist on the door repeatedly, begging for her to come out and stop whatever she was doing.

She unrolled the newspaper and read it instead.

Tragedy Befalls Wife of Sole Inheritor of Ravenspire.

Lucianne Blacken, wife of Gabriel Blacken, ruler of Crestfall has seen her end in her luck.

Following criticisms by the public that she was undeserving of her title, she had taken steps to prove her worth to the townspeople of Crestfall. Taking on numerous classes to educate herself, the people had slowly begun to realise that she might be a worthy addition to the royal family after all.

Alas, tragedy befell her when the estate hired an etiquette tutor by the name of Brett Murphy, whose paper qualifications had been falsified. Lucianne was raped and abused half to death and to this day, the townspeople haven't heard much about the ruling couple, only that the townspeople are not allowed to enter Ravenspire. While there are several who would still try, most stay away because of the terrible curse of Genevieve. Those who do enter, never leave again because of the dreadful immortal murderess.

But what kind of tabloid would we be if we did not do our own digging? We can't find anything about Lucianne or Gabriel, so we decided to track her rapist down. And surprise! He is alive and well. He is living in the neighbouring kingdom of Jouster, and thriving with his wife and kids -

The roll of newspaper fell to the ground, her hands shaking. The inside of the handle broke from the other side of the door and Gabriel came rushing in. She collapsed to the floor, her mind shattering to pieces.

"No! NO! NO!" she screamed

Gabriel took her into his arms. "Why did you read that, Lucie?!"


"Why is he alive? Alive and well? And right next to Crestfall!"

"I'm sorry."

"Why?! Didn't you have him hung?!"

"He escaped before I could. He has protection in Jouster. I can't reach him there."

"NO!" Lucianne screamed as she thrashed in his arms, kicking the roll of newspaper away. She shut her eyes tight, her world crumbling to pieces again.