Fight For And With Love

Chapter 20 || Lantern ||

The door next to the painting opened. Anna was astounded by what she just saw. She couldn't believe her own eyes. She went in front of the door to see what was behind it all this while. It was pitch black inside.

One curious half of her wanted to go through the door and check out what was inside while the other half wanted to stand by her mother's word and stay out.

After a lot of thinking, Anna took the lantern off the table. She lit it, held it's black steel handle and walked through the door. She gently pushed the door to close it. She then saw that there were stairs. She cautiously made her journey up the stairs with featherlight steps, half agitated and half curious. The staircase was old and a few stairs were so fragile that they would break if even a bit more weight was put on them. The handle of the staircase and the stairs were coated with dust and spider webs covering the dark brick walls.

Anna made her way through the stairs to see the door of an attic. The door was black in colour and was not so well polished. Anna turned the knob of the door with a trembling hand. The door unlocked and she pushed it and entered inside. It was less dark than the staircase and also, there were fewer webs in the room too.

Anna kept her lantern on the wooden ground. She looked around the room to see an old mirror, covered with stains and dust. She saw a  stained glass window, with a rusty handle and a rusty frame. There was a white wooden table on the other side of the room with three broken wooden drawers. It looked like the room was never opened for quite a few years and it was true.

What caught Anna's attention was a huge tin chest, lying under the table. She carefully pulled out the chest and blew its top and ran her hand on its top surface to remove the dust. She saw that there were three hasps, secured over loops of the staples and only the centre one was locked. She pulled out a hairpin from her hair and picked the lock using it. Fortunately, it did open. Anna then removed the lock off the loop and opened the trunk.

She saw a book, more particularly a diary on the top. She took it out and kept it on the floor. Then she saw a jade dagger. It even had an emerald mounted onto its end. Then there was something that made her eyes shine and her heart skip a beat.

She saw a crown on top of white cloth. She carefully lifted it to see diamonds mounted on it. She even saw another portrait of her father and mother together. It was much smaller and both of them wore crowns in it. Seeing the portrait made Anna's jaw drop with shock. Were her parent's king and queen? She could feel goosebumps running up her hands. She could not stop and wanted to know more. She saw a letter sealed with shimmery red wax.

The white envelope had browned with time and on the front, it said:

To,
Tiana Augustus Lockwood

Who is Tiana? The same thought ran through Anna's mind. She kept the letter aside and took the diary. She saw that the diary too was locked and this time, she couldn't pick it. It had two hearts on it. She immediately remembered about the locket Dylan gave her the previous day. She carefully took it off her neck and tried to open it. It opened into two small hearts. She then pressed her locket onto those hollow hearts on the book. The lock opened and she could read the diary.

It was her mother's diary. She read through the diary to see important things that happened in her mother's life. Then, she saw a few letters at the back of her diary. They were all from her father to her. She opened one envelope at random and started reading it.

Dear Elizabeth,
This is the last letter I shall write to you.
I have been a very lucky person to
have you into my life.
You have been a beloved, caring and
loving wife to me.
We have gone through so much
together that I find myself in you.
I often think I got very lucky to have married you. You carry around you a distinct aura that puts people under your enchanting spell even without your effort.
But, I am sorry I will be leaving you sooner than expected. The wound in my stomach does not seem to heal. Perhaps, I was meant to leave now for the good.
Take good care of our only
daughter, Tiana. She is more precious than this entire world to me. I wanted to see her rule our kingdom but I am going with unfulfilled wishes. Have courage and stay strong as you are the only hope for Tiana and she shall look up to you as an example. I am leaving this dagger for her as my memory.
I am grateful to everything that we have gone through together and I shall love you forever and even after I am gone.

                                             Your loving husband,
                                                                        James.

Anna folded the letter gently and kept it in the envelope. She could feel a tear roll down her eye for she was reminded of her father. She lifted the dagger and held it near her heart. Her name, her identity and her life entirely had been a lie all this long. Anna then stood up, took the crown and went in front of the mirror. She stood and saw her reflection and placed the crown on her head.

It had already been morning and Anna headed down with the crown and dagger in one hand and the lantern in the other. She went to the door, getting close to the living area. She could hear her mother on the other side of the door say,

"Where is Anna? She takes such a long time to wake up. Also, we had to leave to Italy by now".

Anna opened the door and both Alice and Ella turned towards the door to see Anna. Ella's eyes widened and she saw the crown in her hand.

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Chapter 20!
That's all I have for you today. Hope you guys liked the chapter. Follow my profile to know when I publish the next chapter and
Until then...❤️❤️
Sayonara!