Page 85 of Broken Princess
19
Willow
One week later
For the secondtime in my life, I found myself in the Order’s main ceremonial chamber, deep in the dark wonderland beneath the city. Despite all of the horrors inflicted upon the world by Q and her minions in the upper echelons of the society, I was still completely enthralled by the place.
The tiny golden lights on the soaring black domed ceiling glittered like real stars as torches burned brightly in granite vessels around the room, lighting the exquisite Grecian bas-relief scenes on the thrones which sat on the circular central dais. Every inch of the space felt as if it were imbued with magic and mystery. Even the towering walls around the room seemed to hold thrilling secrets; so many stories that would never be told.
Most of the Order members sat on the tiered seats around the room, whispering and muttering to one another as they waited for the meeting to start.
I stood with Logan and his father on the dais in the center, heart pounding with anxious energy as I looked around the room, counting the rows of cloaked men and women.
Logan squeezed my hand and murmured in my ear. “I think they’re all here.”
“Yeah, apart from the obvious ones,” I whispered back.
He smiled faintly. “Well, we already know where theyare.”
Chuck cleared his throat and brought a golden hammer down on a gong. The massive room instantly fell silent.
“Welcome, everyone, and thank you for attending this meeting on such short notice,” Chuck began. “You might’ve noticed that some members are missing. There is a reason for that which will become clear very soon.”
The Order members looked around the dim room, some frowning, some murmuring. Most of them looked confused.
“I’ve brought you all together to discuss the current state of the Order and the way forward,” Chuck went on, voice booming throughout the room.
A bald man in the front row lifted an arm and spoke up. “What do you mean?”
Chuck smiled thinly. “Patience, Mr. Nicholson,” he said. He turned to the side and gestured toward Logan and me. “My son Logan and his partner Willow, whom you all know as fellow members, have uncovered a terrible truth about our organization. A truth all of you must hear today.”
“What is it?” the bald man asked.
“Q, our supreme leader—along with past leaders—has deceived us about the true nature of the Order. The vast majority of us, including me and the other fourteen high council members, have always been told that our mission is to improve our country, not only for ourselves but for everyone else in it. We have carried out the tasks assigned to us without question, always believing we were contributing to the greater good no matter what was asked of us.” Chuck paused to clear his throat again before continuing with a frown knitting his brows. “I must regretfully inform you that the real mission of the Order was ultimately the destruction of democracy in our homeland. We have been pawns in a game played by our true masters; the secret leaders and creators of the Order.”
He paused for another moment to let that sink in. Then he launched into a lengthy explanation of the Hale family’s hold over the Order and their overall goal of staging a coup in America, along with the dreadful way they’d funded all of their ventures.
“The gifts bestowed upon us in return for our connections and help, and the lavish parties thrown for us every month… all of it was paid for off the backs of slaves raised at Lilith Hall,” he said at one point, sweeping his gaze over the tiered rows.
The Order members gasped and muttered amongst themselves as he went on and on, outlining the dark horrors conceived in the real upper echelons of the society.
“How did you find out about all of this?” a dark-haired woman called out.
“Logan and Willow managed to uncover Q’s identity, along with the existence of a secret shadow council she formed to assist her,” Chuck replied. “This council was privy to all of the schemes and secret operations that the rest of us were blissfully unaware of. It was made up of supposedly lower-ranking Order members—those are the ones you may have noticed are missing today—and others who weren’t even officially in the Order. Secret members. Like Jamie Torrance, for instance—the president’s Chief of Staff. He was a member for sixteen years without anyone else knowing, aside from Q and the other shadow council members she hired.”
“Wait a minute… did you say she?” an incredulous voice shouted down from one of the back rows.
“Yes,” Chuck replied. “Q was a woman. And not just any woman. She was my wife. Elizabeth Hale Thorne.”
A collective gasp reverberated around the room at this revelation.
A scornful voice filtered down from somewhere in the middle of the room a few seconds later. “Are we supposed to believe you didn’t know anything about this?” the person said. “Most of us thought you were Q. You always seemed to be in charge.”
Chuck held his hands up. “I understand how difficult it is to believe me on this issue, but it’s the truth. I was completely unaware of my wife’s true nature and motivations until recently, when my son came to me with his newfound knowledge,” he said. He coughed and went on. “As most of you know, Elizabeth passed away last week from complications related to a rare and deadly form of hemophilia. Many of you have sent our family messages of condolence, flowers, and gifts, and while I am grateful for the sympathy, I would like to ask you to stop. My wife doesn’t deserve to be mourned. Her memory should fade into oblivion, just like her family and their sick, twisted empire should.”
“How do we know you aren’t just saying this to cover your own ass?” the bald man in the front row called out, eyes narrowed.
Chuck clenched his jaw. “While she was acting as our supreme leader, my wife attempted to kill our daughter Chloe,” he said in an acid tone. “You all know how close I was with Chloe before her so-called accident. If I’d known it was my wife who was ultimately responsible for the hit and run which left Chloe in her current state, I would’ve killed her myself.”
