The False Prince (The Ascendance Trilogy #1)(72)

However, it quickly became apparent that we were not the only ones trying to get through the gates. A dozen carriages were ahead of us in line. One by one, a castle guard spoke to someone in the carriage at the front of the line. A few got through, but most were turned away.

Conner leaned his head out the door and signaled to a carriage that had been refused entrance. “What’s happening?” he asked the occupant.

“Can’t say exactly. Whatever I said to the guard, though, he waved us away. Can you imagine such rude treatment? I happen to have the long-lost son of Carthya, Prince Jaron, with me!”

I started to lean forward to get a look at him myself, but Conner pressed me back into my seat.

“Do all these carriages hold the missing prince?” Conner asked.

“There are several frauds, I’m afraid. Several carriages contain nobles invited to the castle to greet whatever king is named tonight, and they are allowed through. But my boy, er, the prince, is with me, so they have chosen poorly.”

“Let us hope the correct boy is crowned tonight,” Conner said, and then wished him well as our carriage moved forward. When we were alone again, Conner added, “His boy looked nothing like Prince Jaron. The guards must be screening for possibilities here at the gate, letting only the most probable candidates through. Don’t worry, Sage, your resemblance is close enough to get us through.”

I wasn’t worried.

But when we reached the gate, Conner learned the truth about the screenings.

The guard looked at me and arched an eyebrow. At least he was impressed. “Who is this?” he asked Conner.

“Prince Jaron of Carthya, as you can plainly see. He must be presented at court before a new king is named.”

“I’ve seen many Prince Jarons tonight,” the guard said. “Have you anything else to say?”

This was a request for a code word. It was an old tradition amongst the royal family to have a code word in the event that an impostor ever tried to enter the castle, or if we had to enter the castle while in disguise. The guards at the gates of the castle were the only other ones who knew the code word even existed. If Conner had known the code, he would have asked if the queen planned to wear green at the dinner tonight, because it was the only color he had brought to match her dress. At least, that had been the code four years ago.

All Conner could do was shake his head.

“I’m sorry,” the guard said. “You may not enter the castle tonight.”

“But I’m Bevin Conner. One of the twenty regents.”

“Then what I meant to say is that you may enter.” The guard flashed a glare at me. “The boy with you may not.”

“He is Prince Jaron.”

“They all are.”

Conner yelled at Cregan to turn our carriage around. “Fools!” Conner hissed, swatting at the carriage door with his hat. “Are we defeated so easily?”

I leaned back in my seat. “There’s a secret way into the castle.”

Conner stopped his swatting. “What? How do you know?”

“I’ve used it.”

“You’ve been inside the castle? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You never asked. There’s a river that flows beneath the kitchen. As food is prepared, the garbage is dumped into the water and the river carries it away. The river is gated, but there is a key so that the gate can occasionally be cleared of larger obstructions.”

“And you have a key?”

I pulled a pin from my jacket. Imogen hadn’t felt me take it from her hair the night before. “I can pick the lock.”

Conner smiled, impressed with what he thought was my ingenuity. In fact, I’d suspected all along it might come to this. Thus, the pin.

Conner’s face fell as he further considered my suggestion. “We shall be filthy if we go that route, unfit to enter the throne room.”

“That guard just now said you could enter through the gate. I can enter through the kitchen.”

Conner shook his head. “Absolutely not. We must stay together.”

Which, unfortunately, I also suspected he would say. So I shrugged it off and said, “We’ll be fine on this route. There’s a dirt path to the side of the river, wide enough that we can easily walk there single file. It will lead us to a door into the kitchen. It’s never guarded, but we’ll need help to restrain the kitchen servants while you and I continue on into the castle.”

“Mott, Tobias, and Roden.” Conner’s eyes narrowed. “Did you know this would happen? Is that why —”

“I brought them so you wouldn’t kill them. There’s one other condition. I don’t want Cregan coming with us. Order him to stay back.”

“But if he can help —”

“He doesn’t come.”

“Very well.” Conner thought for a moment. “How do you know all this?”

“I ate from that kitchen a lot when I was younger.”

Conner misinterpreted my answer and said, “For the first time, Sage, I’m glad to have chosen a thief and an orphan as my prince.”





As my note had instructed, Mott, Tobias, Roden, and Imogen were already waiting at the river entrance into the castle when we arrived. Conner looked surprised to find them there but must have explained it away in his mind. He called to Cregan, “Take this carriage back to the inn and wait for us there. I don’t want it here to arouse anyone’s suspicions.”