Chapter 4

"Clara Blackwood," he repeated, his voice suddenly soft.

Then, as if something had stabbed him, he abruptly turned his head aside.

"I don't believe you," he said, his voice hardening again. "You're just using this child to stay alive. You're lying to me."

"You can call the royal physician to examine me," I replied.

"The royal physician? Your palace doctor? Who knows if you two are working together?" Elias Lockwood snapped.

"Then get your own doctor to check," I shot back.

He just kept staring at me for a long time.

Then he turned and slammed the door as he…