Unexpected joy at dawn

Chapter Seven: The Message

Eliora remained beside the table long after the guard had left. The folded paper felt almost weightless inside her clothing, yet it carried more danger than the confidential documents that had placed her in the cell. She waited until the sound of the guard's footsteps disappeared completely before taking it out again. The message contained only one sentence, but Eliora knew better than to believe that its simplicity made it harmless.

You were never supposed to find the first message.

She read it several times. The first message. That meant the coded note she had discovered in the government records was not the beginning of the conspiracy. Someone had expected her to find something else before that. Or perhaps they had expected someone else to find it.

Eliora folded the paper carefully and returned it to her clothing, then looked at the scratches on the table. Three. One. Two. Three. She copied the pattern onto the palm of her hand with her finger. It was unlikely to be random. Whoever had carved the marks had done so deliberately, and the message hidden behind the loose stone proved that this room had been used by someone who knew more than the palace wanted to admit.

Eliora moved closer to the wall and examined the loose stone again. The space behind it was too narrow to hide anything large, but it was deep enough for several folded pieces of paper. She ran her fingers around the edges, searching for another opening. Nothing. She stepped back and looked around the room.

If someone had used the cell before, they would have needed a reason. Prisoners were not normally given access to hidden spaces, and the security wing was supposed to be one of the most controlled parts of the palace. Yet someone had left a message there — someone who knew that she would eventually be brought here. The thought made her uneasy.

She sat on the bed and closed her eyes, forcing herself to think instead of panic. The person behind the conspiracy had access to government records. They had access to confidential military information. They could alter reports, move supplies, forge signatures, and plant evidence inside her room. Now they had access to the security wing. That narrowed the possibilities.

Eliora opened her eyes. The guard. She remembered his uniform again. The badge had belonged to another division, and he had also refused to tell her who sent him.

She stood and walked to the door.

"Guard."

There was no answer, so she knocked once.

"Guard."

After several seconds, footsteps approached. The same guard appeared through the small opening in the door.

"What do you want?"

"Your name."

He hesitated.

"Why?"

"Because I want to know who brought my food."

"I already told you. I was ordered to."

"By whom?"

The guard's expression hardened.

"You ask too many questions."

Eliora almost smiled.

"That is why I am here."

For a moment neither of them spoke. Then the guard said, "My name is Rian."

"Which division?"

He glanced down at his uniform.

"Security."

"That isn't what your badge says."

His face changed, only slightly, but Eliora noticed.

"You should rest," he said.

He began to close the door.

"Rian."

He stopped.

"Where is the main security office?"

His shoulders stiffened.

"Why?"

"Because I would like to know where the guards assigned to this wing are stationed."

"You don't need to know that."

The door closed.

Eliora remained still. Rian was afraid, not of her, but of being questioned.

She returned to the table and looked at the scratches again. Three. One. Two. Three. Then she remembered the coded document. The code had not simply contained names. It had contained numbers beside some of them. At the time she had assumed they referred to dates or meeting locations. What if they referred to divisions instead?

Eliora quickly searched through her memory. She had studied the palace security structure during her first days of government work, because several military reports had crossed her desk. The palace had three main security divisions: Royal Protection, Government Security, and Internal Security.

Three. One. Two. Three.

She stared at the marks. Could they mean the same thing? Her thoughts moved faster. If the numbers referred to divisions, then perhaps the marks were not a message by themselves. They were instructions.

Eliora looked toward the door. Someone had left the message for her, and someone had also expected her to understand it.

She returned to the wall and examined the stones around the loose one. This time she noticed something she had missed before. A faint line had been scratched into the stone directly beneath the opening. A small arrow, pointing toward the floor.

Eliora crouched. The stone beneath the table was slightly different from the others. She pressed it. Nothing happened. She pressed again, harder, and a soft click sounded beneath her fingers.

Eliora froze as the stone shifted by a fraction. She carefully lifted it and discovered a narrow compartment beneath the floor. Inside was a small metal key, and her heart began beating faster. The key was old, but it was not rusty. Someone had placed it there recently.

Eliora picked it up and examined it. There was a number engraved on one side. She immediately remembered something: the palace archive had numbered storage rooms, and Room 17 was part of the old government records section — the same section where she had discovered the coded message.

Eliora closed her fingers around the key. The conspiracy was larger than she had thought. But there was another question: why would someone trying to silence her leave her a key? Unless they weren't trying to silence her at all. Unless they were trying to lead her somewhere. The thought unsettled her more than anything else.

She placed the key inside her clothing beside the hidden message.

Footsteps sounded again — this time there were several. Eliora quickly returned the loose stone to its place and sat on the bed. A moment later, the door opened.

Two guards entered, and behind them stood Crown Prince Charles.

For the first time since her arrest, Eliora felt something inside her loosen. Charles looked different from the man she had spoken to at the palace ball. The easy confidence he had shown that night was gone. His expression was controlled, but there was tension in his eyes.

The guards stepped aside.

"I asked to speak with her alone," Charles said.

One of the guards hesitated.

"Your Highness, orders—"

"I know what the orders are."

His voice was calm, but there was enough authority in it to end the argument, and the guards left.

Charles waited until the door closed before looking at Eliora.

"Are you being treated properly?"

"That depends on what you mean by properly."

His jaw tightened.

"I came to see if you needed anything."

"I need to leave."

"I know."

"Then help me."

Charles looked away for a moment.

"I can't simply release you."

"You could ask the King to investigate the evidence again."

"He is already doing that."

"Then you believe me?"

Charles looked back at her.

"I believe you may be telling the truth."

Eliora noticed the careful choice of words.

"You don't trust me."

"I trust what I have seen from you. But trust is not the same as proof."

She understood. Charles was not going to rescue her because of feelings that had barely begun to form. He was still the Crown Prince. His responsibility was to the kingdom, and the evidence against her had been carefully constructed. That honesty was strangely reassuring.

"Then I need to give you proof."

Charles frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Eliora studied him for a moment before answering.

"Someone inside the palace is controlling the investigation."

His expression changed.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because a guard brought me food wearing the wrong division badge. He refused to tell me who ordered him here."

Charles stepped closer.

"Did you get his name?"

"Rian."

Charles's eyes narrowed.

"Rian what?"

"I don't know."

He was silent.

Eliora watched him carefully.

"You know him."

"I know the name."

That was enough to make her attention sharpen.

"Who is he?"

Charles hesitated.

"He's not supposed to be assigned to this wing."

Eliora felt a cold certainty settle over her.

"Then someone placed him here."

Charles nodded slowly.

"What else have you found?"

Eliora almost told him about the hidden message. Almost — but she stopped herself. If someone inside the palace could manipulate evidence, she could not know whether Charles himself was being watched.

Instead, she said, "I found something that connects the palace security system to the people behind the conspiracy."

"What?"

"I need you to investigate Room 17 in the old government records section."

Charles stared at her.

"Why?"

"Because I think someone left something there for me."

His expression became serious.

"What did they leave?"

Eliora looked at him.

"A way to find out who is really behind this."

For several seconds, Charles said nothing. Then he reached for the door.

"I'll find out."

As he stepped outside, Eliora noticed something on his hand: a thin silver ring. She had seen it before, though not on Charles — on one of the men whose name had appeared beside the secret meeting in the coded records.

Eliora's eyes narrowed.

Charles noticed her expression.

"What is it?"

She shook her head.

"Nothing."

The door closed behind him.

Eliora sat slowly on the bed. For the first time, she wondered whether the conspiracy reached closer to the Crown Prince than she had ever imagined. And somewhere in the palace, Room 17 was waiting.