Cheating Royalty (Chasing Royalty #2)

13

I stare at Augustine, "Why is it so important that their identities are kept a secret? What is so dangerous?"

"They are not dangerous. Rather, it's what other people might do to them that is dangerous. They were the last people, and the only people, to see the Queen alive. There are theories out there. People that think they murdered Queen Cassandra."

"Did they?"

"Of course not. Several investigations by several different detectives took place. There was no sign of a struggle or foul play. The queen's stress and grief became too much. Most people know that. But there are still some people who would rather add more drama to their lives than be sensible."

"They want to kill the midwives as revenge, then?"

Augustine nods, "Yes, and don't forget the fact that it's likely that the midwives know your true birth order. It didn't matter to your parents, and knowing the firstborn probably wouldn't change anything. However, there are quite a few people who don't like the idea of the Queen competition. It's against how things have always been and too many people fear change. If people knew who the midwives were, they might try to threaten the birth order out of them."

"How many midwives are there?"

Augustine shakes his head, "I will answer questions on only why their identity must be kept a secret. I certainly will not go against everything I just said and tell you anything. I'm sorry, Admira, but it is for the best."

"Who would I tell?"

"I'm not worried that you might tell someone. I'm worried that you might try to find them. In fact, I know you would try to find them."

I shake my head, "I promise that I won't look for them. Please, tell me something."

"I'm sorry, Admira. Do I have your permission to start our lessons now?" Despite his calm demeanor, his voice wavers.

I press my lips together and nod.

He pulls a book from the shelf, and hands it to me. His fingers shake against the dark cover. I take it from him and page through it. An epic of poetry.

Augustine says, "Read it and we'll discuss it for our next lesson. If you don't have any more questions, you can be dismissed."

I frown, "I thought you said we could study for at least an hour. Only a few minutes have passed."

He smiles tightly, "I remembered something else I had to do. Tomorrow, we will work on that book. I need to organize a lesson plan for you anyway."

"Are you okay, Augustine?" His face is as white as his hair, and he slumps in his chair.

"Yes, yes, completely alright." He says to quickly, "I suppose the stress of last night kept me up. You are dismissed."

I stand and curtsy, "Thank you, Augustine, for the lesson and the book. I'll start reading it now."

He browses through the papers on his desk, distracted, "Sounds good. Enjoy the rest of your day."

I nod and hurry from the room. Was it my questions about the midwives that had he so distracted and worried? Why would it be so important?

I hurry to the library where Grace still waits, her nose bent over a book. She welcomes me, "How did it go?"

"Not well. I asked him about the midwives and he wouldn't tell me anything. He said that he had sworn on his life to not tell anyone anything that he knew."

"So he didn't tell you even a little bit?"

"Nothing."

"I thought you said he would tell you? You said that he trusted you."

"I said he wouldn't lie to me. Augustine honors his promises more than anything."

"Did he give any reason on why it was so important?"

I explain everything that Augustine told me about why it was so secretive. Some people think that the midwives killed my mother, and they want to know the true birth order.

I say, "Do you think that the midwives could have killed my mother?"

Grace presses her lips together, "I don't know. It's hard to judge whether they are capable of it when you don't know who they are. As far as I know, most of the people of the kingdom loved Queen Cassandra. Besides, they wouldn't have been hired without being extremely trusted."

How are we supposed to move forward if nobody will tell us anything?

I say, "I feel like we haven't accomplished anything since we arrived. We are simply lying around, waiting for the time to pass or for something to happen. The only things we've done are hide from guards and steal things that didn't help us at all. I can't keep doing this. I need to do something."

"What can we accomplish when there are hundreds of guards searching for us?"

"We need to learn what Florentine's plan is for taking over the crown. I don't know if I can put a single shred of hope or trust into the plan when I don't know who is helping her or how she plans to do it."

"She wouldn't tell us the last time. I don't know how else we can figure it out. Augustine has probably sworn his secrecy on that too, so he won't tell you. How else can we figure it out?"

"We could find where her study is and search it?" I say.

Grace raises an eyebrow, "I thought you were done with stealing and breaking into places you didn't belong. Didn't you learn your lesson when you stole from Augustine?"

"Augustine is different from Florentine."

"We should ask Florentine again, the next time we see her. Maybe she didn't tell us the first day because she wanted to gain our trust and make sure we were going to stay here. Perhaps since we haven't run away yet, and we know that the threat of the guards is real, she'll trust us."

"If she doesn't answer our questions, then we search her office."

Grace sighs, "We should really just wait it out. You won't gain Florentine's trust by searching through her things."

"What about the midwives? How will we find anything about them if no one will tell us?"

"If it's as dangerous as Augustine said, maybe it's best that we don't pursue that. That won't be between Augustine and Florentine. If we are caught, we could easily gain the attention of the guards. It's something I'd rather not risk right now. Perhaps, if you become queen, you could pursue it secretly."

"I don't know how far into the future that will be and I know I certainly can't wait that long."

"Why? Why do you need to find the midwives? How could they possibly help you?"

"They know who was born first."

"That means absolutely nothing. Your parents didn't want the first born to rule. Even if you were the first born, you wouldn't automatically become queen."

"Okay, they knew my mother. They might be able to tell me something about her. I can never know enough about her."

"There are plenty of people who could tell you stories about your mother. You don't have to hunt down the midwives, who have been sworn to secrecy, to learn a few stories."

Something crashes to the floor, not five paces away from us. We turn around, trying to locate the source of the noise. I thought we were alone in the library. When I entered, there were no servants in sight. We could be punished for our conversation.

Grace strides forward, peeking behind a corner. A small girl, maybe ten or eleven, crouches behind a bookshelf. From her simple dress, she is clearly a servant.

We stare at her, unsure what to do. How much has she heard? Will she tell Florentine or Augustine of our conversation?

She hesitantly drops into a curtsy, "My apologies, my ladies. I was sent here to clean the library, and I didn't mean to overhear any of your conversation. However, as you began to discuss certain topics, I thought you would be displeased to know that I was in here. I thought it would be better to hide and not alert you of my presence. However, I'm a little too clumsy..."

"Will you tell anyone about our conversation?" I ask.

"No one. Not Lady Florentine."

I nod, "Thank you. We appreciate that more than you know."

"I will leave you then and come back to clean later. However, I must warn you to never speak aloud of the midwives again. I'm afraid that if it were anyone else overheard you, instead of me, it would have certainly brought trouble."

She disappears from the room before I can ask her more.

"How is it that even the servants know more than us?" I ask.

Grace shrugs, "Perhaps we've been sheltered within the castle."

After the servant's words, we don't dare say anything more. We sit quietly, once again simply waiting for time to pass.

After several minutes, a different servant enters the library and says that Florentine invites us to lunch with her.

We follow the servant to the dining room. Florentine already waits inside, and she stands to greet us as we enter.

"It appears that we have managed to avoid another search of the guards. Surely you must be happy."

I nod and murmur something about being relieved. We take a seat at the table and I work up my courage to ask her about her plans for helping become queen.

It's not until the second course in a lull in the conversation that I say, "Florentine, what are your plans for the future? For my future?"

Florentine brushes my question aside as she did yesterday, "It's much too complicated to explain over lunch. I will tell you every detail once the time is right."

"I can't put my faith in a plan that I don't understand. Please, give me some type of information. Who is involved? What are we waiting for? How long will it be before we can act?"

She hesitates for a second before saying, "We are currently working for a guard to return some information with us. Even though he is a commander, he is under surveillance for a silly slip up. I doubt the other guards have caught on though. We just need to wait for their suspicion to fade and then we can start taking serious actions."

"Could you tell me who the commander is? Perhaps I remember his name from when I was in the castle."

"I doubt that you will. He became a commander only shortly before you left."

I smile, "Then I guess there is no harm in you telling me, correct?"

She purses her lips, "I suppose not. His name is Antonin."