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1578 Words
I glance at Grace. She stares hard at her plate, the corners of her lips twitching. I want to hug her. She might get a chance to see Antonin, after the two months.
Florentine, oblivious to the importance of what she says, asks, "Do you know who that is?"
I shake my head, "No, you were right. I'm afraid I didn't pay much attention to the people guarding. I should have, as they risked their lives continuously for us. If I become queen, I will certainly learn more about them."
"It's not if you become queen, it's when. You must be confident in the plan, and yourself, for it to work."
"It would be easier to be confident in the plan, if I knew what it was."
"Like I said, Antonin just needs to return our message. We need to know that he is up to date with what is happening. The most important part of the plan is that everyone involved knows what everyone else knows. Once he responds, we will be able to start planning seriously on how to get you into that castle."
"Are you planning an attack?"
"A physical one? Of course not."
"Then how will you get me into the castle?"
Florentine smiles, "All in time, my dear, all in time. Are you ready for the fourth course?"
She easily changes the topic and we return to the painful small talk. Every question begs to escape my lips, but I force myself to smile and chatter about the beautiful weather, though I haven't been outside to experience it.
Once lunch is over, Grace and I go back to the library to return to waiting for the hours to pass.
●◊●◊●
Cassandra bursts into the library, interrupting my reading.
She whispers, "Guards are here. Follow me."
She lifts her skirts and sprints to the side of the library. She pushes a dark green book back against a bookshelf. Something creaks and the entire bookshelf swings backwards.
I raise an eyebrow, and she grins, "My mother is a bit of a genius. Now hurry inside."
She nearly pushes us into the small room, identical to the other safety room inside our bedroom, and closes the bookshelf tightly behind us. I look for a crack to peek through to watch any guards, but it's completely sealed. Only whispers of noises reach my ears from inside the room. I have no idea what's going on outside.
I sit down on one of the cots, and Grace sits down on the opposite. Unfortunately there aren't any books or food inside this room. It's rather ironic, that there aren't any books inside the library safety room,. Although, the investigation won't take long enough to make us miss supper. The last one lasted about four hours.
Since they already searched Florentine's home, surely this investigation will be shorter.
With no way to tell the time, each hour, or maybe only minute, crawls away. I close my eyes, and begin to drift off. Just as I'm about to escape to sleep, fear makes me snap awake. Hunger curls into my stomach.
Grace fidgets in the cot beside me, unable to reach sleep herself. Eventually, after what seems to be several hours, I fall asleep.
●◊●◊●
The bookshelf swings open, waking me up. Cassandra waits on the other side, a displeased look on her face.
I squint at the dim light coming in through the library windows. "Is it past supper?"
Cassandra laughs, "You could say that. It's actually after breakfast."
I sit up, "Breakfast?"
"The guards left behind one of the men to stay the night. Apparently they thought that you might have gone into the city or something for hiding. So they left someone behind just in case you came back here. He watched Florentine and Augustine's every move and we weren't able to bring you food. He just left a couple minutes ago."
"We were in there all night?"
"Yes, did you get any sleep?" There doesn't seem to be a sliver of sympathy in her words.
"Barely any." Grace rubs her eyes, trying to blink away the sleep from her eyes.
Cassandra motions for us to follow her, "You can go back to your rooms. I'll send a servant with some food to you. You may as well try to get some sleep now. Florentine thinks that the guards won't come back here again, after searching twice and failing both times."
We stumble back to our rooms. I collapse on to my bed in relief, exhaustion clinging to every bone, but I'm unable to fall asleep. I shift and turn in bed, unable to find a comfortable position.
A servant hesitantly knocks on the door and enters. She carries a plate of breakfast, the delicious scents waking me up. Grace stirs in the bed besides me and sits up as well. The servant serves us and leaves us alone.
I devour the food, trying to ease the ache in my stomach. It reminds me too much of our time in the tiny apartment, nothing but half a potato for breakfast. On a good day.
"Do you think we are safe now?" I ask.
Grace snorts, "I doubt that Alexanne is going to give up that easily."
"But she doesn't know that we are staying here. Why would she continue wasting resources if she wasn't sure that we are here?"
"Where else could we be? I'm sure they've searched everywhere in the city. The lady we rented the apartment from might have figured it out. She was smart enough and we weren't careful enough. I'm sure she didn't mean to get us in trouble, but I don't know if I would risk lying to the castle guards either."
"So you think they know where we used to be staying. How would that lead them to Florentine?"
"They know that we haven't left the country yet. They know that we are still here. If they have searched everywhere in the surrounding cities, they must be getting desperate."
"I agree, but once again, how would that lead them to Florentine, again and again?"
"Alexanne met Florentine multiple times. She knew that while Florentine cared about the castle, she certainly isn't one to follow the rules. Alexanne also knows that you were close to Augustine. Florentine and Augustine are the only two people you truly knew that are outside the castle. Since they are staying in the same place, I'm sure it look suspicious. If I was Alexanne, I wouldn't stop searching here."
"Will she ever stop searching?"
"Until she finds you. No. We know that Alexanne will do whatever it takes to get whatever she wants. Emilienne and Violette are dead because of Alexanne's ambitions. She will keep sending different people to search through this house until she finds a trace of you."
"Would it be safer to leave?"
"Leave protection for the dark alleyways and open streets? The hundreds of eyes of all the public? The same public who would betray you, not out of spite, but to earn the reward that might feed their starving families? No. We are the safest we could ever be out here. Besides, don't you want to become queen?"
"I...yes, of course. Of course I want to become queen. It's my duty to serve my people and save them from Alexanne."
"I wasn't asking what you thought your duty was. I wanted to know whether you wanted to be queen."
I rub my eyes, "I don't know. I haven't figured it out within my head enough to be able to put it in words."
Grace says, "You could always tell Florentine that you don't want to be queen. Maybe she would let you just stay here. Maybe she could find a safe place for you to live outside of the castle."
"I didn't say that I didn't want to be queen either, though. I can't allow Alexanne to get away with everything she's done to me and Violette and Emilienne. She's committed too many crimes."
Grace says, "You don't have to rush to decide, but make sure that by the time Florentine starts planning, you know what you want."
I nod. What do I really want? Do I want to return to the pressure and expectations of the castle? I swore to avenge my disgrace and my sisters' deaths, and I plan to keep my promise. Alexanne doesn't deserve to be queen after everything she's done.
"I just wish," I say, "that I could know the answers to all my questions. How did Florentine know my mother? How will she reverse the announcements of my betrayal and death, so that I can become queen? Who are the midwives?"
Grace sighs, "I've told you this multiple times, Admira. I think that we should drop the midwives search. We've had people tell us that it's dangerous. I think we should listen."
Someone clears their throat.
My head snaps to the doorway where Cassandra stands with her eyes wide. How long has she been listening?
The growing smile on her face answers my questions. She tilts her head to the side, "You are searching for the midwives." She covers her mouth as she laughs. "My mother would love to hear about this. Florentine will be disappointed in you when she hears off this."
She picks up her skirts and runs down the hall, laughing, before we can stop her.
- Writer
