Chasing Royalty

15

I raise my fist to knock on the William’s private chamber door, but hesitate. I commanded Grace to wait for me in the Sitting Room, but I miss her reassuring presence. Guards surround me, but I still feel eerily alone.

I take a deep breath and rap my fist against his door.

I wait for several tense seconds before he opens the door.

I curtsy, “I was wondering if I could speak to you privately.”

“What would be the topic of interest?”

“It concerns the murderer and your investigator.”

William’s hands clench into fists, “Yes, shall we meet in one of the private meeting rooms in five minutes?”

“Yes, but I—”

“Thank you. The closest one will do. Five minutes.” He closes the door firmly without waiting for my response.

I sigh and turn back down the hall. The guards lead me to the nearest meeting room and I wait inside. It’s almost identical to the room where I met Augustine, except it’s missing the cluttered papers and books.

William strides in, several minutes after five minutes. He offers me a tight bow and takes his seat.

“What was it you needed to discuss with me?”

“Victor, your investigator, has accused my lady in waiting, Grace, of murdering Emilienne. He couldn’t have made an accusation more false, and has threatened to execute her.”

William raises an eyebrow, “What do I have to do with this?”

I throw my hands in the air, “You’re the Advisor and you hired Victor. I’m pretty sure you can do something to stop his foolish accusations.”

“Unless his accusations are true. He’s one of the best investigators in the kingdom, I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. What if your lady in waiting turned out to be the murderer? He’s only trying to protect you, your sisters, and the kingdom.”

“Except I know his accusations aren’t true.”

“How?” William leans forward.

“I was with Grace and she didn’t kill Emilienne. I’m pretty sure I’d notice something like that.”

“You were with Grace the whole evening, immediately after supper? You never left her side.”

I falter, “She was gone for less than ten minutes, and that was because she had to go to the Sitting Room. Many servants saw her go there and will support her. She wouldn’t have had enough time to murder Emilienne.”

“How would you know how long it takes to murder someone?”

It takes all my self control not to groan in frustration. What happened to the man crying over Emilienne’s death? Did he decide that was too human for him?

“I will not be happy if Grace is formally accused of the murder. I will not stand with you during the trial and I’ll be sure the crowd knows my true feelings about the matter. I’ll speak against you to the public. I’ll convince my sisters to do the same. Do I make myself clear?”

William nods, “If you were to do any of these things, I doubt your chances will be very high in the queen competition. I suppose you haven’t seen the latest results, have you.”

I stand, “You’re still holding the competition after what’s happened to Emilenne?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“The competition has been going on for three full days, and there’s been a murder every night since it started. Doesn’t that seem suspicious to you?”

William rises from his chair, “By the way you’ve been acting, I assume this contest doesn’t mean much to you.”

“What about Grace, then? Do you care that Victor is threatening the wrong person? He’s wasting his time on the innocent, while he could be finding the true killer.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have time for this, Admira. If you have any real concerns, I’ll be in my private chambers. However, please do not bother me with silly matters of this nature.”

I clench my teeth together as he marches from the room.

I allow a minute to pass before I rise from my chair. The guards patiently wait outside the door and follow me back to the Sitting Room.

Grace sits in one of the far chairs, her leg bouncing up and down in anxiety. She hears me enter and spins around. “How did it go? What did he say?”

I sigh, and sit down beside her. I drop my voice into a whisper, “It appears that the sympathetic, caring William of last night has disappeared. He’s back to his difficult self.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised. Maybe he was feeling ill last night.”

“That’s probably the only explanation.”

“So…what did he say?” Grace smiles hopefully at me.

“He, uh, he said…” I pause. I can’t lie to her, just to stop her worries. I run my hand through my hair, “He didn’t seem to really care.”

Grace’s smile drops.

“No,” I put a hand on her arm, “it’ll be okay, he didn’t seem to think you’re the murderer, so that’s good, right?”

“But if he doesn’t care, he’ll just let Victor do whatever he wants.”

“But I won’t let Victor do whatever he wants. I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

Grace wipes away the tears forming in her eyes, “What if you can’t? I mean this with all respect my lady, but William has more power than you. If William is on Victor’s side, do I really have a chance?”

“Maybe you will if I get Alexanne and Violette on your side. Together we’ll be able to trump William’s power, I’m sure.”

Grace looks away, unwilling to meet my eyes.

I stand, “I’ll go talk to them right now. We won’t Victor accuse another innocent person.”

Grace shakes her head, “No, Admira, don’t do that. You’re only going to make things worse for yourself in the competition. You need to lie low, and avoid angering Victor and William more than you already have. I’m just your lady in waiting, you need to focus on your future.”

I scoff, “Just my lady in waiting? I’m going right now and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. I suggest you quietly sit in this chair and cry. That’ll help earn the sympathy, right?”

Grace stares at me.

“I’m kidding,” I say, “Well, kind-of. If you can get their pity, that just might help. Now, stay here.”

“Admira.” Grace whispers, “Don’t do this.”

I begin walking away, before I turn back and shrug. “It looks like it’s too late.”

I spin back on my heel and don’t look back at her.

Violette and Alexanne sit together on the other side of the Sitting Room, both of them reading a different book. They probably haven’t gotten out of their tutor’s work either.

I stop in front of them, “Could I talk to the two of you?”

Violette nods, “Sure, what’s wrong?”

I glance worriedly at Grace, before back at them, “It’s about my lady in waiting, Grace.”

Alexanne frowns, “What could be wrong?”

I say, “Victor’s accusing her of murder.”

Alexanne’s mouth falls open. Violette’s eyebrows bunch together, “What? How could he think that she did that?”

I shrug, “I don’t know, he’s got like one vague fact against her.”

“What is it?” Violette asks.

“Well, Grace and I played marbles last night to keep ourselves awake. Apparently there was a marble found next to Emilienne’s...body. Victor thinks that she went to get the marbles, and then killed Emilienne. He says that while she was…” I swallow, “killing her, a marble might have slipped from the bag in the struggle or something, I guess.”

Violette scoffs, “He can’t accuse her on something as weak as that.”

Alexanne asks, “How would the marble have gotten by Emilienne though? Did you have the marbles with you when you went to find Emilienne at midnight?”

I shake my head. “We left them in my room. They’re probably still there right now.”

Violette shrugs, “Maybe the murderer planted them there.”

“How would they have gotten into Admira’s room?” Alexanne frowns.

Violette says, “I don’t know. We have no idea what the murderer is capable of.”

Alexanne shivers, “It’s terrifying when you think about how little everyone knows.”

I bite my lip, “You both believe that Grace didn’t do it though, right?”

“Of course not. Grace could never do something like that.” Violette says. Alexanne bobs her head in agreement.

I smile, “Thank you. Grace is terrified of where Victor could take this accusation. The three of us together will be able to stop him if we try.”

Just like we could have stopped Justin’s execution, if we hadn’t been too afraid to try.