Chasing Royalty

16

We sit around the table for supper. The meal is less exquisite than normal, our kitchen staff an eighth of what it used to be. I remind myself it’s still a lot better than what that people of the city are getting.

Emilenne’s empty chair still sits on her side of the table. I don’t know what would be worse: seeing her empty chair or seeing no chair at all.

William interrupts our quiet meal, “I have come to inform you of a schedule change. Tonight after supper and early tomorrow morning you will each be working privately with your tutor on writing the speech you will present to the public at Emilienne’s funeral. It’s very important that you are careful of what you say, for it will be all the public will be talking about. You must practice it, and be sure you can present it.”

“How did the public take the news?” Violette asks.

William frowns, “They were devastated, as you can imagine. There will likely be many attending the funeral tomorrow which is why your presentations are so important.”

“Did you tell them she was murdered, or just that she had died?” I catch his eye.

His gaze shifts away, “I informed them that the cause of her death was not clear. You will continue that theme in your speeches.”

“So they don’t know that someone broke into her room and killed her? Wouldn’t that be important for the public to know?” I raise an eyebrow.

“As far as the public knows, the murderer was killed yesterday at the execution. They do not need to know that the true killer is still on the loose. I fail to see how the exact cause of her fate is relevant to the public.”

I only nod tightly, knowing that arguing will only make things worse. I need to be on the best grounds as possible when it comes to William to keep Grace safe.

William strides out of the room, and I sigh in relief.

Violette murmurs, “What happened to how he acted last night?”

“I wish I knew.”

We return to our quiet supper, lost in our own thoughts.

After I’ve finished my meal, I quietly excuse myself. The sooner I go to write my speech with Augustine, the sooner I can finish.

The ever-present guards lead me to Augustine’s makeshift office. I knock twice on the door and enter.

Augustine is bent over a piece of paper, scrawling words filling every possible space. He frantically writes, new letters covering up the old.

I shift from foot to foot, “Excuse me? William said I was supposed to come by and prepare a speech?”

Augustine blinks at me, before shoving the paper under some books, “Indeed, indeed, the time has escaped me. My apologies.”

I curtsy, watching him carefully. What could have possibly been on the paper to cause him to be so flustered?

He stares past me. I glance behind me, but there’s only the blank wall.

“Sir?”

He bursts back into motion, “Right, right, please, do have a seat.”

I cautiously sit down, waiting for further directions.

“Paper, we need paper, don’t we?” He mumbles, checking under the books surrounding the table. “I’m not quite organized since the move. I haven’t had much time, you see.”

“You’ve been in here all day. What else were you doing?”

His eyes flit to the scribble filled paper barely hidden beneath a stack of books. “Just, studying this and that, you know. I rediscovered one of my favorite old books and I was just looking into that.”

“What was on that paper?” I stare hard at him.

“What?” His gaze flits from mine.

“I saw that paper you had when I walked in.” I point to the exact spot the paper lays. “What’s on it?”

“Just some studies of mine.”

“On what topic? It seemed to be rather serious.”

“Nothing important.”

“I’m interested, please do explain.”

Augustine tries to change the subject, “We better get started on your speech. You have a lot to write and from what I understand it’s rather important. You don’t want—”

“The paper. I want to know what’s on it. If you don’t want me to know, you certainly don’t want the guards to know. All I’d have to do is call them in here and I’m sure we could figure out what the writing said quite quickly.”

Augustine swallows. “Your majesty, please do not do this to me.”

I stand, “What did it say?”

“He finally gives in. “They were theories, okay? I can’t think clearly unless I write it all my thoughts down. I’m trying to figure out the murderer and it’s more complicated than you would imagine.”

“Explain them to me.”

“I can’t.” He shakes his head. “I’m your tutor, but I’m not allowed to have an opinion on these kinds of things. The words I’ve written, they could get me into trouble. I’ve tried to teach you one thing. Words are more dangerous than everyone realizes. They can hold your beliefs, your ideas, your passions, your emotions, your very essence. That, Admira, is just enough to destroy someone.”

He stares hard into my eyes. “These words…they have more than enough power to destroy me. Will you use that power?”

I watch him carefully, a thousand thoughts running through my head. I need to know his theories, maybe he’s actually figured it out. I’d never turn him in, but I could use his fear against him to get his ideas. It’d be good to know what he’s said to hold against him if I ever needed something from him.

Instead, I sit back down. “I think we’ll need to a piece of paper to write my speech on.”

Augustine searches my face before carefully saying, “Indeed, I have some in here somewhere. I’m rather unorganized since the move.”

“Completely understandable.”

He hesitates before stooping over to pull out a blank piece of paper. “Will this do?”

“It’s perfect.” I fold my hands on top of his desk. “What is it that we need to write?”

“William has given me a few vague requirements. He just wants you to tell about your relationship with Emilienne, nothing negative of course. Also, he requests that you tell nothing of her murder. The public only knows that the cause of her death in undetermined.”

“He told us that much. Anything else?”

Augustine shrugs, “No, just that it isn’t too long. These speeches will influence how people remember Emilienne. We owe it to her to make her memory great.”

I press my lips together. Emilienne deserved so much more than to be remembered nicely.

●◊●◊●

I drop my quill to the table and put my head in my hands. Augustine tsks as ink splatters across the table and paper, but I ignore him.

Augustine wipes off the table with his handkerchief. “Perhaps we should run through it just one more time. I’m not so sure about the wording in the third and fourth paragraphs. Perhaps with some—”

“No. We have some time in the morning. The funeral isn’t until the afternoon. We’ll have plenty of time to go through it then. I can’t look at another word.”

Augustine frowns, “Are you sure? It’d be better to go through and get rid of the errors now and just work on presenting it tomorrow.”

I shake my head, “I’m done.”

“Then I expect you in here immediately after breakfast.”

“Okay, I’ll hurry.” I stand and push my chair back into the table.

My eyes wander to the paper full of scrawled worlds buried beneath the stack of books. Augustine follows my eyes. His hands clench into fists. He opens his mouth, but closes it again.

I press my lips together and curtsy. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sir.”

He nods tightly, “Good night, your majesty.”

I hurry through the doorway. Four guards wait for me outside. “Where will I be sleeping tonight?”

“William requests that all of you sleep in the Sitting Room for your own safety.” One of them answers.

“Will we be sleeping there for our entire stay?”

“I can’t answer that, my lady. I only have the current information.”

I thank him and enter into the Sitting Room. Somebody has carried three mattresses into the room, pushing the other furniture to the corners. Violette and Alexanne are already inside, lounging on their beds.

Grace pops up from a chair when she sees me enter. She drops into a curtsy, “How was your speech writing, my lady?”

“Painful. Is this where I’ll be sleeping for the whole stay?”

“I’m not sure. I suppose if you stay safe for the next several weeks, he might consider moving you back into your private bedrooms. This is a small sacrifice for you to make for your life.”

“Where will you be sleeping?”

Grace glances away, “That has not been organized. I’ve decided along with the other ladies in waiting to sleep in a chair. We couldn’t leave your sides in a time like this.”

“Can’t they bring in a mattress for you?”

“There’s not enough room. We’ll be perfectly fine, I assure you.”

I frown, but don’t say anything more. Grace is too stubborn to accept anything from me. I’ll work on it tomorrow. She can’t spend the entire stay sleeping in a chair.

Grace helps me into my nighttime attire. I crawl onto the mattress.

“Good night, my lady.” Grace whispers.

I mumble my good night and try to escape into sleep.

●◊●◊●

I knock quickly on Augustine’s office door and let myself in. He swipes a paper of his desk, slipping it beneath a pile of books. Has he discovered anything with the accusations?

I curtsy, “I’m ready to work on my speech.”

Augustine’s cheeks flush, his eyes darting to the treacherous paper beneath the pile of books. “Yes, indeed, let me retrieve that.”

He shuffles through the sheets on the table. After searching through a few piles, he turns around, looking behind some piles of books.

I dart forward, silently stealing the paper of theories from beneath the books. I fold it up and slip it into the bottom of my shoe.

Augustine turns back around, my speech pinched between his fingers. “I’m sorry, I should before organized. I set it down last night and I’d completely forgotten where I’d put it.”

I smile, “That’s okay. We have a lot of work to be doing, I suppose we should get started.”

He nods, “Indeed. I do believe the wording in paragraph three and four is a little off.”

I mutter my agreement, ignoring the crinkle of the stolen paper in my shoe.