Chasing Royalty

12

I throw the candle across the room. The force puts out the flame before it hits the wall, but I hear the sizzle of the wax burning through the carpet.

Grace gently takes my shoulders and steers me out of the room. Angry sobs clog my throat. Two guards run into the room.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” They shout.

I lean against Grace, unable to form any words through the sobs. Grace points into Emilienne’s room, “She’s…” She can’t say the words either.

William wouldn’t have murdered Emilienne. He doesn’t have the audacity.

The guards grab candles and charge into the room. They return in sober silence. One of them sprints away to gather more guards. The other quietly asks Grace questions.

“What brought you here to Emilienne’s room this late in the night?”

I whisper into Grace’s ear between sobs, “Tell the truth. We need to do everything we can to help find the murderer.”

Grace says, “We planned to go to the crime scenes of the previous murders. We wanted to see if we could gather any clues about what happened. We had planned to meet in that courtyard at midnight. When Emilienne didn’t come, we went to her room, suspecting that maybe she’d fallen asleep. We never thought we’d find her…”

She can’t say it.

The guard nods. “You should both go back to Admira’s room. We’ll have guards posted outside your door to keep you safe. It’s the best place for you to be.”

Victor skids into the hall, his eyes bleary. “Is what I heard true? Emilienne?”

The guard hands Victor his candle and he disappears into the room.

William appears a moment later. Fear distorts his face. The guard bows and points him into the room with Victor.

William staggers from the room, only seconds later. Tears slip down his cheeks and he collapses against the wall.

The guard bows again and asks, “How would you like us to proceed?”

William blankly shakes his head. “What can we do? How do I keep the other three safe?”

Victor enters through the doorway, “Move to a different castle within the kingdom. Only bring with you your most trusted servants and guards and only as many as you need. Let me continue the investigation.”

William nods, “There’s a small castle on the other side of the kingdom. We’ll go there…” He realizes a guard, possibly unreliable, has just heard his entire plans. “You are sworn to secrecy, punishable by death.”

The guard hurriedly bows, “Of course, your majesty.

William seems to notice that Grace and I are here. “Go and alert the others. I want all of you gathered in the same place, surrounded by guards. We’ll leave in the morning.”

Grace helps me stagger through the corridors. I fill the shoulder of her dress with my snot and tears. She patiently helps me along, not saying a word of complaint.

“How can we tell Alexanne and Violette?” I try to wipe away the tears, but new ones immediately replace the old.

Grace just shakes her head. We reach Violette’s door. I raise a shaking fist, burns from the wax dot the back of my hand. I tap my fist on the door. For a horrible moment, Violette doesn’t answer and I think the same thing has happened to her, but her door swings open.

She squints at us, her hair tangled from her sleep. “What time is it? What…” She realizes that tears coat our faces. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Emilienne.” The rests of my intended words leave my body with a collapsing gasp.

Violette doesn’t ask any more questions, she just wraps me into a hug. I press my face on to her thin shoulder.

I try to force out the rest of the words, “Emilienne, she’s dead. The murderer…”

Violette steps away from me, searching my face for the sign of some sick joke.

Grace says, “It’s true. We have to tell Alexanne and then meet in the Sitting Room for our safety. We’re leaving the castle in the morning.”

Violette’s fingers clutch the doorframe. “No. I don’t believe you.”

Wordlessly, I hold up my hand. The blood has dried into the creases of my palm.

Violette’s face twists. “She’s really dead?”

Tears spring into her eyes. She presses her lips together and looks away. I hug her again, both of us crying against each other. A couple of guards stop by us. “We’re here to look after you for your safety. We must go gather Alexanne and go to the Sitting Room.”

Violette stumbles after us as we go to Alexanne’s room.

The guard rapidly knocks on the door. A bleary eyed Alexanne swings her door open.

She stares blankly at all of us.

The guard who knocked on the door looks to me, waiting for me to explain. I take a step forward, “It’s Emilienne. She’s been murdered.”

Alexanne looks away as her eyes fill with tears, “What? What do you mean?”

“I promise I’ll explain everything I know, but we have to get to the Sitting Room first for our own safety.”

Alexanne hesitantly nods and joins me out in the hall. The guards escort us to the private Sitting Room. They do a tedious investigation of the entire room before they allow us to enter. Five guards sit inside the room with us, and five stand outside the door.

We sit in numb silence interrupted with broken sobs. Alexanne and Violette’s ladies in waiting arrive, confusion and horror painting their faces. They could be in just as much danger as we are.

“Who could have done it?” Violette whispers, “Who would be in the castle at this hour and get past all the guards?”

Alexanne buries her head in her hands and shakes her head.

Why Emilienne? What made them choose her out of us three?

Did they know that she planned to continue investigating? Did they see her as a threat?

Does the murderer know that I also planned to help Emilienne? Can I continue the search of the murderer without Emilienne? Will that only end up in me dead?

Victor and William enter through the doors. My suspicious of William being the murderer melts away when I see him. His tear stained skin hang from his cheekbones. He collapses into the nearest chair without a thought of regulation or tradition.

He runs a shaking hand through his bedraggled hair and addresses the guards, “Please allow us some privacy, but continue guarding outside the door. If you hear the slightest hint of a struggle, come back inside to help us.”

The guards bow and leave the room.

Victor waits at William’s right hand, shifting from foot to foot. He tries to stare authoritatively at us, but his gaze slips.

William leans his head back against the wall, his eyes closed, “We’ll leave for the LyseteintaCastle immediately after breakfast. There are about seven or so more hours until breakfast, so try to get some sleep. We can’t risk sending you back to your rooms, so the guards will be bringing in some blankets and pillows. Before we leave, I will allow you to gather any needed possessions you would like for your stay at the Lyseteinta Castle. However, those possessions will go through a careful search to make sure they aren’t laced with any poisons.”

I ask, “How long will we be staying in the Lyseteinta Castle?”

“I don’t know. Until we’ve caught the murderer, I guess. Maybe until we feel that you’re safe. Victor will be continuing the investigation once we leave for the new castle.”

William opens his mouth, closes it, then opens it again. “I’m,” he shakes his head and presses his lips together, “so sorry for what has happened to Emilienne.” A tear escapes from his eyelids. “Never did I think that she would be murdered. I know you aren’t my real daughters, and you certainly don’t consider me anywhere close to being a father. I understand that. I’ve done nothing to deserve a position as high as that. And…”

He stands abruptly. “That’s all. The guards will be bringing you your things for the night. Try to get some sleep and be ready in the morning.”

He hurries from the room. Victor bows before following after him. The guards reenter, carrying several feathered pillows and blankets. They arrange them on the floor, using the pillows as a makeshift mattress.

The floor still bites through the padding. I shift, trying to get comfortable, even though I know it’s pointless. The guards extinguish some of the candles, but leave most of them lit. The darkness is too threatening right now.

I don’t know how they expect us to be able to sleep right now. Emilienne’s corpse lies only a few rooms away. Maybe one of the guards watching over us right now aided the murderer. He might be planning to kill us all off the second we fall asleep. The other guards would stop him, but he might be able to finish one of us before they realize what he’s doing.

Who would’ve wanted to kill two random servants and then a princess? Is this just a random act of terrorism, or is this a result of a sour relationship or opinion?

I close my eyes, pressing my face into the pillow. Any second I expect Emilienne’s voice to fill the room, complaining about how this isn’t the way royalty should be treated. She’d try to sweet talk the guards out of it, flirting when necessary. When she didn’t get her way, she’d pout and rant to the rest of us.

What about the competition? Can we continue after one of us is dead? Both the murders and the contest started on the same day. It can’t be a coincidence.

I turn on to my back, staring at the blank ceiling above me.

Violette whispers, “Did you see her?”

I nod into the darkness, “I can’t get it out of my head.”

“She’s really dead? There’s no chance at all that she could have been unconscious or playing a joke? You know how much Emilienne loved tricking us. It could just be faked.”

“No, she couldn’t have been. All the tricks she played on us, she’d get five minutes into them and burst out laughing. She didn’t make a noise.”

A cry escapes Violette’s lips. “Why would anyone do that to her? To us? What will the public think?”

“I can’t imagine. Do you have any idea who it could be, Alexanne?” I ask. Alexanne has always been faster at connecting the dots.

Alexanne’s voice wobbles with tears, “I have no idea.”

Our little investigation game is over. Emilienne is dead and we’re moving to the other side of the kingdom, far away from all the clues. Did we actually think we’d actually find some overlooked clue?

We fall back into our silence.

●◊●◊●

I jolt up from sleep, trying to remember where I am. All the truth crashes back onto me. The image of Emilienne’s blood stained neck prints my vision. I pull my knees up to my chest and stare into the darkness. The guards wordlessly watch over us.

The door swings open, and William peeks his head inside. He whispers, “Everything is still okay?”

The guard nods. “It’s been quiet the entire night. Most of them have gotten some sleep. You might want to consider some yourself, instead of checking in every half hour.”

William shakes his head, “I can’t think of sleep right now. There are too many preparations to be made. Thank you for your service.”

William closes the door, the room falling back into its tranquility. Grace is curled up in a chair, her eyes staring blankly ahead. I silently lift myself up from the blankets, carefully stepping around the sleeping Violette and Alexanne. I sit down in the chair closest to her.

Grace sees me and manages a smile. “Can I do anything for you, my lady?”

“No, I’m okay. I just…” There are no tears left to escape me.

“I was considering sending a guard down for some pastries and tea. Would you like that?”

“That sounds lovely. What time is it?”

“Early morning, maybe two or three. You’ve been asleep for a couple hours.”

“Have you gotten any sleep?” I ask.

“A little.” She lies. “I’ll go order us some early, early morning breakfast.”

She tiptoes to the nearest guard and whispers our order. He exits from the room and she returns.

“What do you think Emilienne would think of all this?” I shift in my chair.

Grace shrugs, “She’d probably complain that this wasn’t how royalty was supposed to act, hidden away in some room. She’d probably be,” I finish the last of her sentence in sync with her, “ranting right now.”

Grace laughs thinly, “Exactly.”

The guard returns with our tea and pastries. I begin to nibble on the edge, but then I remember that Emilienne will never eat a pastry again, and it set it aside. I sip my tea, waiting for this horrific night to fade.

●◊●◊●

Violette, Alexanne, and I stand outside in the newly risen sun. Servants load the carriages with the last of our most needed belongings. Our most trusted guards watch them with a careful eye.

A guard motions us forward and we step into our carriage. There are four seats. There have always been four seats. Two of us on each side. Alexanne and Violette together. Emilienne and I next to each other.

Today I sit alone.