Chasing Royalty

8

“What? Who was it?” Alexanne frowns.

“One of the kitchen staff. The trial will be held tomorrow, but he doesn’t have much of a chance of escaping the charges,” the guard says.

“Is there anything else you can tell us? The man’s name? How close were he and Evette? Sophie?” I ask.

“I’m required to keep the details quiet. You will learn of them in tomorrow’s trial.”

“Thank you, you may be dismissed then.” He bows and exits from the room.

All my accusations of William were foolish, simply formed from spite, it seems. After tomorrow’s trial, we’ll be safe again.

Unless Victor was compelled to make a false accusation.

No. They found the murderer, I have to trust them. We’re safe in the castle again.

Alexanne stares off into the distance, her lips pressed together.

“What’s wrong?” I sit down beside her. “We should be rejoicing, the murderer has been found.”

Alexanne snaps from her daze and manages a half-hearted smile. “Oh, I am happy. It’s just sad that another person had to die before the investigator figured it out.”

“We just have to be sure their murders get the justice they deserve. Maybe we could hold a formal funeral for them in the castle to honor them for their families and friends.”

The doctor reappears at our side. In the rush of the news, I’d forgotten about him.

He adjusts something within his bag. “Should I begin the analysis?”

Alexanne shares a nervous glance with me. I nod encouragingly.

“Fine,” Alexanne says, “but I want some privacy. If the news is serious, I’ll send Noelle to get you, Admira. If the doctor finds that, like I’m been saying, that I’m perfectly fine, I’ll just see you in the morning.”

I nod and exit out into the corridors. I need to find Emilienne and Violette to ask their opinions on the accused murderer.

I find both of them in the Sitting Room, a whispered conversation between them. A servant with a lute plays softly, covering up their words from any eavesdroppers.

I sit down next to them, “Did you hear the news?”

“Yes. We don’t know what to think of it. Why did William tell us all separately when we’ve had meetings for announcements of far less importance.” Violette says.

“Victor could have just picked a random person. He’s supposed to be a good investigator, and he hadn’t been able to find the murderer. Maybe he panicked, in fear of losing his position or good reputation, and just chose the nearest kitchen staff.” Emilienne adds.

“What if that person isn’t the murderer? He’s going to be executed tomorrow, unless he manages some miracle and convinces everyone that he’s innocent. How can we save him?” I ask.

Violette brushes away a strand of her light brown hair, “First of all, we don’t know for sure that he’s innocent. There’s a good chance that he is the murderer, and that we’re just making paranoid conclusions. We should just wait until the trial. We’ll hear the reasoning behind his accusation and his own defense.” Violette stands. “We should go check our cylinders.”

Have they changed from this morning? How often are they updated, and by whom? Does William himself update them or is it by a servant?

We stride to the Royal Gallery. The light falling through the stained glass windows lands on the table with the glass cylinders. My heart sinks lower the closer I get. Emilienne and Violette have a few more cubes than I have. Alexanne has nearly doubled my score.

“How could she have gotten so many cubes? She’s been ill in bed all day.” I wince as anger tints my tone.

“She didn’t get caught questioning the servants and snooping around the murder site. If Victor knows about the competition, he probably reported what we did to William. Alexanne was smart to stay out of it.” Violette says.

I frown, “What do you mean? Do you not want to help anymore?”

Violette shrugs, “It doesn’t really matter anymore. The murderer has been found.”

“We can’t completely trust what Victor says,” Emilienne frowns.

Violette throws her hands up, “Then maybe I don’t want to play this stupid little game anymore. We have an investigator, he’ll take care of this. It’s none of our business.”

“It is our business, if the accused man isn’t the murderer. The servants could still be at risk,” I say.

“It’s not our business, if it’s ruining our chances at the queen competition. This competition will decide my future. I’m not going to let your suspicion ruin my chances.” She crosses her arms over her chest.

“Even if it means that more servants die?” I ask.

“That’s the investigator’s mystery to solve.” She turns on her heel, and begins walking away.

“We don’t even know if our investigations are causing us to lose points. William still hasn’t told us any rules. Even if you lose this competition, you’re still a princess. If the murderer continues to be free, more people will lose their lives. You’re saying being a princess is more important.” Emilienne stares at her.

Violette turns back. Her voice shakes with held in tears, “All I’m saying is that I’ve worked my whole life to prepare for this contest. I don’t want to regret something I do now. Please, don’t make this decision any harder for me than it is.”

She opens the door, brushing away a tear with her free hand. She disappears from the gallery.

Emilienne presses her lips together, “I guess it’s just us, then.”

I stare at my nearly bare cylinder. What if Violette’s right? There’s an investigator on the case who’s supposed to be taking care of all the things I’m worried about. I’m not to blame if he does a poor job. Why should I continue to ruin my chances?

Emilienne watches my expression, “You’re not having the same thoughts as Violette, are you? Abandoning the search of a murderer is not something a true queen would do, no matter what these stupid cylinders say. And you know it.”

I force myself to take a deep breath, “I’m not saying we should abandon the search. I think we should just wait until the trial tomorrow until we do anything to drastic. We’ll see where it goes and move on from there. I think we should just stay away from William’s bad side until Victor’s watchful eye fades. Besides, once the trial is over, Victor should be leaving.”

Emilienne nods, “That will be a relief. Something about him is…off.”

“I’m going to go back to my quarters. I need a good night’s sleep for the trial tomorrow.” I say.

Emilienne agrees and we go our separate ways.

Grace waits for me in my room. She curtsies, “It’s a relief that the murderer has been found, isn’t it?”

“Do you know who it was?”

She shakes her head and begins undoing my hair, “I only know it was one of the kitchen staff. There must have been some type of conflict between them.”

“If that person is the true murderer.”

Grace freezes and searches my face. “I don’t think we should talk about this. I trust the investigator.”

“Have you met the investigator?”

Grace hesitates, before shaking her head

“I have, and I don’t trust him. I’ve decided to wait until the trial is over before I make a new plan.”

“Yes, we will see how the trial goes. Even if you do not agree with what is decided, be sure to protect yourself and your reputation. Don’t do anything rash if there is an execution, especially not in front of the public. You must keep up the image of your princess perfection until you reach the castle.” She helps me into my night gown.

“But keeping up that perfection would involve letting him die, even if he is innocent.” I argue.

“If he’s being accused of a murder, there must be something against him. He can’t be innocent.”

“Are any of us truly innocent?”

Grace presses her lips together, “You won’t do anything impulsiveuntil you see how the trial goes. Agreed?”

“Fine. But if he’s innocent and I can save him, I will.”

“I have no doubt that you will.” Grace sighs.

I crawl into my bed, relaxing into the soft sheets.

“Would you like some music?” Grace looks to her viola.

“Anything to get my mind away from itself.” I close my eyes and struggle to sleep.

●◊●◊●

I dash through the corridors. I’m already a couple minutes late to the meeting. There’s no doubt there will be even fewer cubes in my cylinder than before. I’m making this easy for William, aren’t I?

I shove the doors open, give William a hurried curtsy, and take a seat on my throne. Alexanne and Emilienne smile thinly at me. Violette avoids my glance, ashamed. I can’t say I blame her.

Victor stands to the right of William’s throne. His amusement at my lateness is clear. Heat rises to my cheeks, but I refuse to duck my head.

William stands, “Now that we are all here,” he glares at me, “we can begin the meeting. However, its purpose is much different, as I’m sure you know. The murderer has been found and this castle has returned to its prior safety. Something I’m sure all of us are grateful. This set of murders has tainted our castle’s reputation.”

His words make me sit up straighter. Why didn’t I think of this before? Our entire kingdom is proud of our castle’s security. There’d been no unnatural deaths within it for centuries.

William continues, “It’s mandatory that you attend the trial. It will be public, and all of you must remember how you portray yourself to the public. Your words and actions will be evaluated for the competition.”

Is this the first part of the competition, or has it been going on this entire time? Were the murderers planned so our reactions could be evaluated?

I want to ask him about the exact rules for the competition, but that will only give him a chance to point out my failures. I still have almost two months to regain the edge I’ve lost. If I copy everything Alexanne does, I’ll be fine.

I glance sideways at Alexanne. She sits with the perfect princess posture, her back straight, feet on the floor,and head high. Am I losing points on something as simple as my stance? I suppose that is something that a queen must have.

I readjust my position, so I’m identical to Alexanne. If I want to be queen, I’m going to have to act like one.

I remember Emilienne’s words from last night, ‘Abandoning the search of a murderer is not something a true queen would do.’

Would a queen save a falsely accused man, even if it ruined her public image? Will Emilienne try to help the accused man if she thinks he’s innocent? Maybe if we worked together, we could do it without William or Victor knowing.

I need to talk to Emilienne as soon as possible. We need to come up with a plan.

I ask, “When is the trial going to be?”

“We are going directly from this meeting to the city square where the trial will be run,” William answers.

“If he is found guilty, when will he be executed?” I shift in my chair, hoping William won’t be suspicious.

“When he is found guilty,” Victor’s gaze drills into mine, “he will be executed immediately. We will never have to worry about him again.”