Chasing Royalty

13

The carriage jerks to a stop in front of the Lyseteinta Castle. We normally visit this castle for a few weeks a couple times a year. It’s not nearly as spacious or exquisite as the Abette Castle, our residential castle.

Violette stands, “Should we go?”

“Let’s wait for the guards to come, just to be safe.”

“The murderer is back at the other castle. We came here so we wouldn’t have to live in fear like that.” Violette says.

“We aren’t positive that we left the murderer behind. They could be with us right now.” I cross my arms over my chest.

Alexanne’s eyes widen in fear, “Don’t say that. We left them behind at the castle. We’re safe.”

She climbs out of the carriage, Violette right behind her.

I don’t know if I have the strength to leave this carriage. We’ve never been here without Emilienne. It feels wrong to enter, knowing her body is still at the Abette Castle.

Violette glances over her shoulder, “Are you coming?”

I lift up my skirts and climb down from the carriage.

Guards surround us immediately, escorting us inside the castle. They take us to a room that’s a smaller version of our previous Sitting Room.

“William requests that you stay inside for your own safety as the castle, grounds, carriages, and your possessions are checked.”

We nod and find seats. Everything in the room is almost as exquisite as back home, only with a different color palate. White and gold accent the furniture, thin strips of gold racing across the ceiling.

“How long do you think we’ll be in here?” Violette asks.

I shrug, “Until they check over everything, I guess. It could be a while. Do you think we’ll be allowed to sleep in separate rooms?”

Violette shudders, “I don’t want to be in my dark room all by myself at night, knowing that a murderer could still be lurking.”

“What about you, Alexanne?” I ask.

Alexanne stares out a large window, lost to the conversation. Red lines her eyelids. I don’t think she’s completely stopped crying since she was sick.

The doors swing open and our ladies in waiting enter.

Grace meets me with a curtsy and a hug. “Are you alright, my lady?”

“As good as I can be, I guess. I can’t get what I saw last night out of my head.”

“I’m terribly sorry that I didn’t do more to stop you. I should have—”

“No.” I firmly interrupt. “It was my fault that I saw what I saw. You tried to stop me but I ignored you.”

Grace presses her lips together and looks away, like she doesn’t quite believe me.

I drop my voice to a whisper, “What are the servants and guards saying? Do they have any idea as to who could have done it?”

She shakes her head, “I’ve heard nothing, and I’ve asked almost everyone I know. Nobody knows who could have done it or wanted to do it.”

“It doesn’t make sense. Why would you kill two random servants and then a princess? It couldn’t have been some random act of violence, guards were posted everywhere.”

“Unless the guards were paid off, too.”

“Victor and William must know now that Justin wasn’t the true murderer. Do you think they knew that all along?”

“I think that they knew all along that Justin wasn’t the murderer, and they still don’t know who it is. They just wanted a scapegoat to make it seem like they were smarter and safer than they actually are.”

“Have they told the public what happened?”

“It will be announced to the public today, sometime this morning.”

The doors open again and two guards escort William and Victor into the room.

Grace frowns and whispers, “Wasn’t Victor going to stay at the residential castle to investigate the scene?”

I nod, staring at him. Is he abandoning the search? Did they find the murderer?

William clears his throat, “Within a few minutes, I’m leaving to notify the public of the horrible event that took place last night. There will be a funeral for Miss Emilienne tomorrow in the evening. It is asked that each of you prepare a short speech to last only a few minutes, just as a memorial for Emilienne. I am also preparing a statue to put of her in the city square to commemorate everything we’ll miss about her.”

“Have any rumors gotten out to the public?” Violette asks.

“A few, which is expected. We can’t completely move out of the Abette Castle and not expect anyone to speculate. However, they’re harmless and will all be cleared with my announcement.” William turns to catch my eye, “Victor also would like to talk to Admira and Grace.”

We discovered Emilienne’s corpse first. Of course he wants to talk to us.

I stand and curtsy, Grace quickly mimicking me.

Victor leads us through the doors, four guards automatically following us. Will we ever be able to do anything alone again?

The dining room is directly across the hall. Victor ushers us inside and motions for us to have a seat. I sit on the wooden chair, Grace to my left.

Victor stands in front of us, his hands clasped behind his back. “I suppose you must have some idea for why you’re here.”

“We were the first ones to the crime scene.”

Victor takes a step closer. “Which, in a normal investigation, would immediately label you as one of the suspects.”

I sit up straighter. He can’t accuse me of killing my own sister. Does he think we actually did it or is he just messing with us to trick us into telling the truth?

Grace frowns, “Why would we kill Emilienne?”

“Everyone has their own excuse.”

I stand up, “We have no reason to have an excuse because we didn’t do it.”

“Convince me. What were you doing last night?” Victor crosses his arms over his chest.

“After supper, Grace and I went back to my room. We stayed there until midnight, trying to stay awake. When midnight did finally come, we snuck to the courtyard, but Emilienne wasn’t there. So, we went to her room. That’s all we were last night. We had no weapon to possible kill Emilienne, and no reason.” My voice shakes. We’ve already told them this, why do we have to repeat it?

“Was anyone else with you or see you that could back up your story?”

I press my lips together. “No. You had…you had banned us from the courtyard, so we had to do it secretly. We didn’t want anyone else to know.”

“And you are saying that from supper to midnight, both of you stayed in your room and never left.”

I nod, “We were supposed to be sleeping, so we stayed hidden.”

“That’s interesting,” Victor tilts his head to the side, “because I had several servants tell me they saw Grace make her way to the Sitting Room around ten o’clock and retrieve something from a chest.”

I wince, “I had forgotten about that. We decided we wanted to play marbles. She left the room to grab them, but returned immediately.”

“What did you do with the marbles once you were done with them?”

My eyebrows furrow together, “After we were done?”

He nods.

“I guess we put them away in the bag, and left them in my room. The bag is probably still there right now.”

“You didn’t have the marbles with you when you went to visit Emilienne?”

I shake my head, “No, of course not. Why would we bring them?”

Victor shrugs. “That’s interesting. This was found beneath one of Emilienne’s blankets, near her body. It’s likely the killer had it with them and accidently dropped it.”

He pulls something out of his pocket. It’s hidden from view, his fingers curled around it.

“What is it?” I ask.

Slowly, painfully, he uncurls his fingers. A marble rolls in his palm.