Chasing Royalty

14

I stare at the marble. How could it have gotten into Emilienne’s room? We picked up the marbles, every single one of them made it back into the bag. There’s only one set of marbles in the castle with that distinct pattern.

Victor pockets the marble. “I have a theory on how this marble could have landed next to Emilienne’s body. Would you like to hear it?

I silently stare back at him, waiting for his accusation. Grace shifts in her chair next to me.

“Maybe, Grace needed an excuse to escape you room for a few minutes. When the two of you decided to play marbles, she saw it as the perfect opportunity. She went to grab the marbles first, just to keep up the alibi. Then she snuck away to Emilienne’s room, grabbing some type of weapon along the way. Maybe Emilienne fought her, and Grace to set down the bag of marbles while she killed her. A marble could have easily fallen out of the bag and Grace would have never known. Grace would have grabbed the bag of marbles and returned to you like nothing had happened.”

Grace’s mouth slips open, her teary eyes wide in disbelief.

“That’s a great theory, it really is.” I allow the spite to fill into my voice. “Except you’re missing one simple fact.”

“What would that be, Miss Admira?” Victor raises an eyebrow.

“Grace would never do anything like that. She was with me when we found Emilienne, in fact she suggested that we go to Emilienne’s room when she didn’t appear. If she had killed her, don’t you think she would have kept people as far away from the body as possible?”

“Unless discovering the body with you was the perfect alibi. Tell me, how exactly did Grace act when you saw the body?”

Grace buries her head in her hands, the accusations too much for her to handle.

“She was just as terrified as I was.” My voice’s volume rises. “She saw it first and did everything she could to keep me away from the body.”

“Maybe she didn’t want you to see what she’d done. You said she saw it before you. Maybe she didn’t actually see it, she knew what was there.” Victor’s eyes peer into mine.

“Stop it.” I shout. “I won’t allow you to continue accusing her. Grace didn’t kill Emilienne.”

“What makes you trust that so strongly? How do you know your entire relationship isn’t built on lies?” Victor glances at Grace, his nose wrinkled in disgust.

I grab Grace’s wrist and pull her towards the door. “We’re leaving. I will be talking to William about this. There’s nothing you can do to hurt Grace without risking your own life.”

Victor absentmindedly watches us go, “I suppose I will be talking to William too. I’ll be seeing you soon, Admira for another discussion similar to this one. And Grace?”

Grace lifts her head, even though I silently plead for her to ignore him.

Victor smiles at her, “I’ll probably be seeing you again too, maybe when you’re on the execution block.”

Grace cries out, her knees giving way. Fury burns over my skin as I catch Grace and pull her upright. I gently carry her from the room, grinding my teeth together. I won’t give Victor any more of my words to twist into accusations.

I shut the doors behind us, and support Grace down the hallway and around the corner. Once we’re far enough away from Victor, I lean against the wall and pull Grace into a hug.

She whimpers, “I swear, Admira, I swear I didn’t kill Emilienne. I don’t know how I can convince you. I never went to her room, I don’t know how the marble got there. I’m so sorry, but I swear I didn’t kill her. I never could have killed her.”

I shush her. “I know you didn’t kill her. I don’t believe anything he said, not for a moment. I’ll make sure his accusations don’t stick. If he plans on executing you, we’ll run away together. We’ll escape the castle and become peasants.”

A soft laugh breaks her sobs, “You know we can’t do that. You’d be a horrible peasant.”

“I know, that was a bad idea. It won’t come to that. I’ll keep you safe and we’ll find the real murderer. All he has on you are abstract accusations and a single marble. I’ll talk to William this afternoon and get all the suspicion cleared away, I promise.”

Grace sniffs, “Thank you, my lady, I have no idea how I can show my thanks.”

I brush her gratitude aside, “I think you’ve done enough for me. Let’s get back to the Sitting Room. I think I have a meeting with Augustine today. It shouldn’t be too bad, now that I’ve actually read the poems.”

Grace smiles through her tears, “Actually, I read them and forced you to listen.”

I turn on my heel, “I’m pretty sure that’s basically the same thing.”

I navigate through the unfamiliar halls back to the Sitting Room. Violette, Alexanne, and their ladies in waiting sit inside.

Violette asks, “What happened?”

I shrug, “Victor just asked us some questions about we saw.” I won’t shame Grace by telling them what really happened. Besides, the guards must be listening in.

I change the subject, “Do you know if we are meeting with our tutor’s today? I was supposed to meet with him, but…”

“I think William is trying to keep all of our schedules as normal as possible, so I’d assume so.” Violette answers.

As if on cue, Augustine bursts through the doors. “Is Admira here?”

Can he not see me, standing in the middle of the room?

“I’m here.” I curtsy, struggling to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

“Good, we are allowed a private room, just across the hall. We have to begin your lesson. We’re already short on time today, so we must hurry.”

He motions for me to follow him, disappearing from the room. I send a desperate look to Alexanne and Violette before trailing after him. Thankfully, Grace stays at my side, accompanying me to my lesson. I don’t know if I’d be able to survive it without her.

We enter a small room with a little wooden table and cushioned red chairs. Several books are stacked on the table, papers scatter the room.

“This room will be serving as my office for the length of our stay here. If you have any questions about your individual learning, I’ll be here at all hours to help you.”

“Splendid.” I plop down into the chair. Grace respectively stands against the wall.

“I’d like to offer my sincere apologies for the events of last night.”

I duck my head, “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

He nods, fiddling with some papers on his desk. After a few seconds of silence, he offers me a smile, “Shall we begin our lesson?”

I nod, thankful to move on from the tense quiet.

“Have you had time to get through your book of poetry?”

“Yes, I was able to read it.”

“What did you think then, of the main character of the first poem?”

I answer his questions as well as I can. He seems to be satisfied with most of my answers. I don’t know if that’s because they are actually good or if he’s simply being easy on me because of Emilienne’s death. Either way, I’m thankful for the break in insults.

After we’ve finished discussing the book, I interrupt his teaching, “Who do you think the murderer is?”

Augustine must have some type of theory. He’s a tutor, always interested in learning more and investigating the world around him. Wouldn’t this be the exact thing he’s interested in?

He presses his lips together, “I don’t believe that it is my duty to this kingdom to analyze those events.”

“But surely you have some type of theory. Can’t you share it with me? What’s the harm in sharing?”

“There’s no harm in sharing ideas. That is the sole basis of learning. However, I’m completely sure what I myself believe. Trying to explain the bits and pieces to you would only confuse us both more.”

Maybe if I can get him to pity me, I’ll get some information from him. I encourage tears into my eyes, allowing my lips to pout. “Please, if you have any suspicion towards anyone, could you please tell me? I’m so scared of whom it could be and any type of information would put me at ease.”

“Don’t pretend to be weak. There is nothing more unflattering.” Augustine snaps.

I sit up straighter, trying to recover, “What do you mean? I wasn’t pretending to be anything. I just want to know…”

“No, you know exactly what I mean.”

I try again, “Please, just tell me—”

“No, that is the end of it. It is neither my place nor yours to whimsically speculate on such things. I don’t want to hear another word about it. Understand?”

I nod.

“Good, have you studied your music for today?”

Why would he be so against sharing information unless he himself has something to hide?