Episode 20
1131 Words
Ashes Beneath the Throne
The next morning, thunderclouds still lingered over Hemsworth like an omen that refused to pass. The blood-stained message near the stables had been washed away by the servants before the sun rose — but Hyacinth couldn’t forget it. She could still feel the eyes that had watched her from the shadows.
It wasn’t just a threat anymore.
It was war.
She dressed in silence. A deep violet gown with soft lace at the cuffs. No jewels. No perfume. She didn’t feel like a duchess today. She felt like a daughter — of a woman who once stood where she now stood, weaponless and hunted.
“Will you tell Edger?” Patricia asked carefully as she fixed the back of her hair.
“No,” Hyacinth replied, tightening the laces of her glove. “Not yet.”
“But what if they come again?”
“They will,” Hyacinth whispered. “That’s why I need to find them first.”
The palace courtroom was tense as ever. The Queen sat poised above them all, her gaze unreadable. This was the final day — the conclusion of weeks of questioning, false whispers, estate investigations and scandalous implications.
Edger stood before the court with both hands behind his back. Beside him, Hyacinth was silent but alert, her gloved fingers resting on the edge of the bench.
A lord stood to read aloud a scroll. “The crown has reviewed the records of the Hemsworth estate, the testimony of those present, and the personal conduct of Duke Edger Thompson in recent weeks…”
The entire room held its breath.
“…and finds no grounds to strip the Hemsworth name from its rightful bloodline.”
A pause. Whispers. A breathless shift in the air.
The Queen raised a hand for silence once again.
“Let it be known,” she continued herself, “that the title of Duke shall remain with Edger Thompson, and that his estate shall be recognized as a restored noble house — on the condition that any further scandal, betrayal of the Crown, or abuse of power will result in immediate dissolution.”
Edger bowed. “Understood, Your Majesty.”
Applause did not follow — only stunned silence, like a storm had passed but left everything ruined behind it.
The Queen glanced toward Hyacinth before she dismissed them.
“Be careful who watches you now, Duchess,” she said softly. “You’ve made yourself quite… visible.”
Later that afternoon, Edger found Hyacinth standing in the gallery hall of the estate, staring at one of the portraits.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the threat last night?” he asked quietly.
She didn’t flinch. “Because if I had, you would’ve stayed behind. You would’ve protected me.”
“And that’s wrong?” he asked, drawing closer.
“No. But sometimes… protecting me means trusting me to fight, too.”
Edger exhaled and looked down, brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear.
“You scare me sometimes.”
She met his eyes. “Why?”
“Because when I look at you, I see everything I never thought I could have. And I know if I lose you…” His voice faltered.
“You won’t,” she said, pulling him in by the lapel of his coat. “But I need you to understand something too… If someone is threatening this house, they’re not just coming for you.”
“They’re coming for the Marwood bloodline.”
He nodded, jaw tightening. “And we’ll face them together.”
That evening, Hyacinth followed a lead of her own.
One of the older maids had whispered of a man who once served under the Marwood estate. A quiet gardener named Felix who used to smuggle letters in and out before her mother disappeared. He had been dismissed when the scandal broke, and now lived just outside the capital in a small stone cottage.
Disguised in a cloak, Hyacinth rode alone with Patricia trailing a few paces behind. When they arrived, the man opened the door cautiously — white-haired, hunched with age, but his eyes were sharp.
“You’re her daughter,” he said before she even spoke. “Annelise.”
Hyacinth stepped inside. “You knew her?”
“I served her father. But I protected her.”
“Why?”
“Because she tried to leave a world that never wanted to let her go.”
He handed Hyacinth a small wooden box. Inside were faded letters — and one small golden pendant, etched with the Marwood crest crossed with an unfamiliar emblem.
“Before she disappeared,” Felix continued, “she told me someone in the court was trying to silence her. That the deal she’d exposed — the one they forced her to be part of — tied the Queen’s advisors to the Southern armies. If it was made public, it would cause a revolt.”
Hyacinth held her breath.
“Who was behind it?”
“I don’t know names. But your mother feared someone powerful. She left you with your father for a reason — she thought they wouldn’t come for you if she vanished.”
Hyacinth clenched the pendant in her hand.
“But now I’ve walked right into the spotlight,” she whispered.
Felix nodded. “And they’ve noticed.”
Back at the estate, Edger had waited up for her again. This time, he said nothing about her late return. He simply pulled her into his arms as she crossed the threshold.
“You know I’ll tear this world apart for you, right?” he whispered against her hair.
Hyacinth held onto him tighter than before. “Not yet. Let me dig first. If I fall too deep, then you can come burn everything.”
He chuckled softly. “Deal.”
She looked up at him. “I want to tell you something.”
He blinked. “Yes?”
“Your mother was wrong.”
He frowned. “About what?”
“I don’t think she failed you. I think she was just as broken under your father as you were. And she didn’t know how to fight back.”
Edger’s expression crumbled for a moment. His hand went to her cheek.
“And you?” he asked.
“I was born fighting,” she whispered, and kissed him.
That night, while Hyacinth lay awake staring at the pendant in her hand, a noise stirred her from her thoughts. A scratch at the window.
She rose, opened it — nothing.
Then she looked down.
At the windowsill.
Another marwood flower. Fresh. White. This time, with red ink dripping from its tip.
She turned to call for Patricia.
But Patricia wasn’t in her room.
And her bed… had been overturned.
- Writer
