Marcelo, present day
Around the table, everyone pushed away their mostly empty plates. All eyes turned to the new arrivals, Denis and Stevyn.
“Come sit, please,” the king added.
Marcelo blinked. No matter how hard he might try, he would never be able to picture his mother, the reigning queen in matriarchal Sheburat, inviting security personnel to join them at their dining table, not even to turn it into an impromptu conference table.
“You’ve discovered something?” the king prompted.
“We did.” Denis gave a firm nod.
Marcelo’s heart sank at the sorrowful expressions on both Denis and Stevyn’s faces.
He held his breath. It didn’t seem possible that he might have had anything to do with this horrible crime. On reflection, it didn’t even seem likely that his mother would have given him i
