Forbidden Love in the Royal Family

Chapter 6

“There is a murderer amongst us,” Prince Colton Chamberlain declared from his seat at the banquet table in the great hall as he stared down the rest of his family members.

“You don’t know that,” his older brother Tobias said from the head of the table. “There were many who had access to the king since he was last seen alive.”

“But those of us at the table had the most to gain,” Colton insisted. “Especially you.”

“Stop it,” Clara cried out. “Do you hear me? Stop this right now!”

Bryce took the hand of his twin sister to comfort her. “Clara’s right. Now is not the time to be turning on each other. We are a family and we’ve lost our king.”

“My husband,” Roslyn added, trying to hold back her tears as she sat solemnly to the right of Tobias.

The fire in the large fireplace beside the table flared up loudly every now and then, spewing ashes from its mouth like an awakening dragon. Knights stood at attention around the perimeter of the hall providing security for the royal family as they coped with their loss and discussed the hunt for the king’s killer.

“How could this have happened? He had our best knights watching over him,” Prince Lucas asked. “Could it have been one of them?”

“We can’t just start throwing out accusations,” Bryce stated. “Some of his guards are like family to us, especially Malcolm. They would never have turned on him.”

“Our father had many enemies,” Colton stated, scanning the faces of his family members. “We can’t deny that.”

“Regardless, there’s protocol to be followed, a funeral must be prepared,” the queen declared.

“And a coronation as well,” Colton added, nodding toward his brother Tobias. “Our kingdom needs that stability and our people need to know that justice will be served.”

Lucas agreed with his brother: “Even the smallest appearance that we are not in control could lead to discord and rebellion.”

“I will ascend to the throne as quickly as possible, without appearing disrespectful to our father,” Tobias stated.

“What about security?” Lucas asked. “Until we bring the king’s murderer to justice, our guards should be on alert. I would suggest pulling them from some of their posts and reassigning them to our family.”

“An excellent idea,” Tobias agreed. “As long as the killer is at large, we are all in danger.”

“Oh God,” Clara cried.

“Assuming it’s not one of us,” Colton added.

“Why must you continue to say those things?” Clara asked, tears streaming down her face.

Bryce put his arm around her. “She’s right, Colton. Don’t we have enough on our minds without having to worry about that?”

“If there’s no trust among us as family, we are truly in trouble,” Lucas said. “Let’s keep our focus on security and finding the guilty person.”