“I only did what any of you would have done,” I said, taken aback by his praise.
“My thoughts exactly! I’m glad to have you on our team.”
I was happy to hear at least one of the Defenders was.
Helka, Bodil, Raoul, Haskell, and Evie joined the king at the table again, asking endless questions about the night before and our adventure on the beach. I explained about the previous night but the king handled the tale about the beach with as little graphic detail as possible. He seemed recovered from his scare. I caught his eye often and he smiled every time.
“I’m glad to see you’re on the mend,” he said.
I believed him.
I inquired about lunch with his grandfather, to which the king replied, “It went well. He was alarmed to hear about the attack, but impressed with your response. He’s very much looking forward to meeting you. He praised your insights about my future.”
Helka and Bodil did a better job at pretending not to be curious, but the children openly and expectantly watched the interaction, hoping for an explanation.
“So you have made your decision?” I said, stomach squirming with nerves.
Torvald smiled somewhat wearily. “Not quite, but I’m considering my options.”
I let the matter drop before the children could outright ask us what in the world we were talking about. The king drilled Haskell about his day until dinner was through. After his family had retired for the night, Torvald and I trekked up the stairs. I checked all of his rooms twice for intruders before I allowed him to go to bed. Then I bid him goodnight and went to change into my sneaking clothes before heading outside. I walked the perimeter of his home, making sure the correct amount of guards had reported for duty. Then I alerted Hemming that I was leaving and joined the patrol along the wall.
Chapter Twenty
I was dragging my feet up the steps to the king’s home an hour or so before sunrise when Master Philo called my name. I turned to see the aging guard master coming to a stop by the rose bushes. His face was flushed and his uniform disheveled, as if he had dressed in a hurry.
“Lady Isa,” he wheezed. “I know you are likely on your way to bed, but this cannot wait.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“It is Counselor Odalis, ma’am,” Master Philo said. “He has been murdered.”
“What? Where? How?” I sputtered. “Show me!”
He hurried across the upper ward and toward the jade building with me hard on his heels. He leaned against the doorframe for a moment to catch his breath.
“I can continue alone. Just tell me where his living quarters are,” I said.
“Third floor… Eighth door on… the left,” Master Philo gasped. “Right behind you, my lady.”
I raced up the stairs and then remembered it was still dark outside. Normal people were asleep at this hour so I tried to be quieter. Rounding the corner of the third floor, I padded across the carpeted hallway that divided the rooms. I straightened out of my crouch when I spotted a guard by the eighth door on the left side.
“Were there any witnesses?” I whispered when I was close enough. “Do we know anything?”
“The doctor is in there right now, determining the time of death, Lady Warrior,” the guard reported. “Odalis’s wife, son, and two daughters are accounted for. The youngest daughter discovered the body. She woke her mother, who called Master Philo. The family seems to know nothing.”
I nodded in thanks, braced myself for what I might see, and entered. The family was gathered in the lavish sitting room. The wife blubbered to a guard, who was taking notes. The girls, who appeared to be Haskell and Raoul’s age, cried into the shoulders of their older brother. He patted their backs and stared blankly at the wall. No one seemed to notice me. I continued down the short hall and into the lit kitchen. Counselor Odalis lay face down on the expensive tile floor with a knife in his back. I recognized him from the meeting. He was a short, round fellow with graying hair.
Lennart and another man I could only assume was the fifth and final Defender stood nearby, murmuring amongst themselves. He had a short mustache and red-brown hair. I remembered him as being the second guard accompanying the king at my graduation ceremony.
The doctor knelt by the body but stood when I walked in. “Lady Isa, you should be resting.”
I angled my body away from him to hide the arm that was still in a sling. “I’m well enough to stand, so I’m well enough to work.”
“Your shoulder will not heal if you are not resting,” he said with a frown.
Instead of letting indignation win, I fought a smile. “Have you met my handmaiden, Dagmar? You two would be great friends, I think.”
Dr. Ichiro’s enlarged eyes blinked behind his spectacles. The frown remained. He looked like a small, angry owl with his stooped back and tuft of gray hair.
“While I appreciate your opinion, Doctor, I’m ultimately in charge of my own person,” I said. “You have treated many of Dotharr’s anointed so I don’t need to remind you that we heal quicker than the average soldier. I’ll be all right in a few hours’ time. If I’m not, I give you permission to scold me for my foolishness. Now, can you tell me what happened here?”
Lennart nodded at me, and the fifth Defender—I scrambled for his name and finally remembered it was Finley—turned. “Lady Isa,” he said. “You aren’t on duty today. What are you doing here?”
“I was summoned by Master Philo,” I said. “I thought we all were.”
“This doesn’t concern you. You should return to the king’s home.”
“With all due respect, you’re not my master. What I do in my free time is my business. Now, can someone please tell me what happened here?” I gestured to the dead counselor on the floor.
Dr. Ichiro clasped his hands behind his back. “From the little girl’s report, all was quiet. She woke up in the night, in desperate need of a glass of water. When she walked into the kitchen, she found her father on the floor.”
Finley shot him a harsh look, which the doctor ignored.
“He was on his side then. She ran to wake her mother, who came, saw him, and thought he had fainted. Her husband didn’t wake so she rolled over the body. When she discovered the dagger, she sent for Master Philo.”
I glanced about the kitchen as he spoke, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. If the counselor had attempted to fight his attacker, surely something would have been disturbed and some noise would have been made.
The doctor knelt by the body once again, gripped the knife’s handle, and carefully took it out of the counselor’s back. “When the wife was questioned, she said her husband had acted perfectly normal today. They went to bed at nine o’clock and she didn’t stir until her daughter woke her. It appears the counselor was awoken during the night and lured to the kitchen by either a strange sound or the need for a midnight snack.” Dr. Ichiro brought the dagger closer to his face. I could see the reflection of the bloody blade in his spectacles. He pursed his lips. “If I’m not mistaken, this is a palace weapon.”
I went to his side. “How can you tell?”
“Our smithy, Mistress Pembe, engraves her personal signature on every weapon she crafts.”
“Was that not included in your scrolls?” Lennart asked innocently.
“This is the respect and professionalism you were talking about earlier?” I retorted.
“See the slender letter ‘P’ at the blade’s end, just above the handle?” The doctor held the dagger out for me to see.
I leaned forward. “Does this mean one of our own guards killed the counselor?”
“Or this was left behind to make us believe so,” Finley said.