“No proof?” She walked over to Braga’s chart table where maps of the kingdom lay scattered everywhere. They were littered with flags marking where patrols, garrisons, and companies were deployed. She picked up the soiled robe she saw there, it bore the Essendon falcon crest. Poking her fingers through the holes cut in the back she threw it on his desk. “What do you call this?”
“A robe,” the archduke responded curtly.
“This is my brother’s, and these holes look as though a dagger or arrow would fit through them nicely. Those two men who murdered my father killed Alric as well. They dumped his body in the river. My brother is dead, Braga! The only reason I have not already ordered my coronation is that I’m observing the appropriate mourning period. That time will soon be over, so you should mind how you speak to me, Uncle, lest I forget we are family.”
“Until I have his body, Arista, I must consider your brother alive. As such, he is still the rightful ruler, and I will continue to do everything in my power to find him regardless of your interference. I owe that much to your father who entrusted me with this position.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, my father is dead. You should pay more attention to the living, or you won’t be the Lord Chancellor of Melengar for long.”
Braga started to say something and then stopped to take a calming breath. “Will you answer my questions or not?”
“Go ahead and ask. I will decide after I hear them.” She casually walked back to the chart table and sat on it. She crossed her long legs at the ankles and absently studied her fingernails.
“Master Wylin reports that he has completed his interviews with the dungeon staff.” Braga got up and moved from behind his desk to face Arista. In his hand, he held a parchment, which he glanced at for reference. “He indicates you visited the prisoners after your brother and I left them. He says you brought two monks with you who were later found gagged and hanging in place of the prisoners. Is that true?”
“Yes,” she replied without embellishment. The archduke continued to stare at her, the silence growing between them. “I am a superstitious woman by nature, and I wanted to be certain they had last rites so their ghosts didn’t remain after their execution.”
“There is a report you ordered the prisoners unchained?” Braga took another step closer to her.
“The monks told me the prisoners needed to kneel. I saw no danger in it. They were in a cell with an army of guards just outside.”
“They also reported you entered with the monks and had the door closed behind you.” The archduke took another step. He was now uncomfortably close, studying her manners and expression.
“Did they also mention I left before the monks did? Or that I wasn’t there when the brutes grabbed them?” Arista pushed off the desk, causing her uncle to step back. She casually slipped past him and walked to the window which looked down at the castle courtyard. A man was chopping and stacking wood for the coming winter. “I will admit it wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but I never thought they would escape. They were just two men!” She continued to stare out the window absently. Her gaze drifted from the woodcutter to the trees that had lost all their leaves. “Now is that all you wanted to know? Do I have the Chancellor’s permission to return to my duties as queen of this realm?”
“Of course, my dear.” Braga’s tone turned warmer. The princess left the window and moved toward the exit. “Oh, but there is one last thing.”
Arista paused at the doorway and glanced over her shoulder. “What is it?”
“Wylin also reports the dagger used to kill your father is missing from the store room. Do you have any idea where it might be?”
She turned to face him. “Are you now accusing me of stealing?”
“I am simply asking, Arista,” the archduke huffed in irritation. “You don’t need to be so obstinate with me. I am merely trying to do my job.”
“Your job? I think you are doing much more than your job. No, I don’t know anything about the dagger, and stop pestering me with accusations thinly veiled as inquiries. Do it again and we shall soon see who rules here!”
Arista stormed out of Braga’s office, leaving Hilfred to jog a step to keep up with her. She promptly crossed the keep to the residences. Asking Hilfred to stand guard, she rushed up the steps of her personal tower. She entered her room, slammed the door shut, and locked it with a tap from the gemstone in her necklace.
Breathing heavily, she paused a moment, with her back pressed against the door. She tried to steady herself. She felt as if the room were swaying like a young tree in a breeze. She had been feeling that way often lately. The world seemed to be constantly swirling around her. Yet, this was her sanctuary, her refuge from the world. Here was the one place she felt safe, where she kept her secrets, where she could practice her magic, and where she dreamed her dreams.
For a princess, her room was very modest. She had seen the bedrooms of the daughters of earls and even one baroness who had finer abodes. By comparison, hers was quite small and austere. It was, however, by her own choice. She could have her pick of the larger, more ornately decorated bedrooms in the royal wing, but she chose the tower for its isolation and the three windows, which afforded a view of all the lands around the castle. Thick burgundy drapes extended from ceiling to floor, hiding the bare stone. She had hoped they might keep the chill out as well, but unfortunately, they did not. Winter nights were often brutally cold despite her efforts to keep the little fireplace roaring. Still the soft presence of the drapes made it seem warmer just the same. Four giant pillows rested upon a tiny canopy bed. There was no room for a larger one. Next to the bed was a small table with a pitcher inside a washbasin. Beside it stood a wardrobe, which had been passed down to her from her mother along with her hope chest. The solidly made trunk with a formidable lock sat at the foot of her bed. The only other pieces of furniture in the room were her dressing table, a mirror, and a small chair.
She crossed the room and sat at her dressing table. The mirror, which stood beside it, was of lavish design. The looking glass was clearer than most and was framed on either side by two elegant swans swimming away from one another. This too, had once belonged to her mother. She fondly remembered nights sitting before it, watching through its reflection as her mother brushed her hair. On the table, she kept her collection of hairbrushes. She had many, one from each of the kingdoms her father had visited on matters of state. There was a pearl-handled brush from Wesbaden, and an ebony one with fine fish-bone teeth from the exotic port city of Tur Del Fur. Looking at them now brought back memories of days when her father would return home with a hand hidden behind his back and a twinkle in his eye. Now, the swan mirror and the brushes were all that remained of her parents.
With a sudden sweep of her hand, she threw the brushes across the room. Why had it come to this? She cried softly; it did not matter. She had work yet to do. There were things she had started which must now be finished. Braga was getting more suspicious each day—time was running out.
She unlocked and opened her hope chest. From inside, she removed the bundle of purple cloth she had hidden there. How ironic, she thought, for her to have used that cloth. Her father had wrapped the last hairbrush he had given her in it. She laid the bundle on her bed and carefully unfolded it to reveal the rondel dagger. The blade was still stained with her father’s blood.
“Only one more job left for you to do,” she told the knife.
The Silver Pitcher Inn was a simple cottage located on the outskirts of the province of Galilin. Fieldstone and mortar composed the lower half, while whitewashed oak beams supported a roof of thick field thatch, gone gray with time. Windows divided into diamond panes of poor quality glass underscored by heldaberry bushes lined the sides. Several horses stood tied to the posts out front, with still more visible in the small stable to the side.