Chapter 6

Aymeri awoke to a light tapping on her door, coming from the adjoining room. At first, it startled her, then she remembered housing King Drystan there. The night was still dark, so she couldn't have been asleep too long after leaving her mother's room.

What could he want at this hour?

Pulling a robe over her body, she quickly went to the door and opened it. The candle in his hand heightened his chiseled features and his eyes glowed… gold ? She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, and when she looked again, they were a deep brown.

Did I imagine that? What is going on ?

"What is it?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"I remembered something about your mother."

She ran a hand through her hair. "At this hour?"

"I couldn't sleep." His gaze fell to the floor, and she could tell he was embarrassed to wake her. But she figured it must've been important, if he was willing to wake her.

"Very well." She opened the door wider, letting him into her room. She lit two more candles to brighten it and bid him sit across from her on one of the long chairs.

"Your mother fainted once. I remember finding her afterward. She confided in me that someone might be trying to kill her. I'm sure I looked at her as if I was losing her mind, because she laughed it off and assured me she was joking. Now, I'm not so sure that she was. What if she was confiding in me and then felt as if she couldn't trust me with the burden? Have I failed her?"

Aymeri was glad he told her. It made the burden on her heart lighten. Maybe I won't have to go through this alone. Maybe she could trust him and get his opinion. Maybe she could show him the journal and he could help make sense of them.

"You didn't fail her," she assured him. "I probably would have reacted the same way. It's not something I would have ever thought to hear from her, and if you two were as close as you say, I can imagine that it's not something you would have expected to hear. Everyone working in the castle was loyal to her, catering to every whim, never denying a simple request. They respected her."

"Then why—"

The sound of metal hitting the marble on the floor outside her room made her jump, but not a second passed before her dagger was in her hand, her door open, and the blade at the stranger's neck.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slip this right through your throat."

The person inhaled sharply, followed by a gulp as Aymeri kicked the empty cup aside. "P-p-please." The soft voice of a female startled her slightly. "I-it's m-m-me."

It took Aymeri a moment, but she recognized the voice. Jorlyn . She shoved the handmaid into her room, the black cloak's hood finally falling around her neck, and kept thedagger pointed at her throat.

"Lock the door," she commanded Drystan, then turned back to Jorlyn. "What are you doing up here?"

"I was coming to check on you."

"Then what's with the cloak and empty cup?"

"I-I…didn't want to be seen." The woman cast her dark, frightened gaze to the floor.

Aymeri's head was spinning with a million accusations she could no longer hold in. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"What?" Jorlyn's eyes snapped up from the floor and fixed on the princess. " What was me?"

She closed the distance between herself and the handmaid, not caring about the anger burning in her golden eyes. Locking her hand around the other woman's throat, she accused, "You murdered my mother."

"What! A-Aymeri…no!" she choked. "Y-y-you…know…she…d-died…by…su-suicide."

"Do I?" Aymeri asked. "Or is that what you want me to believe? Everything was fine with Mother until you came along. All of a sudden, she grew ill and committed suicide? No. I don't believe it. Not one bit."

"Aymeri…please come to your senses." It was Drystan's voice from behind her.

Her grip still locked around Jorlyn's throat, she turned her angered gaze to Drystan. Did he seriously just ask me to come to my senses? "Are you in on this?!" As she said the words, it all made sense. Maybe he knew what she was going to find in her mother's journal. That's why he wanted to talk to me so late at night. He wanted to mark himself as innocent, to confirm that he'd been there when my mother fell ill before I could accuse him of playing a foul game.

"It seems a bit too coincidental that you knew about my mother's illness, had been there when she fainted, demanded money on the day of her funeral… now you come into my room to talk, and this worthless little dog," she snapped at Jorlyn, "was creeping outside my door. It makes complete sense to me now."

There was no better conspiracy than that: Drystan working on one side, the new handmaid on the other.

"Maybe you're one of Queen Dimia's little dogs?"

Jorlyn's voice shook as she spoke: "Tell. Her."

"She doesn't know?"

Aymeri's gaze traveled between the two of them. "Tell me what? How do you two know each other?"

"First, tell me, how did you do that with the dagger?" Drystan asked.

Aymeri let Jorlyn go, screwing up her face in confusion. "How did I do what with the dagger?"

"When you heard the noise in the hallway, the dagger flew into your hand. How did you do that?"

Aymeri shook her head. "Are you drinking the potent stuff?" she asked matter-of-factly. "I grabbed the dagger from under my pillow."

Drystan shook his head. "I was sitting right there, Aymeri." He pointed to the chaise he sat on. "I saw you. The dagger flew out from under the pillow and ended up in your hand."

What is he talking about? She grabbed the dagger from under the pillow. She was standing right next to the bed. Wasn't I? "Drystan, I was standing next to the bed, and I grabbed the dagger from under the pillow." But even as she said the words, she wasn't so sure that's how it happened.

Drystan put up his hands, an indication he was calling a truce. "Whatever you say."

Aymeri grew angry at his response, her hands balling into fists, a familiar heat coursing through her veins.

"How are you doing that?!" Drystan whisper-yelled.

"Doing what?" Aymeri followed his gaze to her hands which were… on fire? Flames lapped at her fingertips, alighting the entire room.

Suppressing a scream, she shook her hands to put the fires out. "What is going on?"

Drystan and Jorlyn shook their heads. "I have never seen magick like that before. I've heard of the Maudlins being magick wielders. But to actually see it…" Jorlyn let her words trail off.

"What are you talking about?" Aymeri asked. "Magick is dead!"

"And yet, your hands were just on fire…"

Deep in her gut, in her soul, the princess knew her handmaid was right. There was no other explanation other than magick being at work. It was the only explanation as to why her mother's rug caught fire, why the letters under the drawer lit up and revealed the false bottom, why the dagger was in her hands so quickly, and why her hands were suddenly on fire just moments before.

Jorlyn closed the distance between her and Aymeri. "We are going to help you sort all of this out. But first, do you not know what is happening in your own kingdom?"

Aymeri shook her head. "No. Mother didn't tell me anything. I don't even know how to run the kingdom. Every time I asked, she told me I wasn't ready yet. That it wasn't time. If she truly believed she was ill, or that someone was going to murder her, wouldn't she have told me everything?" She walked back to her bed and sat on it.

"I don't understand it, either." Jorlyn sat on the floor, her back against the door.

"Do you suspect something is amiss?"

She inhaled deeply to steady herself. Of course she did, but she still didn't know if she could trust the two of them. "If you want the answers to any more of your questions, you need to answer mine first. I'm not just going to give you information because you seem to know more than I do."

"Fair enough," Drystan responded. "But first, I want to apologize for being vague when speaking to you earlier. I thought maybe you were being elusive with me because you didn't want to say too much to me with others around, or you were afraid of someone overhearing. However, I see now that it was not a ploy, and you are as privy to the situation as you seem."

Nothing he said was a lie. She truly didn't know him, had no idea about his relationship with her mother, and had no knowledge of the impending war that she was supposed to declare. She was truly in the dark about everything.

"We will do our best to answer any questions you have," Jorlyn responded.

Good, because I have a lot of questions and no idea where to start. "Do you two know each other?"

Both Drystan and Jorlyn nodded.

"Drystan is my brother," Jorlyn replied.

Aymeri's eyebrows knitted together. Now that she looked closely enough, she could see the resemblances: their almond-shaped brown eyes, their pointed noses, their chestnut-colored hair.

"Your mother and our father were very close. They were friends through a friend of your grandfather's. Our father helped your mother get things in order when your father died," the handmaid continued.

"She did the same for me when our father and mother died, leaving the kingdom to me before I was old enough to truly understand how to run it," Drystan added.

How is that possible? Aymeri had always been around her mother. None of it made sense. She didn't remember anyone being around when her father passed away. She remembered lots of tears, sleepless nights, and so much paperwork.

Jorlyn interjected. "Your mother told me she would tell you herself. I never thought she wouldn't get the chance…" Her voice trailed off, and Aymeri noted the thickness in it and the lone tear that fell out of Jorlyn's eyes.

Clearly, her mother meant something to the woman.

The handmaid wiped her tears. "She confided in my brother and me that she was certain someone was out to murder her. We advised her to keep notes, and Drystan sent me home with her to pose as a handmaid to keep her safe…"

The princess didn't miss the look she shared with her brother, who nodded as if giving her permission to disclose some valuable information. "What I am about to say to you cannot leave this room, princess. Do you understand?"

Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart hammered against her chest. She was starting to trust them. "I understand."

"Here, I am just a handmaid. In Bréīn, I am a trained assassin."

Her eyes widened at Jorlyn's announcement. " A trained assassin ?"

"No one else must know, or else the game we are playing is going to end before it can even begin. This must remain a secret between the three of us."

"Your secret is safe with me."

"As yours is with us," Drystan assured.

Aymeri shot him a look of confusion. "Mine?"

"I know this is hard to believe, Aymeri, but magick… it's real. Yes, it was locked away, but something has unlocked it, and it seems to have chosen you."

Was her mother's death somehow connected to the magick that was suddenly unleashed? And if so, how, and why? She tried to remember the stories her mother told her as a child, but that was the biggest problem. She couldn't remember anything. She couldn't remember the path to her father's study but remembered being in the study with him. She couldn't remember when her sister was born but remembered that she was dead. She couldn't remember whether or not she had friends growing up but could always remember her mother being there for her. She couldn't remember the stories her mother told her but remembered that she would tell them. She couldn't remember how she had gotten the dagger in her hand so quickly but knew that she had held it.

Her head ached as the frustration grew. She wanted to remember, but it was as if something was stopping her. "Maybe we can worry about the magick later? Right now, the important thing isn't the magick coursing through my body. It's why my mother was murdered."

Jorlyn and Drystan exchanged looks and Drystan shook his head. "I'm sorry, Aymeri, but I don't think we can worry about one and not the other. All magick has been sealed away for centuries. Now that it's back, there is only a matter of time before it claims other people. We can't wait to find out who it's going to claim and why."

He had a point. If her mother's death was connected to the magick, perhaps trying to figure out where the magick came from would also help them figure out why she was killed and who did the killing. "Whenever we were alone, why couldn't you just tell me that you were sent here to protect Mother? I would have kept your secret. We could've protected her."

Jorlyn shook her head. "There were too many eyes, too many suspects. I risked being overheard."

"Like who? The only one besides you who is always around is Ser Parzival."

The assassin exchanged looks with her brother again, and Aymeri laughed.

"Absolutely not. Ser Parzival wouldn't hurt anyone. You can cross him off whatever lists you have. He has been with my mother for ages. He has done nothing but protect her and me. He told me himself that she was like a daughter to him, and I've never seen him as anything less than a grandfather. There is no way he is behind this. Did my mother suspect him?"

The other woman looked to the floor, then at Aymeri. "Well, not exactly. She wasn't sure who to suspect."

"Then that clears it up. Take Ser Parzival out of your mind. I wholeheartedly trust him, and I'm sure that with him on our side, we can get to the bottom of this quicker."

"We don't know that for sure, Aymeri. We can't just assume anyone's innocence. We all need to be on the same page, and we would've gotten nowhere if Drystan hadn't come."

She silently agreed to disagree about assuming innocence. As far as the other workers in the castle were concerned, Jorlyn and Drystan could suspect them all they wanted, but Ser Parzival was off limits. She would not let them suspect him. She did agree, however, that without Drystan, they would've gotten nowhere. Because of him, she went back to her mother's chambers and found the journal entries. And none of the pages had Ser Parzival's name on them. She thought it best to keep that information to herself for the time being, until she was sure they could be trusted.

"So, you both agree with me on this? You think Mother was truly murdered?"

Jorlyn and Drystan both nodded. "We both believe so," Jorlyn spoke, then she turned to her brother. "You could've picked a more opportune time to discuss business, though. If they killed Ismana, they will try to kill Aymeri."

Aymeri gasped. "Kill me? Why?"

It was Drystan who answered. "I think whoever killed your mother wanted to silence her or lay claim to the kingdom. Either way, if they find you poking around for answers, I'm sure they'll come for you next. And if the magick is somehow tied into this—"

"That's triple motive," Jorlyn finished.

Drystan nodded. "So, while I agree that this was the most inopportune time to speak with you about what my kingdom needs, I can't ignore that my people are also suffering. I'm willing to help you with anything you need, as your mother did for me when I inherited Bréīn, but while we are here, my people need something to tide them over. Otherwise, Dimia will ruin us."

I can't leave Drystan's kingdom to fend for itself. Not if what he is telling me is true. If he turned out to be her enemy, then she would drive her sword into him herself. For the moment, though, she had to treat him like an ally.

Friends close. Enemies by the throats .

"How are you so sure that Dimia is going to back down when she hears that we have allied?"

It seemed odd to Aymeri that a queen such as Dimia, whose sole purpose in claiming herself Empress of Dramolux was to rule all the kingdoms on the continent, would back down. What did Mother hold over Dimia?

Both Drystan and Jorlyn shook their heads, but it was Jorlyn who spoke. "We were hoping you knew. Your mother asked us to trust her judgment, but she didn't explain further."

Aymeri felt somewhat defeated by her words. Though she was the princess of one of Dramolux's most powerful Kingdoms, she felt more like an heir than a ruler. She was completely oblivious and ill-informed of everything going on in her kingdom— and the continent on which she lived. How did that happen? And why? Was someone so determined to sit on the throne so they advised my mother against teaching me everything I needed to know? Or did she trust someone to aid me, and that person wasn't following through in her absence?

Either way, she needed to make a bold move, and she had to do it quickly. The first step was figuring out who she could trust, and she needed to start with Drystan and Jorlyn. They seemed to know a lot about her mother, and if she was able to trust them, they'd be able to help.

Hopefully, my plan will work. If they abuse my trust in any way, their people will suffer immensely for it.

"If you do not mind me saying so, why don't we show her we're allies? My banners can hang alongside yours in Bréīn, and yours alongside mine here in Treoles. Our guards and armies will wear both coats of arms and carry both banners. Would that stave her off?"

A wicked smile spread across Drystan's lips. "See? I told you she would think like her mother."

"Like my mother?" Aymeri couldn't help but smile at the comparison. She didn't know much about ruling a kingdom or allying with other ones, so it pleased her to know she was at least thinking like a queen.

"Cunning. Ruthless. Brave." Drystan's praise for her mother brought tears to her eyes. She could see how much he admired the late queen, and her trust for him and his sister built a little more.

"I have never thought of myself as cunning or ruthless," the princess admitted. She had, in the past, considered herself brave. When her father passed, everyone told her how brave she was for dealing with his death with such dignity and poise. Not once did she break down in front of her people. She offered smiles and helped the staff hand out beverages and food instead. It was funny how she could remember that, but she couldn't remember the faces, the names. Everything was a blur in her mind.

"Get used to others describing you as such. You're going to be twice the queen your mother was. I can feel it." Jorlyn stood up and put her hands on Aymeri's shoulders. "You are going to carry the kingdoms to victory against Queen Dimia, and we are going to help you do it." She turned to her brother. "Now, in the morning, we will appoint our head of the Royal Guard to watch over the kingdom in our absence. He has been trusted for years. Besides, Dimia doesn't have an army to beat ours. Not with your money and food, and the backing of the other kingdoms."

"I know you have your doubts about us, and you're probably thinking if you can still trust me—us," Jorlyn started. "Perhaps this will help you."

Jorlyn held out a rolled scroll with her mother's seal. At first, Aymeri hesitated to take it. Anyone could forge paperwork and put her mother's seal on it. Anyone could have forced her mother to write it. After all, the handmaid was truly an assassin. She would have been able to coerce her mother into anything.

"Maybe it will all make sense."

The princess sighed and took the scroll, slowly breaking the seal so as not to rip the parchment. She sat on her bed and read each word carefully.

Dearest Aymeri,

I held your hand and walked through the valley of life with you. I lifted you up and carried you through the tangled thorns of grief. I gave you life, and I expect you to run with it.

Tears came to Aymeri's eyes, and she had to stop reading. The letter had to be authentic. No one else knew her favorite line from one of her favorite fairytales. The princess' father told her those words as he lay dying in the garden after saving her life. Wiping her tears, she continued to read on.

Jorlyn, our new handmaid, was sent by King Drystan of Bréīn. She is his sister, and their parents were longtime friends of mine. Things are going to get hard for you before they get easy. I do not want to write too much lest this letter end up in the wrong hands. Please listen to them and befriend them. It will all make sense later, my sweet, sweet daughter. I promise. I love you more than every hair on your head.

She clutched the parchment to her chest and let her tears fall. Grief felt like ten horses standing on her stomach and flowers stuck in her throat. If her mother said she could trust them, then so be it. She would trust them.

But if they cross us, Mother, it will be the last thing they do. I don't know how I will make them suffer. But I will .

"I know you have your doubts about us," Jorlyn interrupted. "But we really need your help. Your mother gave me this list." She handed Aymeri another piece of paper. "Look at the bottom. The last name on this list is incomplete. All she has is KU. Do you know anyone with those initials? I suppose it's someone she would refer to by both first and last name. Both letters are capitalized, and the other names have proper capitalization and small letters."

Aymeri paused for a moment to think, she was trying to figure out whose name began with a "K" who served at the castle, but she couldn't think of any. "Maybe it's a nickname?"

Jorlyn nodded in agreement. "It's a possibility…"

"There is also one thing that is troubling me," Aymeri began to admit. "Earlier, I meant to take Drystan up the staircase on the other side of our wing. You know, where the rest of the guests are staying?" She looked over at Jorlyn to make sure the woman was following. When she got confirmation, she continued. "I ended up on the forbidden floor."

"The one where your sister…"

"So you know about it?" Aymeri asked.

"Of course I know about it. Your mother forbade me from going there. Told me to avoid that staircase at all costs. How did you end up there? All the doors are locked. Especially the one leading up to the staircase."

Aymeri shook her head. "No. I didn't open a door until I got to the top of the staircase."

"Then someone must be using it. But why?"

Jorlyn looked equally confused as she was. Aymeri could tell by the way she knitted and unknitted her brows and the way she pursed her lips as if she were in deep thought. Passing her gaze from Aymeri to Drystan and back again, she shook her head. "I don't know. Tomorrow night, we will explore it. Until then, we will all sleep here and keep an eye out. And Aymeri, no one is to know who I truly am and why Drystan is staying for so long. Not even Ser Parzival."

Aymeri didn't like keeping secrets from Ser Parzival, but she nodded her agreement anyway. If she needed to get him involved, she would, but Jorlyn was right. No one could suspect that they were there to solve her mother's murder. If questions arose, she would handle the situation delicately and as vaguely as she possibly could.

For the moment, the focus was on finding out who killed her mother and why.