His Royal Highness

Chapter Eleven

Sebastian grimaced at the thought of meeting Lionel once more. However, he hoped that it wouldn't come to that. If all went well, he would not need to engage in a conversation with him.

Three days had passed since the king had fallen into a coma. One of his first actions as the ruler was to try to maintain all of the systems that were already in place. The stability of the kingdom came first. After Sebastian had made sure things would run smoothly again, he decided to turn his focus back onto the action.

This time, he decided to start with the more pugnacious suspect, Lionel. Their last encounter wasn't a proud one so he knew that it would be better if they directly contact each other. But unlike what Charlotte had done last time - searching through his personal items - he was simply going to eavesdrop from the hidden passages behind the wall.

He thought about bringing Charlotte. Maybe he could make a quick stop at her room to invite her along. Then he remembered that she had said that she would be working with her father until noon.

Knowing that she was temporarily unavailable, he made his way to the hidden passage behind the walls of Lionel's room. It was slightly dark inside the tunnel, but it was clean.

There was also a little hole in the wall that allowed someone to peer into the room. Sebastian wondered if anyone had ever used the hole to peep on someone, feeling a little disturbed by that possibility. That was an invasion of privacy. Although, he was being a hypocrite because he was going to do the same thing - albeit simply eavesdropping - with Lionel.

Sebastian wasn't quite sure when Lionel would go back to his room, but since he was not currently there, Sebastian had time to rethink about all of the suspects, finding a comfortable position to sit in while he waited.

He started with Duke Frederick. Charlotte had said that he was poisoned and that she suspected that he had ingested it. Unfortunately, the poison had yet to be identified and the plants found in Lionel's room did not cause death. However, Frederick was a frail man. Perhaps his already weakened body worsened the already severe effects of the plant.

As for the ingestion fact, he tried to think about lunch plans that day. In fact, Sebastian himself ate food along with Duke Frederick, as well as some members of the council and other important people. Random workers had each served them their food, allowing any one of them to possibly add poison to the dishes.

He shivered at the thought of how close he had been to experiencing the same fate.

Maybe he could put a face to the person who served Duke Frederick... but he simply couldn't conjure up an image. But, he did remember that most of the servants were fair haired.

Deciding that he was stuck there, he tried come up with as much details during the chaotic moments when his father had been stabbed. The king usually wore a leather armor-type vest, that would stop arrows. But apparently, not daggers.

The only glimpse of the attacker confirmed that the assassin was male. Even from a distance, and from the split second that he saw him, Sebastian could tell that the man was tall and physically sturdy. As for facial features, the assassin made sure to wear a mask, disguising anything else to identify him.

There had to be some sort of clue that could help reveal the assassin, maybe through their gait or the type or quality of the clothing he wore. Then Sebastian remembered a very distinct quality: the assassin's left hand arm was held out, almost as if he had used his left hand to throw the arrow.

Energy filled Sebastian. That was a very vital fact and an easy trait to look for. Even if the assassin himself was hired by one of the dukes - rather than being the duke himself - finding him would ultimately lead to finding the mastermind. The journey would be much quicker and easier if the assassin was also the mastermind.