My Shadow

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Lizzy ran past the stables and through the gates. She heard footsteps behind her but she was not going to stop. Her foot caught on a stone on the ground and she fell to the floor. She gasped at the pain from her hands which she had landed on. Someone helped her up and she started to run again but the same person held onto her. She struggled against their grip and twisted around so she could see who it was who held her.

“Eddy, let me go!” She cried.

“Lizzy, listen!” Eddy yelled. Lizzy froze.

“What do you want?” Lizzy demanded.

“They are not my parents! If they are, I disown them! I would never have parents who did things like that!” Eddy said, pulling her close. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“What did they do? What did they do, Eddy?”

“You do not need to know, Lizzy.”

“Yes. Yes, I do. I need to know, Eddy. Especially if it concerns me.”

“It was all Catherine’s fault. She came up with the plan. She was the one who wanted it to happen. She wanted to make life a misery for you. She thought you were not worth the trouble. She thought that no one should have to care for you if you were going to be causing trouble.”

“What did she do, Eddy?”

“She-she...” Eddy’s voice cut off. He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t make Lizzy more upset. But Lizzy seemed to know what he was going to say.

“She killed my parents, did she not?” Eddy nodded and hugged her tighter. “How?”

“I will explain later. We must hurry.” Eddy had remembered what else had happened.

“Where, where do we go?”

“The palace.” Eddy said.

~*~

“What are you doing here?” Thomas asked. He had returned quickly to the palace as soon as they had arrived at the castle. He was needed back at the palace as soon as he could make it.

“We need to see the king.” Edward said.

“We cannot allow you in here.” Thomas said. “It is against the rules.”

“Let me in. Pretend I am a new servant and you are showing me around. I will explain on the way. Please, let me in.”

“All right, I can possibly get you in, Lizzy. You wait a little away from here, Eddy. Come along.”

Thomas took hold of Lizzy’s arm and they began to fast walk it inside the palace. “I thought you were going to explain.”

“Catherine poisoned my parents without my knowledge and I believe she has done the same to the king.”

“That is a big accusation you have just made.”

“It is the truth. That is why they were here. I hope we are not too late. I do not know how fast the poison will spread this time. It took a long while to take action with my parents.” Lizzy explained as they hurried through corridor after corridor. No one was about so no one was there to stop them or give them strange looks.

Finally, Thomas stopped outside a door and turned to Lizzy. “Are you sure you are right? If you are wrong and we burst in, we are in big trouble.” He asked.

“I am sure, just go in, please. If I am wrong, blame it on me.” Lizzy replied. Thomas turned back to the door and turned the handle. With a push, the door opened and Thomas entered the room. He bowed quickly before straightening and inviting Lizzy inside.

The room was exquisitely decorated. There were plush, expensive rugs covering every part of the floor. The double bed was covered with hanging which had been pulled across so you could not see the person lying on the bed. The chests and cupboards that were in the room were beautifully made but they were covered in dust, as if no one had been in here to clean for a long while. There was also the sense that there had been a woman’s presence here at some point but all the lingered was the slight effect of the room. Men wouldn’t want such detailed finery, only women craved that.

“Your majesty, are you awake? We have a visitor.” There was no response from the bed. The room was silent and Lizzy could just about here faint, laboured breathing coming from the bed.

“He is almost dead, Thomas!” Lizzy hissed.

“We cannot just go up to him; we must wait for his permission.”

“He cannot reply if he is dying.” Lizzy replied.

“Sire?” Thomas said. Again, there was no reply. Lizzy sighed and walked forwards, dodging the hand that reached out for her by Thomas.

“Your Majesty, I know you are unwell, I can tell from the way you breathe. I am sorry but I am going to have disrupted your privacy.” Lizzy took hold of the hangings and tried to pull them apart. Nothing happened. They had been sewn together. With an almighty pull, she tore them off of the bed. She stared at the fabric as it fell to the floor. She would be in even more trouble now.

The king was pale. Too pale, almost vampire pale. You could see the veins in his skin and his eyes were closed. They looked as though they may never open again. “Definitely poison.” Lizzy muttered. “If someone wanted to poison someone, they would leave the poison in here. Along with the antidote because if someone accidently swallowed the poison and it was not the king then they would need the antidote to save them.”

“Where will it be?”

“It will be hidden away but in plain sight.” Lizzy replied.

“Stop talking riddles!” Thomas snapped.

“I cannot help it. It is what my mother always said.” Lizzy snapped back.

“I found it!” Thomas cried, holding out two bottles. “I do not know which is which, though.” Lizzy took the bottles off of him and studied them.

“As I thought,” she muttered. She then turned to Thomas. “One of them is empty. That is the poison!”

“Well, how was I meant to know? The antidote is a clear liquid!” Thomas retorted. That was true. The bottles were made to look as if they always contained something. She recognised them as well, she knew that the person had made these had made them clear so if someone was to pour it into a drink it would be undetectable apart from the taste, if it had one at all.

Lizzy leant over the king and uncorked the antidote. Gently, she parted the king’s lips with her fingers and poured the clear liquid into his mouth. As the last drop went in, the door burst open and Eddy stood there, Anne was stood behind him, a terrified look on her face. Lizzy and Thomas stared at them in silence before the silence was broken.

“Edward?”