Chasing Royalty (Chasing Royalty Series, #1)

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I hurry to the door, pulling Grace after me. “Murdered? How? By whom?”

No one has been murdered within the castle walls for centuries. We have guards everywhere. We are supposed to be safe.

“We don’t know.” Grace stops a tear with her free hand. “A guard discovered her body in the courtyard. We think she’s only been killed recently.”

“So there’s a murderer free in the castle?”

“I guess.”

Doormen wordlessly pull the doors open for us, exposing us to the cold night air. Pebbles embed themselves in my bare feet as we stumble over the cobblestones. A small crowd gathers in the far corner. More shadows join the group each second. It’s a mismatched collection of crying servants, sleepy royalty, and anxious guards. 

My eyes fall on the corpse.

She was young, maybe only eleven or twelve. She probably worked in the kitchens or on the cleaning staff to help support her family. She might have been her family’s only source of income.

A thin stream of scarlet traces its way from her throat. There are no other bruises or cuts on her and her uniform appears to be in perfect order.

I find Violette in the crowd. The servants step respectively aside as I make my way to her.

“Do you know what happened?” I ask.

She shakes her head, “No one does.”

“There are no witnesses of any kind?”

“No one has come forward.”

Emilienne and Alexanne break through the crowd. “Have you heard anything?”

“No,” I say, “have you?”

“Nothing,” Emilienne groans.

William marches towards us without looking at the body. “You must all go back to your rooms immediately. We will have a private meeting first thing in the morning regarding this issue. It was unnecessary for all of you to come here, and especially in your nightgowns.”

“But it was an emergency and we’re—” One look from William convinces me to close my mouth.

“Your rooms. Now.”

I drop into a grudged curtsy and fume out of the courtyard with my three sisters following. I whisper my apologies to the teary servants.

We reenter the halls. I wait only for the door to close before I begin my rant, “I can’t believe he just spoke to us like that. One of us is going to be Queen within two months. Nothing will ruin our people’s respect of us more than him shamelessly bossing us around. A servant has been murdered and he’s trying to silence us.”

Emilienne nods, “If one of us is going to be Queen, when is he going to start treating us like one? Does he expect us to patiently wait around in our rooms after someone’s been murdered?”

 “It is our duty to go to see what happened. We could have comforted all those people.” Violette agrees.

“William needs to start…” My words die as William pushes through the doors.

He scowls at me, “What do I need to start doing?”

“Nothing. I…nothing. Come on, Grace, I need to get to bed.” I gather up my skirts and escape down the hall. I expect William to stop me, but he’s silent. I relax once we reach my room.

“I think that went well.” I mutter as I crawl back into my bed.

“Very well, my lady.” Grace smiles. “Your greatness continues to surprise me every day.”