Something Extraordinary

Chapter Thirty-Six - The Traitor

Renée had never felt so conflicted before. Despite her soothing the girl the best she could, it had taken the longest time for Azalea to fall back asleep after her nightmare, and she had spoken few words the morning after. She had stated that she was going to head down to have breakfast in the kitchens and kissed Renée on the forehead before leaving. Renée had watched her leave, unable to follow along as she had a meeting with Alden to discuss the search efforts for Arthur.

After the meeting ended, Renée had decided to go in search of the girl. She headed to the kitchens first, but she was not there. Renée thought that she was likely either in the gardens or in the servants' quarters, as she enjoyed spending time with Francesca. With that, she decided to head down to the servants' quarters first.

The three girls who were in the quarters immediately bowed to the Queen upon her entrance. Renée acknowledged them before walking in the direction of Francesca's room. The door was open, and she stepped inside. It was clear that neither girl was there. She turned to exit when something shiny under the folded clothes on the girl's bed caught her eye. She walked towards it, reaching to pull it out. She took the object in her hand and flipped it over a few times. It looked familiar, like something she had only seen in a book or heard of, but never in person. When she realized what it was, all of the blood in her body ran cold.

Renée didn't know how long she stood there, gripping the pendant so tightly that it cut into her hand. A few minutes later, there was a small gasp behind her, and she quickly spun on her heel. The maid in question stood there, looking like she had seen a ghost. She opened her mouth multiple times and closed it.

No one in the servants' quarters spoke a single word as the Queen stalked past, pulling the poor girl by her forearm. Francesca stumbled behind the Queen, trying to keep up as they headed in the direction of the dungeons. She did not make a single sound, despite knowing what was likely to come.

Renée was livid, but her face had gone completely pale as well, as if all the colour had drained from it. When they reached the bottom of the stairs to the dungeon, Renée hissed for the guards to leave them alone before throwing the maid harshly to the floor of an empty cell. Francesca landed hard, wincing as she felt the pain from the impact.

"You have one chance to speak before I cut out your tongue." The Queen hissed with venom in her tone. "Why do you you have this? And don't you dare try to say that you don't know what it is."

Francesca had gone pale too. She opened her mouth and closed it twice before finally speaking. "It-it is one of the original artifacts...it can allow the possessor to cross realms." She said in a quiet voice.

Renée spoke in a dangerously low voice. "And how do you have it?"

Francesca looked conflicted, not saying anything for a moment. Renée patience was quickly dissipating. "If you choose to stay silent, I can only assume that you stole it. Or someone in your family did as it has been missing for some time. That is high treason, and your entire family will be severely punished." Her eyes darkened.

"Y-your majesty please! My family did not steal it, I swear!" The girl said in desperation.

"So how, pray tell, did it come to be in your possession?" Renée's eyes flashed as she spoke.

"He said if I didn't do as he said, he would kill my entire f-family-" A single tear fell from the girl's eyes. "Arthur...he gave it to me when he was captured. He ordered me to hold onto it and meet him four days after his e-escape at the border of the r-realm."

Renée felt all the blood drain from her face again. "How long have you been working for Arthur?" She said, her tone emotionless as she stared down at the maid.

"S-since he forced himself on m-my mother when I first b-began working here." She choked out. "I had no choice...he would kill her and my brother."

Renée felt the fury build up inside all over again. Francesca had been working for Arthur for over seven years then. How had she not known? "Tell me everything you know this instant. Or I swear I will kill your entire family myself!" She kicked the girl in the ribs.

Not even making a sound of pain, Francesca pleaded. "I-I don't know the entire story, please..."

"Tell me what you know. Last chance." Renée turned, as if read it to leave when the girl did not speak immediately.

"He kidnapped Princess Eviana!" Renée felt the pain hit her directly in the chest. She slowly turned back around.

"Wh-what?"

"He-he always said that his heir should have been King...that he was cheated. I-I didn't understand this because-because the Royal history book never sp-spoke of another heir, but-but- he was scheming to overthrow you...he wanted King Adrian to b-believe that the late King Ronaldo killed his beloved Queen...and King Adrian did believe so for many years... He wanted revenge on Afronave...but he eventually decided he couldn't leave his only daughter an orphan if he were to fail..."

"So Arthur kidnapped his daughter." Renée finished quietly.

Francesca swallowed nervously. "He magically b-blocked her memories and set up the assassination attempt...so hopefully you would believe that she was behind it and kill the Princess...starting a war."

"Instead I fell in love with her." Renée looked away. "And he implanted the false memories."

"H-he claims to not have done that..." Francesca said hesitantly. "Arthur said that he had no idea wh-why she had memories of another land. He thought perhaps the spell had backfired in some way...his powers were not as strong as they used to be..."

Suddenly it made sense why Azalea was remembering her past bit by bit. Renée opened her palm shakily and looked at the pendant, now stained with her blood from holding it so tightly. This time she was going to be one step ahead of Arthur. His meeting with the maid was due to be in a day's time. She would corner him herself.

She turned to Francesca and spoke in a cold, emotionless tone, similar to how she had spoken to Azalea when they met. "I will see if your information follows through. If not, you will spend your final night in this dungeon." With a final scathing look, she stormed off, leaving the quivering girl on the ground.

Renée knew she had to tell Azalea. Surely she would understand that it had been Arthur who had orchestrated all of this. She had to, Renée thought to herself desperately. She headed to the gardens first, to where her lover often enjoyed spending her afternoons by the fountain. She walked through the flower maze and to the fruit trees on the orchard. There was no sign of Azalea.

Next, she headed to the library, deciding that the girl must have lost herself in a book somewhere among the shelves, but to her disappointment, she was not there either. The Queen returned to the kitchens where Mrs Walters explained apologetically that Azalea had not come down for lunch yet, and that she had not seen the girl since breakfast. Renée walked away in disappointment, finally deciding to return to her study to complete a few tasks. Surely she would see the girl at dinner later, or at the very least, in her bedchambers at nightfall.

A million things went through Renée's mind as she ascended the stairs to her study. For the first time in weeks, she felt relieved. She could finally tell Azalea the truth. She had a wide smile on her face as she opened the door to her study. Nothing could have prepared her for the scene in front of her.

Azalea stood behind her desk, her expression clearly distraught. The drawer was open. Realization hit Renée as on her desk were the notes that she had taken when researching the diary, and in the girl's hands were the diary and the locket that Eviana-her mother had given her.

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*edited*

Hi everyone,

Here is the long awaited chapter. Did you see that coming?

Lots of love,
-Cindy