A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Sixty-Four

It didn't take long for Husk to come to the conclusion that there was something going on within the palace walls. So that night, Husk broke into the royal records and started gathering up all important documents. During the search, he found a letter addressed to Isaiah from the late King Ludwick, dated to around the time the king had taken ill. It was against royal law to read the private letters and messages of any monarch even if they had been long deceased, but something about this letter bothered Husk. The seal was broken so that meant the letter had been opened, but if this letter had been sent to Isaiah, a common squire, then why was it here with the royal records?

Concealing the letter, he sneaked back to his quarters and read what Ludwick had written. What that letter said left him gobsmacked.

"Oh my God!" He gasped.

At first he wasn't sure if the letter was real, but after re-reading it several times and carefully studied the penmanship, he realized that this was in fact written by Ludwick's hand. Then he started to think. Think about Vincent and Giuseppina's argument, and the way Vincent had always behaved around Isaiah. It put a scary thought in his head and he became scared.

"What do I do? What do I do?"  He thought.

Something like this couldn't remain a secret. Husk's conscience wouldn't allow it, because you see Husk and Isaiah had been friends since they were boys. Isaiah's mother had been kind enough to take Husk in and raise him alongside her own son after Husk was abandoned by his family. The two had been like brothers, though they went their separate ways upon reaching early adulthood. Isaiah had gone to the castle to be a squire and Husk had gone off sailing to try to learn a trade. When he learned of his death, he was devastated and wished that he could have been there to help him. But maybe exposing this letter would make up for it?

Still he had to be smart about this. Information like this couldn't just be blabbed randomly to the whole world. If Vincent knew that Husk knew about this, then it would be off with the squire's head. He also couldn't tell the servants because they feared him too much to ever be disloyal. They'd rat him out immediately. He needed someone he could trust. Someone who was courageous and loyal enough to help him regardless of whatever threat King Vincent may pose.

That's when he remembered an old friend of his. Someone who he had known since he was a boy and like him had been a dear friend to Isaiah and worked as a servant in a royal family. He wrote a secret message to her, using the same spell she had taught him long ago and she quickly replied. They made plans to meet in the town square after the king and queen had left for Germany.

They met at dawn, the morning after the royal couple departed. She arrived riding on a horse, with her face concealed by a dark-purple velvet cloak.

"Hello Niffty." Husk smiled, helping her down from her steed. "It's been a long time."

"Too long." She replied with a smile. "But I'm glad to see that you're still a gentleman at heart."

"And I'm glad to see that age has been kind to you. You don't look any different from the last time I saw ya. Still the prettiest girl in town."

"Flatterer." She giggled. "Now what's this all about? I've recently become a fugitive you know, so I can't be showing my face around a lot."

"You? A fugitive? What happened, did you finally harass the wrong man?" He chuckled. 

"For your information I've never had one complaint from my gentlemen callers. The royal pain of Germany just found out that my loyalties lie with her husband and her stepdaughter, not her."

"Well that's something we have in common. I've never been loyal to Vincent. Just his wife and son. But I think they along with the good of Poland might be in jeopardy."

"How do you mean?" 

He handed her the letter and she read it just as carefully has he had done the other night.

"Good heavens!" She cried. "Is this legitimate?"

"It is."

"So what does this mean for the royal family?"

"I don't know yet. But I have a debt to repay and that means finding this boy."

"But I thought he died in that fire along with Isaiah and Bonnibel."

"If my theory about who started that fire is correct, then the boy may still be alive because there's no way Giuseppina would have allowed a child to be murdered for any reason."

"If you say so, but how would you be able to find him? It's been so long, would you even recognize him now?"

"Maybe. I remember that he has his father's eyes and eyes that dark aren't common among people in these parts, and I know for a fact that his mother gave him an heirloom ring from her home land." 

"That's not much to go on I'm afraid."

"I know but it's all I've of got, and I really need your help on this."

"Of course. Anything you need."

"I need you to talk to those fairy friends of yours. Maybe some of their magic could give us a better chance at finding him."

"I'll try but I gotta warn you Husk, fairies are very picky about who they help. They only do it if it proves to be amusing to watch the effects. And sometimes they might cause problems for humans if they think it more entertaining."

"But they like you, don't they?"

"Only The ones related to my sister in-law."

"Well why not just talk to her?"

"Because she's dead."

"Oh..."

"But I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, try to act like nothing's changed. Just because the king isn't here, doesn't mean someone here can't spread the word to him that you've been snooping around."

"Right."

"And while you're at it, I'd like you to go inside the royal library and dig up some information for me."

"Information on what?"

"Witches and witchcraft."

"What are you nuts? Do you know how much trouble I could get in just by looking up witches? You could even get into trouble just by talking about it."

"I know but this is important. You're not the only one who serves a ruler that maybe capable of pure evil. I have reason to believe that the queen of Germany is in fact a witch and that she's done something to the Princess Charlotte."

"Do you have any proof?"

"Not yet and that's why I need your help. If she is a witch then we need to know everything there is to know about witches in order to stop her. Please Husk, you know a witch on the throne can only lead to disaster for everyone in the kingdom, maybe even in other kingdoms like this one."

"Alright, alright, I'll do my research in private to avoid starting a witch hunt but I doubt the library will have such books. Witches are taboo especially in royalty."

"Just try to find something. Anything."

"Fine. When do you want to meet up again?"

"Tomorrow morning, same place, I'll tell you what the fairies said."

With that plan made, they went their separate ways to do research and make a few contacts, hoping that the wrong people wouldn't catch them in the act.