Bad Blood

Chapter 20: Shocking news

Felicity and her parents got home after the funeral. On their way back, Felicity was looking outside the carriage, at the woods. She couldn't stop thinking about the moments she had had with Amelia. Their special moments, their dates, the kisses...

Alden and Louisa now knew that and let Felicity be, they figured she needed time alone now, to process the news about Amelia's passing.

When they arrived at home, Carl and Chandler were awaiting them. "How was it?" Carl asked the King and Queen.

"It was difficult," Louisa sighed. "But it was good to see Amelia's family."

"I can't imagine what they must go through..." Alden sighed as well.

"Two deaths in less than a month..." Carl shook his head. "I hope they'll tighten up their security even more now."

Alden and Louisa nodded and then went inside the castle alongside Carl.

"How was it for you, Princess?" Chandler asked, he was closer to Felicity than to her parents. And he noticed she was pretty absent.

Felicity shrugged. "I guess it was a good funeral," She sighed. "I just..." She looked at him. "You're going to think I'm crazy."

"No," Chandler shook his head too. "Never."

Felicity sighed. "I think the Crown and her family are covering something up."

Chandler's eyebrows raised. "Like what?"

Felicity shrugged. "I just feel something's not right," She said as they started walking towards her room. "No one had seen the body, they all took the word of a few soldiers."

"That is strange..." Chandler thought about it. "Maybe it was too painful for them, to see the body?"

"I thought about that too," Felicity then looked at Chandler. "But no doctor saw the body, only soldiers did."

"That's weird."

"Yep." Felicity opened the door to her room and then was frozen in place.

"Princess, what's wrong?" Chandler asked as he patted her upper arms, trying to gain her attention.

Felicity walked towards the window, where there was a familiar bird. She took the bird and noticed a note attached to its leg. "Our bird," She said. "It's here again."

Chandler slowly nodded. He didn't understand any of this, but he didn't want to ruin whatever was going on.

Felicity took the note and opened it. She started reading it.

Chandler was watching Felicity, but soon enough noticed Felicity's face getting very angry. "Princess, is everything alright?"

Felicity looked up at Chandler. "They murdered my wife!" She shouted out before storming out of her room.

Chandler ran after her. "What do you mean? Who murdered her?"

But Felicity wasn't answering him, she went straight to the dining room, the place her parents would be at.

She stormed inside, interrupting her parents' talk with Carl. "They murdered Amelia!" She shouted once more.

"Felicity, calm down." Alden said, caressing Felicity's arm but she shook it off.

"They murdered her!"

"Who?" Louisa said.

Felicity put the note on the table. Louisa, Alden, Carl and Chandler all read the note before gasping loudly.

"Prince Piers conspired against her..." Louisa shook her head. "He told us he was devasted by the news... What a fake!"

"What if he ordered Cassandra's death as well?" Alden suddenly said, making everyone look at him. "We all know he wanted the power..."

Louisa covered her mouth, she was shocked by this revelation.

Alden looked at Felicity. "Send a note back to Vincent, tell him we'll help him get justice for Amelia."

Felicity nodded and left back to her room.

"Chandler," Alden said to which Chandler nodded. "Will you stay with her for now?"

Chandler nodded once more and then hurried upstairs as well.

Alden then looked at his wife. "Would they have killed Cassandra?"

Louisa kept her mouth covered, she was staring in front of her, at nothing. She was shocked.

"Louisa?"

Louisa looked at Alden. "I can't believe this," She shook her head over and over. "Poor Cassandra, poor Amelia. They've been betrayed by their own family."

Alden wrapped his arms around his wife. "At least they're at peace now."

Louisa sighed and then slowly nodded.

_____________________________

Don was on his way back from the Southern Kingdom to the Northern Kingdom. He had shipped his own and freshly grown vegetables to the Kingdom himself and was now on his way back home.

It was his weekly journey. He'd follow the main road through the Middledes Woods (see picture above) and then in the Northern Kingdom, he'd take the muddy road to go home.

He was whistling happily as he was in a good mood. He had just delivered a lot of vegetables and so received a lot of money in return. It was a great day for him.

He liked spending one day a week at the Southern Kingdom, as people were obsessed with his vegetables there. They didn't have his vegetables there, as they came from Northern plants.

But even though he liked it there, he loved going back home the most. He also loved the Middledes Woods. He loved looking around for animals. There was one time that he saw a deer and its baby. Then he also had seen three squirrels jumping from a tree to another. Or that one time he encountered a bear... He was scared but continued slowly as to not threaten the bear. It worked out well.

He wondered if he'd see animals today. He was looking left and right, using his great vision to his advantage.

Then he spotted something. It looked like a snake. It was crawling on the ground, though in a very slow and very odd way.

Don stopped his horse and carriage and looked at the strangely shaped figure. Was that a snake or something else?

He slowly got off of his horse and carriage, and made his way towards the strange figure. He walked slowly, as to not scare or threaten the figure. 

The figure stopped moving so Don was cautious. Maybe this was a defense mechanism...?

When Don got closer, he gasped loudly as he saw it wasn't an animal, this was a human! He hurried to the girl, who looked terrible.

"Are you ok?" He asked the girl, and then noticed the stab wound in her lower abdomen. "I'll get you help." He pulled her up slowly, gaining a soft whimper from the girl.

He walked back to his horse and carriage. He put her down in his carriage, as it was empty now, and then got on his horse. He made his horse run back rather than walking.

When they arrived at the Northern Kingdom, he went straight to the castle, as he had no idea where to go to otherwise.

He stopped in front of the entrance and then got off his horse. He pulled the girl up and walked inside the castle.

"Hello?" He shouted, but no one was there. "Please, I need immediate medical help!"

"Medical help?"

Don looked behind him and saw two soldiers. "Yes," He then showed the girl he was holding. "She needs help, please."

The soldiers nodded and motioned him to follow them. They went straight to the nurse's room. "You can leave her here, with the nurses. She's in good hands."

"Thank you," Don then looked at the girl. "Keep fighting, I know you'll make it." He then smiled at the nurses, who were already attending to the girl's wounds, and left the castle.