Bad Blood

Chapter 37: Meeting with the Crown

Amelia turned and twisted the knife in the lock, as she had practiced before, and indeed the door unlocked. She smiled and entered the room but, what she saw there, made her drop her knife immediately.

Everywhere she looked, she saw portraits of James. Portraits of James and her mother, portraits of herself too. Her mother was literally surrounded by James and Amelia herself. Had her mother been so devasted by the loss of her loved one?

Amelia gulped before she started walking around the room. It's a weird thought, but she's never been in her mother's room before. She never thought about doing that either, because it showed respect for her mother's privacy.

And now she understood why the Crown wouldn't let her in her mother's room. Because, if they did, she would've known immediately who her father was. She would've known immediately how corrupt the Crown really is. She would've known immediately that she was next to be targeted.

As Amelia looked around more, she noticed the many portraits which the Northern Kingdom didn't have. Portraits Carl and Chandler didn't have of James.

She sat down on her mother's bed and let out a breath. And then she just sat there, in silence, and being surrounded by her parents. And she felt protected.

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"Where's Amelia?" Carl whispered to Felicity when he noticed Amelia wasn't with them.

Felicity walked closer to Carl. "She had to do something," She whispered. "She'd meet up with us later."

"I hope she stays safe." Carl whispered back.

"Me too." Felicity whispered before they all finally arrived at the council room.

The soldier, who led them, stopped and knocked on the door. He waited a bit before entering. He motioned the whole group to follow.

When they entered, they immediately spotted Prince Piers on the throne and the Crown seating on either side of him and, at the end of the table, his kids.

Vincent, in particular, sat up. He didn't know why they were here, but he knew they were good people. Maybe they were here to complain about Amelia's death...

"King Alden and Queen Louisa," Lord Ernest, the leader of the Crown, said. "We welcome you into our kingdom."

"Thank you," Alden said as he sat down on the seats which were provided for them. "We appreciate your time."

Louisa looked from them to Prince Piers, who was sitting in Amelia's chair, in Cassandra's chair... She almost couldn't hide her anger, she couldn't believe the Crown would let this happen.

"What can we do for you?" Prince Piers asked.

Alden looked at Louisa who, in return, shot Prince Piers a glare. "We came here to talk about a serious matter," She started before looking at the rest of the table. "The deaths of Queen Cassandra and her daughter, Princess Amelia." She paused before adding: "We are convinced they weren't accidents."

"Of course, they aren't," Prince Piers answered rapidly, almost too fast... "We all know they were murdered."

"They have been murdered indeed," Lord Ernest said, he seemed sad. "It was a great loss to our Kingdom."

Louisa nodded before looking down. She was squeezing her own hands, trying to keep her anger at bay. She couldn't seem to push the feelings away, probably because she loved Cassandra so dearly.

"We're starting a crime case. We have reasons to believe that both murders were planned by the same person or persons," Alden said to which the Crown was interested to hear more. "We'd go even further and say that we know who the murderers are."

"Who?" Lord Ernest asked, he seemed genuinely interested. And that was something none of them had expected.

Alden nodded, happy with the response he got. "And we've got the murderers captured," He smiled a bit. "We've interrogated them, and they've told us the truth."

"How do you know they were telling the truth?" Prince Piers, of course, asked.

Louisa looked at him. "Because they'd rather live than die."

Alden looked at Louisa, giving her a look. He put his hand on top of hers, which helped her to calm down a bit. He then looked at the Crown. "We gave them a choice: either tell us the truth or be murdered."

"How do you know that they didn't just tell you what you wanted to hear?" Prince Piers smirked, he really felt confident.

Louisa, now eager to get that grin off of his face, sat up. "Because we've also got an eyewitness to confirm what these murderers have said."

"Who?"

Louisa and Alden then looked at Felicity, who looked at all of them. "My fiancee."

Lord Ernest and the rest of the Crown seemed confused. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, but we don't understand how your fiancee would be present in our kingdom and the Middledes Woods."

Felicity nodded. "She was present at those places because she's from here."

"You're marrying a Southerner?" Lord Ernest smiled, nodding. "Good choice."

Felicity nodded. "She's the best choice," She smiled a bit. "She reminds us of her mother." Felicity said as she motioned to her parents, who nodded too.

"We'll look forward to meeting her in the near future," Prince Piers said, trying to sound like a ruler. "When's the wedding? And where?"

"Soon, very soon," Felicity smiled more. "And we'll probably marry at our castle," She then looked at Prince Piers. "And at this castle."

"This castle?" Lord Ernest asked, gaining Felicity's attention. "I'm sorry, your Highness, but in this Kingdom, only royalty marries in the castle."

"I know," Felicity leaned back, crossing her hands. "So we'll marry in this castle." She smiled more to which others looked confused still.

But Vincent, who seemed to put the pieces together, suddenly smiled. "Is she...?"

Felicity looked at Vincent and smiled. She looked at the rest of the table. "My fiancee, and our eyewitness for this case, is someone you all know very well," She paused before saying: "It's Amelia."

Prince Piers, alongside everyone at the table, sat up, shocked. "Amelia?" Piers asked, gulping. "But she's dead. She was killed."

"They tried killing her, yes," Felicity looked at Piers, straight into his eyes. "But she survived, and together we've figured out everything there is to know about her mother's murder and even her father's."

Louisa and Alden nodded before looking at the Crown. "We're here because Amelia could identify the two people who murdered her, and those two people confessed that they were paid to murder her," They then looked at Prince Piers. "By him!"