Chasing Royalty (Chasing Royalty Series, #1)

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“Of course. I can see how it’s very troublesome indeed. Rest assured that every precaution is being taken.” The investigator smiles at us, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Thank you,” Violette says. “We must be going. Good luck with the investigation.”

“I’ll do my best. Anything to keep the royalty safe.”  He bows his head.

We stride from the courtyard, as fast as we can without seeming intimidated. As Emilienne pulls the door open, he calls out, “And your majesties?”

We turn, waiting to hear what he has to say.  “This will be your last visit to the courtyard until the investigation is over.”

We hastily nod and hurry inside to the safety of the corridor.

“So, is that it then?” Violette asks, “How can we investigate if we aren’t allowed to go to that courtyard? We were there for less than five minutes and he showed up.”

“We are princesses, and within two months one of us is going to be queen. Why does this investigator think he can tell us what to do?” A sliver of arrogance slips into Emilienne’s tone.

I say, “Maybe he doesn’t have authority over us, but William would definitely side with him.”

“I’m sure he’s just trying to protect us.” Violette says.

Emilienne shrugs, “Even if he is, I still need to know who caused Evette’s fate and why. I don’t know if I’ll be able to relax until I do. I don’t know how we can learn any more information, though, if we can’t go back into the courtyard.”

I say, “There’s power in unity. We can return to the courtyard if we choose to. William can’t afford to severely punish all of us and he can’t punish just one of us, so he’ll have to punish none of us.” I say.

“We should talk to some of the servants who knew Evette. Perhaps maybe our ladies in waiting knew Evette, or at least who was acquainted with her well. Maybe they know something about her that they’re too afraid to tell the investigator. You know how they protect each other.  We might be able to get them to open up and learn more about Evette.” Emilienne adds.

“But William can’t know.” Violette says.

“Of course. I’ll talk with Alexanne if she’s feeling better, and see if she wants to come along. I need to get back to the Sitting Room. My tutor is going to be waiting for me and I haven’t read the poetry book he assigned.” I begin to walk away, but Violette stops me.

“Wait, you have to come with Emilienne and me. We’re going to check on the cylinders in the Royal Gallery.”

I press my lips together, and then shrug. “Fine. I’m already late and my tutor’s been disappointed in me for a while now. What does a few more minutes mean?”

Violette laughs, “That’s the right attitude to have.”

“Isn’t it?” I grin and step into the Royal Gallery.

Our light mood shifts when we see the clear, glass cylinders. Alexanne has five glass cubes. Violette and Emilienne have four. I only have two.

Violette asks. “How are we gaining cubes? We haven’t done anything.”

“William must be counting the things we do correctly and incorrectly, or the times we obey him and disobey him.” Emilienne traces her finger over the fancy scrawl of her name embedded into the glass vial.

“So every single thing we do counts?” I frown. He’s already judged at least five things that we’ve done since last night.

“Can you lose cubes?” I ask.