"Oh my God...Sara!" Felice turned back to look at Sara as she came in the room. "Have you seen this?!" Felice held up her phone from where she sat on the bed.
Sara looked down at her riding gear then back up at Felice, confused. "No? I was at the stables."
"Look!" Felice insisted, still holding up the phone for Sara.
Sara was unnerved that the news had already made it back to Felice apparently. "What is it?" She sat down beside her on the bed.
Felice handed her phone to Sara. Sara read to herself. There were tabloid headlines about Wilhelm everywhere:
Crown Prince rushed to hospital after collapsing: Palace awaits word on his condition.
Crown Prince in critical condition after medical emergency: Queen rushes to his side.
Crown Prince Wilhelm's mysterious illness: Will this be the end of the Royal line?
Royal Court in crisis
"Seriously?" Sara asked wide-eyed, wondering if August had actually done something to hurt Wilhelm. "This isn't true, is it?
"I have no idea, but Wille isn't answering." Felice replied.
"I'll try Simon again. They were...supposed to be going to the police station."
Felice looked at her, puzzled, and Sara swallowed, hesitating then continued.
"I...saw August...he said Simon and Wille were on their way to report him." She stopped and watched Felice's reaction.
Felice was completely taken aback. She furrowed her brow and gave Sara a quizzical look.
Sara swallowed then continued. "I mean, they were already on their way to the police station...I didn't think..."
"But if August knows about it, that's dangerous..." Felice's eyes were wide.
Sara shrugged her shoulders slowly. "He seemed to sort of...accept it." She said, hopeful but still uncertain.
"August?" Felice looked doubtfully at Sara. "Why were you talking to him at all?" Sara could hear that she felt betrayed.
"I just saw him as I was heading down...he had blood on his face." She hung her head slightly feeling guilty.
"Ok..." Felice watched her carefully.
"He said Wille pushed him into a mirror."
Felice's eyes got even wider. "Oh-kay..."
"And they got away and went to the police. They should be there, but Simon didn't answer when I called him."
Felice was still skeptical and unclear of Sara's story but decided to leave it alone for the time being. "We need to see if any of this is true." She gestured to her phone still in Sara's hand. "I'll call Wille, and you call Simon again?"
Sara nodded, handed Felice's phone back, and took out her own to call her brother.
_______________________
Anette hurried to Forest Ridge. Göran had sent her a message to say that it looked like there was a problem in Forest Ridge.
She arrived to find the housemaster perplexed and standing in the doorway of Wilhelm's bedroom.
She peered inside and discovered that it was a disaster, and worryingly, that there was even a trail of blood on the floor.
She told Göran to close Wilhelm's door then went and asked the first year boys who lived nearby what they had heard or seen.
All they said was that they'd heard a door slam, some shouting, and then the smash of glass, which at least explained the broken mirror, but not much else.
Anette looked at them skeptically, wondering if they just hadn't been very curious or if they were hiding something intentionally. She asked again who they had seen and one finally admitted that he may have seen Simon, but insisted he wasn't sure.
Anette went and found that Simon wasn't in his room so she asked Göran to take another member of staff to check around the grounds for him.
She didn't enjoy the idea of having to call Simon's mother to tell her that he'd gone missing from the school, especially under the circumstances.
She headed back up to her office and just as she was arriving at the door, Mr. Englund rushed up behind her out of breath. "Headmistress, you have to see this!"
Anette was startled and turned to him. "What's happened now?"
_______________
August lay on his bed with his hands clasped behind his head, looking at the ceiling of his bedroom. He'd been lying there since just after he'd received the phonecall from the Royal Court.
They claimed they would help him with his defense and the police investigation, but it couldn't seem that way publicly, and definitely not to Wilhelm.
The idea was that August would have his own attorney, but the Court's legal team would work in conjunction with them behind the scenes to try and have all of the evidence thrown out and the witnesses discredited.
They hadn't asked August if he agreed with the plan. They were telling him to fall in line, and he knew he didn't really have a choice. So he'd said that he agreed, of course.
But he kept replaying Sara's words in his mind...just accept it...I would've stayed with you...it's still not too late...
He wondered if he could still change the course of his life if he just made a different choice.
It was almost as if every decision and even every moment was another chance to change his life, and be a better person, if he wanted to. And if he felt strong enough.
Then he wondered if it would be the Court or the police to get to him first and he thought that maybe he could just let fate make the decision for him.
Instead of phoning his stepfather or preparing, he simply lay there looking at the ceiling in the same position, hands clasped behind his head. He closed his eyes and waited, beginning to doze and thinking about Sara again.
A moment later there was a knock at the door. He opened his eyes and inhaled sharply.
Then he wondered what would happen if he just didn't answer.
He hesitated then sat up slowly and turned to look at the door as he planted his feet on the floor next to the bed. He took a deep breath and asked, "Vem är det?"
______________
She heard a knock at the door shortly after she'd sat down behind her desk.
"Kom in!" She called as she stood but remained behind the desk.
Minou pushed the door open and looked at Anette expectantly for a moment before greeting her and turning to push the door closed behind her. Anette invited her to sit.
The headmistress studied the young woman across the desk for a moment.
"I've just heard about the Crown Prince. Please let her Majesty know our thoughts are with him and the Royal Family."
"Thank you, I will." Minou nodded.
"Is there any news about his condition?" Anette asked.
"No, not yet." Minou smiled weakly, then, after an appropriate pause she went into the real reason for her coming to Hillerska.
"We just wanted to make sure that we're all on the same page...that is the Royal Family and the staff and administration at Hillerska."
"Yes, of course." Anette nodded graciously, enthusiastic to show her support for the Royal Family at such a difficult time.
"Good, and um...her Majesty would like to make sure that you know that the Royal Family would never dream of blaming the school or its staff for what's happened."
Anette was taken aback. "Ah...you mean, for the Crown Prince's illness?"
"No..." It was Minou's turn to be confused. She shook her head slowly and furrowed her brow at the headmistress.
"Has something else happened?" Anette wondered what else could possibly have gone wrong. She'd assumed that the Court had sent the advisor to the school to simply give them information about Wilhelm and make sure they weren't going to say anything about his illness to the press.
Minou on the other hand suddenly understood that Anette didn't know that Wilhelm and Simon had reported the video to the police so she gave the headmistress a brief summary then explained that the police would probably be coming to the school very soon to investigate the report.
"We would like you to notify your staff as soon as possible."
Anette was suddenly nervous and indignant. "I was told that the police would never have a reason to come to Hillerska...we've done everything the Royal Court has asked of us..."
Minou felt exasperated but managed to hide it, maintaining a pleasant disposition.
"And it's greatly appreciated that the school has been so cooperative. Unfortunately, this was out of our control. But the best way to deal with this quickly and avoid any further problems is to listen to my advice and to inform your staff right away...As long as all of the staff agree to the same explanation, there's no reason for the police to bother looking further. But all of your staff has to agree." Minou smiled a sage waited for Anette's response which she assumed would be a quick agreement.
"I'm sorry...what explanation can we give for not reporting the video?" Anette wrinkled her brow at Minou, as the weight of her offense struck her, but not for the first time.
Minou nodded. "Right, well...the Crown Prince denied he was in the video. Therefore the staff had no reason to believe it had been filmed at Hillerska."
"But, Simon is also in the video..." Anette pointed out.
"Yes, but Simon could have been somewhere else in bed with another unknown boy as far as the staff knew, before the Crown Prince's speech...and Simon and his family never reported anything to you, correct?"
Anette lifted her brow, still skeptical, then replied. "No, they didn't..."
"So why would the school have gotten involved? Simon wasn't a boarder at the time."
"Mm..." Anette hesitated, unconvinced, but knowing that she didn't have the choice to disagree with the Royal Court or the Queen.
"There's nothing to worry about as long as everyone agrees to give the same version of events."
Anette nodded and smiled reluctantly at Minou. Then she glanced toward the door as she thought of the different staff members. She thought of one in particular who could pose a problem.