The Lady Knight
"Have you finished unpacking?" the Prince pounded on my door loudly, "make haste, Julie, I am ravenous!"
I placed the last of my belongings in the cupboard, sighing. "All right, all right, I am coming," I stepped outside my chambers, "such impatience, Your Royal Highness."
Upon seeing me, he broke into a wide beam, and was swift to offer me his arm, as he had earlier when we entered Tessensohn Manor.
I stared at his countenance strangely, and then at his arm.
"What is it?" he tilted his head in bewilderment after a moment.
"You may drop the act, Your Royal Highness. There is no one here," I rolled my eyes, "and in any case, I can walk to the dining hall by myself, thank you."
His grin faltered slightly. "Humour me, please?" his eyes twinkled dangerously, "the thought of breakfast has put me in a much happier mood compared to earlier." A dark look flashed across his face.
"Oh, all right," I grumbled, not in the mood to fight with him either.
Taking his offered arm, I allowed him to lead me to the dining hall in peaceful silence. Conflicting emotions flashed across his face, but he kept his lips firmly pursed, as he immersed himself in his thoughts.
When we neared the dining hall, however, he spoke up. "May I ask you a question?"
"You hardly ask my permission for anything, Your Royal Highness," I answered wryly, "I do not think you should start now. It does not become you."
He stared at me, uncomprehending.
I shook my head, smiling. "Ask away."
He seemed to battle with himself for a moment, before curiosity won. "How did you know that forest green was my favourite colour?" he blurted out.
I wrinkled my nose. "Of all the things you have witnessed this morning, that is what was bothering you all this while?" I shook my head, exasperated, "Your Royal Highness..."
"Well, I also noticed the apparent hostility between you and Lady Olivia," he defended himself, "but I do not suppose you are willing to talk about that any time in the near future."
"Nay, I am not. 'Tis not my favourite topic, and it is all common knowledge, in any case," I waved it off, before growing serious, "but Sire, that is inconsequential. A small matter. The lime green curtains incident was a small matter. The ermine incident – though certainly foretelling – was also a small matter."
His forehead creased, as he listened to me.
"You are too fixated on these small matters, Your Royal Highness," I told him quietly, "and you may miss the bigger portrait if you continue down this path. In this duchy, at least, there is a portrait that you need to be able to see, and understand it for what it is."
His frown deepened. "Julie – "
"Welcome to the dining hall, Your Royal Highness, my Lady Knight," the steward cut him off when we neared him, bowing, "please, allow me to lead you to your seats."
With that, he proceeded to usher us to the dining table, where the Tessensohn family were already seated.
Lord Auguste was at the head of the table, and both the seats to his immediate right and left were empty. His wife and daughter were sitting on the seats next to the empty ones respectively.
Lady Olivia was once more glaring at my hand on the Prince's arm in annoyance.
"Is there a problem, Lady Olivia?" I feigned innocence.
"None at all," she snapped, turning away from me.
I had thought so. She would not dare argue with me in front of her parents and the Manor staff, and embarrass herself.
Rolling my eyes, I glanced up to see the Captains stationed discreetly around the dining table. They were staring straight ahead, deliberately avoiding my gaze.
I tilted my head, my forehead creasing. Who had commanded them to station themselves thus? None had the right to do so but me, as their Commander General. Then who had been so brazen as to -
No doubt Lord Auguste had overstepped his boundaries. As expected.
"Your Royal Highness, this way please," the steward led the Prince to the empty seat between Lady Olivia and Lord Auguste, before he leading me to the empty seat between Lord Auguste and his wife.
Strange. Was it not customary for the wife to sit beside her husband at the table?
I soon found out why.
"Has Liv shown you around the Manor, Your Royal Highness? My Lady Knight?" Lord Auguste boomed jovially, as the first dish of the morning was served.
"Yes, she has," the Prince answered, smiling in delight as his eyes feasted on the food, "you have a very lovely home, Lord Tessensohn."
"I am glad you like it, Your Royal Highness," Lady Olivia simpered, inching close to the Prince who immediately shied away from her, looking uncomfortable.
I almost snorted into my pudding in amusement, which I turned into a violent cough before the Prince suspected anything. However, soon enough, I received a hard kick from him under the table.
I shot him a glare, which he returned whole-heartedly.
"Why, thank you, Your Royal Highness. I had the best experts in the field of architecture to refurbish the whole house for your arrival - "
"Yes, Your Royal Highness, we want you to be comfortable in every way during your stay with us," Lady Olivia interrupted with a blinding smile, batting her eyelashes, "and those who do not wish the same should not be here."
With that last sentence, she shot me a poisonous glance, which the Prince caught and Lord Auguste conveniently missed.
I rolled my eyes at Lady Olivia again. It seemed she was still trying to convince the Prince of how I secretly despised him with a murderous rage deep inside my heart, as she had done earlier outside the Prince's chambers.
Well, for one, if I truly wanted to despise him with a murderous rage, I would do it out in the open. Secrecy was not to my taste. It was most unfortunate that we were currently on a truce.
In the meanwhile, Lord Auguste gave his daughter a kindly grin before continuing. "We paid a lot of money to reconstruct the flooring, made only with the best maple wood all the way from Osterlund - " he droned on.
I tried to pay attention to him, truly, I did. However, I had never liked architecture, simply because I knew little about it. As a result, my mind began to wander to more pressing issues.
For instance, to the fact that Lady Olivia was still alternating between smiling at the Prince and scowling at me with a ferocity that could make even Tess proud.
I rubbed my temples tiredly. Why would she not allow me to have my breakfast in peace?
"......is that not right, my Lady Knight?" Lord Auguste suddenly called me, bringing me back from my reverie.
I blinked, unsure of what he had been speaking of earlier. The Prince kicked me under the table once more, and glared at me to answer.
"Yes, of course you are right, Lord Auguste," I smiled vaguely.
"As I was saying," Lord Auguste began again, "nothing ever happens in the Crown Council without me. My Lady Knight, your father the Lord President, relies on me for advice almost always. In my humble opinion, I feel I should have been elected the Lord President. However, I am content with contributing to Monrique in my own way."
My father the Lord President relied on Lord Auguste for advice almost always?
I snorted again, discreetly.
Lord Auguste was clearly fond of tall tales this morning. My father was stubborn to a fault, and he never consulted anyone but the King and himself for advice.
"It is true, my Lady Knight," Lady Olivia added smugly, glancing at me, "my father is the most important man in the Crown Council. Indeed, you are well met, Ma'am."
I shrugged nonchalantly, not deigning to answer her. She was clearly trying to pull me into a power struggle that I had no wish to be involved in. I have had enough of those when we were both younger.
She had not changed in the slightest.
"My husband indeed has significant influence in the Crown Council. However, those are matters only menfolk like to concern themselves with," a voice spoke in my ear at that moment, "my Lady Knight, would you like some more orange juice?"
I turned around to my other side to face Lady Françoise, who was giving me a slightly forced, loving smile.
I stared at her, unnerved by her attempt to be cordial.
After a brief moment of surprise, I nodded. "Yes...yes, thank you, Your Grace."
I reached for the orange juice jug, before one of the servers took it out of my hands and proceeded to fill my empty glass himself. I thanked him with a nod of my head, before turning to Lady Françoise, who had opened her mouth to speak.
"You and Liv used to be such good friends when you were younger, did you not?" she touched my shoulder in a motherly manner.
I almost spewed out the orange juice I was drinking. Friends?
If by friends, Lady Françoise meant that Lady Olivia and I were acquaintances where one party liked to bully the other to tears, then I could concede that she was in the right.
However, that question seemed to be purely rhetorical, for she continued talking without waiting for my reply.
She was gazing across at her daughter, who in turn was gazing dreamily at the Prince and was interrupting Lord Auguste at every opportunity she could to speak to him.
"She has grown up so much," she sighed proudly, "she can play the pianoforte so wonderfully now! It is such a joy to listen to her play La Campanella. You must listen to her sometime, my Lady Knight. You will be astounded as well."
"I dare say you are right?" I frowned in bewilderment.
"And she manages the household so well," Lady Françoise beamed, pleased by my response, "indeed, she keeps track of the household expenses all by herself, without a single error, and she supervises our servants carefully to ensure they are doing their work properly every day!"
Was it merely my imagination, or was she smirking condescendingly at me? The moment was gone before I could dwell on it, and she had returned to gazing at me with forced fondness.
"Indeed?" I drawled, still not understanding where she was heading.
Her next words, however, jolted me to reality.
"She would make the Prince such a lovely wife, would she not? She has the training to be a good Queen one day, and they would make such a beautiful couple, yes, my Lady Knight?" she was almost jumping in her seat.
I wanted to slap my hand to my forehead. Of course. Why had I not I realised this sooner?
At the end of the Potential Quest, the advisor had to present a speech at the thirteenth and final Potential Quest ball - about his or her views on which one of the Potentials would make the Crown Prince the most suitable bride.
The advisor's opinion was usually very heavily considered by the Crown Prince before the latter chose his bride, and thus, all the Potentials' parents would attempt their hardest and their very best to impress the advisor, so that he or she would favour their daughters and recommend them as brides for the Crown Prince.
I doubted the Prince would even listen to my opinions, let alone truly consider them, but it seemed Lady Françoise was convinced he would.
I did not bother to enlighten her. "If you say so, Your Grace."
Clapping her hands in delight, she continued describing in detail about how kind and loving Lady Olivia was to the poor villagers in Tessensohn, how much she loved her people, how generous and magnanimous she was, and so on.
While doing so, she kept slipping me sly glances, as if to imply that Lady Olivia was everything that I was not. However, the glance would be gone before I could look closely at her countenance again.
Lord.
Indeed, I was so desperate to cease listening to her promoting her own daughter, that I even attempted to listen to the Lord Auguste instead.
However, he, on the other hand, was trying to downplay my father's achievements at war and in the Crown Council, and exaggerate his own achievements to promote himself as a worthier Lord President.
And he made sure that I heard every word of it.
I glanced at the Prince tiredly, who seemed as miserable and listless as I was, as Lady Olivia chattered on in his other ear that was not facing Lord Auguste.
My gaze then wandered to the Captains stationed around the dining room, who were equal parts amused and exasperated. They shot me sympathetic looks, when they noticed me watching them with a frustration bordering on insanity.
I stared down at my food before me. My appetite had vanished.
***
Three knocks sounded on my door.
I broke out of my reverie at that moment. "Come in!"
The door swung open to reveal three, towering men in their army uniforms, their Captain badges shining proudly against their chests. They marched in and stood at attention in height order, staring straight ahead.
"Commander General Ma'am!" they saluted.
I had never thought I would be more glad to see them, especially after breakfast. "You may stand at ease," I nodded, smiling slightly as I walked towards them.
They relaxed their stances, and looked down at me.
"Captains Morrison, Wellington and Evans," I addressed them, curtly nodding my head, "I trust that the poisoner has been safely delivered to Bordeux Dungeons?"
"Aye, Ma'am," Captain Evans answered, solemn, "Lieutenant Raleigh and his team are vigorously questioning him as we speak, and he will stand trial next week."
"Good," I sighed, relieved that he had not attempted to escape on the journey from Louvre to Bordeux.
"In addition, Ma'am, your brother, Lord Maximillian has requested that we pass you a letter from him," Captain Morrison reached into his pocket, "and Lieutenant Raleigh has also written to you. He insisted that you read his letter without delay and look through this package, as well."
He handed me two scrolls, each sealed with different crests, and a bundle of parchments tied with a string.
I accepted them from him, slightly surprised.
On one hand, I was delighted that Max had written to me at long last. My brother was lazy to a fault, and as such, even while he had lived in Osterlund, he had only sent a short scroll once on my birthday, once during Christmas, and one as a reply to my birthday wishes for him every year.
Therefore, his rare letters were always a source of great joy.
On the other hand, however, a strange sense of foreboding crept up on me upon the sight of Lieutenant Raleigh's letter and the bundle of parchments. My Lieutenant writing to me could only mean one thing.
He had discovered something regarding Lucien's murder.
"I will read it as soon as possible, thank you," I promised, setting the items on my table, "you must be very hungry after your journey, Captains. I suggest you head down to the kitchens for some late breakfast. After that, you may choose to join the other Captains when they leave for the village with Lord Auguste and the Prince in an hour's time, or you may rest in your chambers for the day."
Lord Auguste had announced earlier during breakfast that he wished to take the Prince with him down to the village to begin teaching him about the lands this duchy covered and the way of life of its people.
The Prince, having no choice, had graciously accepted.
"We will join His Grace and the Prince, Ma'am," Captain Wellington answered without hesitation, "we had sufficient rest on our journey here." The other two nodded in agreement.
"If that is what you wish," I smiled in approval, "you may now be excused."
"Yes, Ma'am!" the three Captains saluted, before they marched out of my study and shut the door behind them.
Pulling back my sleeves, I sank down into my study chair and grabbed the scroll with the seal of Bordeux on it. I eagerly broke the seal and began to read my brother's letter.
1 October, Year 30 of King Frederick V's reign
Bordeux Castle, Bordeux
Monrique
Dearest Julie,
I decided to send this along with your Captains when they left Bordeux today. I thought it would reach you faster this way.
I hope this letter finds you well. Your Captains had brought very grave news indeed about the Crown Prince, and everyone in the Castle was very much rattled, especially Their Majesties. However, they trust you to protect him, and they are very grateful to you for saving his life. Well done, sister. I am very proud of you.
Unfortunately, I am writing to you for another reason entirely. I am not certain if word has already reached your ears, but I thought I should inform you in any case. King Ferdinand II of Vantauge died a few days ago. As the late King had no legitimate children, the throne has passed to his younger cousin, who was recently crowned as King Alfonso XI.
I scowled, as the image of the short, corpulent, cross-eyed King Ferdinand came to my mind.
That man was sly with his words as much as he was eluding in his actions. He would promise one thing, and carry out quite the opposite. That particular habit of his had often infuriated King Frederick. Till the end, no one ever knew what he truly wished for his country.
King Alfonso, on the other hand, unlike his other family members and his many of his countrymen, had desired peace between Monrique and Vantauge ever since he had been announced twenty years ago as heir-apparent to the throne of Vantauge.
He was a kind, respectable man, and was already on cordial terms with our own King Frederick. He would certainly make a good King of Vantauge.
With that positive thought, I read on.
I am sure that there will be no more attempts by Vantauge on the Crown Prince's life. Although evidence is yet to be uncovered, I am strongly convinced that the poisoning of the Prince was initiated, in one way or another, by the late King of Vantauge.
Now that he is no more, I am of the opinion that the Crown Prince is relatively safe. The new King Alfonso is a good man, and Vantauge may no longer be a threat. However, do not be too complacent, Julie. Always remain vigilant.
I sighed wearily. My brother hated Vantauge with a passion, more so than the whole of Monrique put together, I should think. Unlike me, he had been old enough to understand and remember Papa and his fellow warriors place their very lives at stake for the most recent war between Monrique and Vantauge.
A deep distrust of that country had taken root in him from that time forth, causing him to blame all our country's misfortunes on Vantauge, and I had long ceased attempting to talk him out of that baseless prejudice.
Enough of serious matters. How are you faring? Have you been eating and sleeping well? Or have you been staying up late training and working everyday as usual?
By God, I am so exhausted by constantly worrying all the time. However, it is all I seem to be doing these days. Truly, Bordeux seems rather lifeless without you around, Julie. You left when I was beginning to become used to your presence again, and now I have nothing to do except to help Papa with his work, which is not at all intriguing.
I hope the Crown Prince is not bothering you too much. If he is, you only have to send word, and I will ensure that he does not even dare to talk to you.
I chuckled, amused. My brother was always over-concerned with my welfare.
Take good care of yourself and write to me as often as possible. If you need anything at all, please send word, all right? Enjoy yourself during the Potential Quest and come home soon.
Your loving brother,
Lord Maximillian Van Helsing
Postscript: Queen Eleanor requested that I remind you of the promise you made her, whatever that may be.
I smiled wryly, rolling back the scroll. I had not expected the Queen to forget the promise I was forced to make her about attending at least one of the Potential Quest balls as a proper Lady of the Society.
In any case, that Ball certainly will not be the one about to be held in Tessensohn in a few hours' time. I was already tormented enough by the prospect of my week long stay here, let alone deal with the age old trauma of preparing for a Ball.
I sighed, staring fondly at the scroll once more. I missed Max terribly as well. He had come home after so many years, and it was a pity that I was not able to spend as much time with him as I would have liked. The three weeks I spent with him after his arrival were not enough to make up for ten years' worth of lost time.
Truly, after the Prince chose his bride and married her, I was going on a well-deserved sabbatical to the Evergreen Islands with Max, and no one would be able to stop me.
Not even Papa.
With that encouraging decision, I reached for the second scroll from Lieutenant Raleigh. I stared at the blood red seal for a moment, slightly afraid of what might have been written within. Taking a huge breath, I broke the seal with trembling hands and smoothed the scroll to read it.
1 October, Year 30 of King Frederick V's reign
Bordeux Castle, Laxier, Bordeux
Monrique
To Commander General Ma'am,
A few days ago, I had sent a team of Corporals down to Derelia, Anchorvale, to search through Derelia Manor for anything that could offer us more information about the double helix serpent symbol on Lord Lucas' right shoulder blade, which would allow us to find out more about this illegal organisation they had been part of. I had also hoped that this search might yield results that could uncover the reasons for the deaths of the three other Lords as well.
The Corporals did manage to find something out of the ordinary, but I am afraid it is mostly useless. When they examined the walls of Lord Lucas' chambers, they discovered a part of the wall that had been recently painted over and sounded hollow. They broke it down at once, and a stack of letters were found hidden within. The seals of the letters were broken, but they were still recognisable, and all the same.
The seal bearing the royal crest of Vantauge.
However, that was the only useful information we could gather from the letters. The letters that Lord Lucas received were written in code, a series of numbers that none of us here could make sense of. I have copied down the contents of all the letters on a fresh batch of parchments for me to work on, and I have sent you the original letters along with this scroll, Ma'am.
In your spare time, if you wish, you could decode them. I have a feeling that these letters would prove to be very useful as evidence once we find out what is written in them. If Lord Lucas went through so much trouble to hide these letters within his walls, then they must hold some information of great import.
Do write to me as soon as possible if you managed to decode the letters, or if you find out anything at all about this string of murders while you are on duty during the Potential Quest. The recent attempt on the Crown Prince's life may also be linked to this case for all we know. I will question that poisoner and send you another letter if he divulges anything else.
Time is of the essence and we need to crack this case before it runs out, Ma'am.
Yours sincerely,
Lieutenant William Raleigh of the Monriquan Armed Forces
I read through it once, and I read it again and again until my eyes hurt and my head throbbed.
Vantauge? Vantauge was involved in this? I should have known. The late King Ferdinand had been capable of anything.
What was their game this time? What were they trying to do?
A sharp breath left my lips as I reached for the bundle of parchments that Lieutenant Raleigh had sent along and untied the string that bound them together.
Unfolding one of the letters, my eyes scanned the page swiftly.
I stared at the string of numbers that neatly lined the parchment in straight rows. The numbers went on and on, with no beginning or an end.
Nay. It could not be. It could not be.
I blinked and stared again, hoping to find the numbers gone. However, they still remained, and I still remained shocked beyond comprehension.
With my heart in my throat, I stood up and stormed towards my trunks, rummaging for the piece of parchment where I had copied down Lord Lucien's string of numbers on the Bordeux Dungeon walls.
Finding the crumpled parchment eventually, I proceeded to compare it against all the letters sent by Lieutenant Raleigh, and my heart almost ceased beating.
Both the codes used by Lord Lucien, and the person from Vantauge who had written to Lord Lucas were one and the same.
How could this be? My head was spinning. I knew not what to think.
I took a deep breath and cleared my mind. Enough, Jules, I told myself silently, enough. Do not assume anything yet.
As Lieutenant Raleigh had written, it was clear that I needed to decode them without delay. However, it would be much easier and more sensible to find out who had written these letters to Lord Lucas, before decoding these.
If the letters bore the seal of the royal crest of Vantauge, then it must have been written by one of the Vantaugian royalty. No one else in a country had access to the royal seal except for royals.
However, I needed evidence before I jumped to conclusions. If Lord Lucas had received letters from the Vantaugian royalty, then he would surely have sent some letters of his own to them as replies.
I needed the help of someone in Vantauge who would be willing to search through the personal documents of the late King and make discreet enquiries within the Vantaugian royalty. Someone who was a friend of both Monrique and Vantauge, someone who would be loyal to me.
That was when I remembered a certain promise that was made to me when I had first become a Commander General.
"Do you consider me as your friend?" the older man tilted his head, almost musing.
"Yes, of course," I answered without hesitation, "you are striving for the benefit of my country. Any friend of my country is a friend of mine without a doubt."
His emerald green eyes lit up in delight and approval at my answer. "Your loyalty to Monrique is unrivalled, my Lady Knight," he answered in awe, "and I am honoured indeed to have your friendship. If you need any help at all, with your army training or any other matter, you must write to me without hesitation. You have my word that I will aid you to the best of my ability."
"I will count on that, Sire," I smiled with genuine gratitude.
I smiled faintly at the memory. He was of Vantaugian royalty and he was my only Vantaugian friend, the loyalty of whom I was more than certain of, even after such a long time.
With that thought, I picked up a quill and a parchment and sat down to write a letter to him to request for his help in this matter at once.
The time had come for him to honour that promise he had made me.