It was a quiet morning. The tall arched windows on the East wall had been opened wide so that the fresh morning air filled the dining room. Sounds of birdsong and the rustling of the gardeners tending to the grounds below drifted up into the silent room.
It looked as though the day would be the last warm day of the year. Bishop sat across from Elodie at the dining table, the pair enjoying breakfast together. As she’d promised, Amayella had not appeared since the evening before.
Elodie suddenly thought back to the conversation she’d had with her little sister, and glanced up across the table at her advisor.
“Bishop,” she said, breaking the comfortable silence with an expectant tone. “The investigation into the murder of my parents. What have you found?”
Bishop looked up from his breakfast and offered a charming smile. “Funny you should ask about that, actually. I have a meeting with the team to report their progress later today. I was going to ask if you’d like to sit in.”
Elodie grinned. She knew he’d been working on it. Amayella had wanted her to think he’d forgotten. How could he ever forget? Mother and Father were his family, too.
“It seems like today might be the last time we get good weather for a while. Do you want to go out?” Bishop offered. “We could take Sugar.”
“I’d love to.”
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When they returned from riding, evening had started to settle in. They’d had a picnic of cured meats and bread with cheese out in the vineyard for lunch, and then gone out again, letting the horses graze on the sweet grasses growing between the rows and rows of grapevines.
A young man was pacing outside the stables, wringing his hands and muttering to himself. When he stopped to look up and spotted Elodie returning with Bishop, he ran towards them.
“Terrible news! Terrible news!” He shouted, finally within earshot. “A few hours ago, we got word that somebody set off some… some kind of a spellcrafted bomb in the Halfmoon Quarter! Enchanted fire is spreading and can hardly be contained.”
Elodie jumped off of Sugar’s back and handed the reins to Bishop.
“And you were standing here waiting for me to return? Why didn’t you run to get Amayella? She’s much more knowledgeable about charms and spells.”
“That’s the other terrible news, your Majesty,” the boy grunted, his face grave. “We can’t find the princess. She’s gone. Disappeared. It looks as if she packed up her things and left.”
Elodie stared, stone-faced, almost as if she hadn’t heard him.
“Your Highne–?”
It was as if a dam broke. From out of nowhere, a flood of unbridled, unexpected, blazing rage erupted into her chest. She could taste molten metal in her throat and the whole world shifted to a shade of blood-red.
She erupted into a terrifying roar of utter animalistic fury, and lunged at the boy, who stumbled backwards and nearly tripped on a horse pile. He stared, wide-eyed, as Bishop stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the Queen, dragging her back a few steps.
“Calm down,” Bishop said sternly. “We can’t be sure if she’s really run off.”
“They said her room’s packed up!” She snarled back, struggling to break free of his hold. He held firm, his hands locked together in front of her.
“That’s for you to decide! But you haven’t even seen it yet,” he reassured her. Elodie paused. He was right, wasn’t he? Before she could think further about it, he continued, “You need to calm down. We have to deal with the fire.”
Elodie sprung free of the hold Bishop had on her, only because he allowed her to. She adjusted her blouse and sleeves and cleared her throat before turning and pointing aggressively at the servant who still watched her with frightened eyes.
“You will find Lane. You will tell him what you just told me. And you will tell him that he is to meet me in the throne room in five minutes or he will be packing his things.”
“Yes, your Highness. Thank you, your Highness,” he replied sheepishly. He spun around as fast as he could and was gone through the door to the kitchens in an instant.
Elodie turned back to Bishop, and glared impatiently at him.
“Don’t ever-”
“I’ll do what I think is right,” he interrupted her defiantly. She stared at him for a second, eyes narrowed, and then sighed.
“Your judgment might be better than mine,” she finally conceded.
He nodded, satisfied that she seemed to agree with his sentiments. “Come, now,” he said, leading the way towards the main door back into the castle. “We have business to attend to.”
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