Alcingeria Chapter Fifty Two: Suspicion

After spying on Estaire for all of the previous day and into this one, an event arises that proves Estaire innocent. If Estaire isn't the dark magic witch, who is?

Chapter Fifty Two Suspicion:

Sunday July 4^th 1690

Francella had spied on Estaire from a distance for the remainder of the previous day. He had found nothing suspicious, other than a few new magic users who were brought into the castle. He didn’t fear the possibility of them being able to use dark magic though. They already had a suspect and he didn’t want any unnecessary stress. He went to bed, ready to try again today. He was up bright and early. His servant, Preston, offered him breakfast. Francella looked into his pale gold eyes and politely refused, desiring to get a head start on his task. He gave Preston the day off.

            “Is everything okay, sir? You gave me yesterday off as well. Is something wrong? You seem… Stressed.” Preston said.

That wasn’t even half of it. If he was caught spying on the princess, no matter the reason, he would most likely be executed. On top of that he had to act normal so no one would suspect him. He didn’t do a very good job of that.

            “No, everything’s fine. I just need to take care of a few things.” Francella reassured him.

            “Sir, that is what you have me for. Sit back, enjoy yourself.” Preston persuaded.

            “No Preston, it isn’t exactly the thing you can take care of. I need to do this on my own.” Francella told him.

            “Well, what is it?” Preston asked, curious.

Francella thought on his feet, luckily he was prepared for this question.

            “It’s… Eh… Woman troubles.” He lied.

Preston closed his eyes and nodded.

            “I understand. Well, I suppose you should go. Good luck.” He said.

            “Thanks, Preston.” Francella said.

Francella jogged out of his room. If Estaire was the dark magic witch, he couldn’t afford to waste any time. He jogged down to the throne room foyer and took the first left and went into the kitchen. He learned yesterday that cutting through the throne room when he went to spy on Estaire would be dangerous, as the queen was almost always there. He found that the kitchen in the throne room foyer led off to a room located behind the throne. If he was careful like yesterday he could slip through and enter the door on the far right of the room that led to her room. He came through the door behind Queen Yuka’s throne and peeked out. Her saw the queen sitting on her throne, speaking to a servant. He also saw that Estaire’s room was guarded. He managed to give the guards the slip yesterday, he must have not been up early enough today. He quietly crept back into the kitchen and through the foyer, arriving at the main entryway. He then wracked his brain for another way that would give him access to Estaire’s room. He then remembered something from all his walks in the garden; there was a window that overlooked the largest rose bush in the whole garden. It led to Estaire’s room. He grinned to himself and walked out into the garden. He walked down the path until he found the window he was looking for. Inside he heard singing, beautiful singing. It was Estaire.

            “Here goes nothing.” Francella said to himself.

He walked over to the window, jumped, grabbed the windowsill and peeked into Estaire’s room. He saw her brushing her hair in front of her mirror. Thankfully her right side faced him, otherwise he would’ve been seen. She then grabbed a rose from her bedside table and pinned it into her dark black hair.

            “Perfect!” She said, smiling to herself in the mirror.

He saw Estaire start to turn towards the window, so he dropped silently to the ground, out of sight. Above he saw Estaire looking out onto the garden from her window. She inhaled deeply through her nose. She walked back into her room. Francella jumped up and grabbed the windowsill again. He peeked inside… Only to see Estaire looking right at her bedroom window!

            “Whoa!” Francella exclaimed in shock as he fell to the ground below.

Estaire rushed over to her window, looking down at Francella.

            “Francella? Were you spying on me!?” Estaire asked in disbelief.

Francella’s heart raced. Would she use her dark magic on him? Would she call the guards to have him executed? Would she tell her mother?

            “Um… Yes…” Francella admitted, not knowing what else to say.

            “Francella, I am the princess! How dare you invade my privacy like that!?” Estaire exploded.

            “I’m sorry, Estaire!” Francella called up.

            “Why were you spying on me?” Estaire asked, ignoring his apology.

Francella didn’t know how to answer this question. All that came out of his mouth was an intelligible stammer.

            “Are you a peeping Tom?” Estaire asked.

            “No! No!” Francella quickly denied.

            “Well, then tell me why you were peeking into my room at this early hour!” Estaire shouted angrily.

Just then, an idea came to Francella. He forced himself to calm down so he wouldn’t sound like he was lying.

            “Okay. I was just taking an early morning stroll in the garden, when I heard a beautiful singing voice coming from that window. I didn’t know it was you, so I just took a quick look, I was curious to see who had such a nice singing voice.” He lied smoothly.

Estaire seemed to calm down signifigantly. She nodded.

            “Oh, you like my… Singing voice?” She asked.

            “Yes.” Francella replied.

            “Are you sure you didn’t peek into my room for anything else?” Estaire teased.

Francella laughed, glad that the tension was finally over.

            “Yes, I’m sure. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done it and it won’t happen again.” Francella reassured her with a smile.

            “Good. Now be gone, peasant!” Estaire joked.

Francella walked away. When we was out of earshot, he sighed in relief. That was close, really close. He hadn’t seen anything suspicious since he started spying on Estaire. He really didn’t want to believe that the nice, kind hearted princess of Vulrock was a dark magic witch. Despite this, he couldn’t completely dismiss the suspicion until he had hard evidence that she isn’t the dark magic witch. He walked through the main entryway and saw something he didn’t believe. Lying on the floor was a dead male servant. He had no blood showing, no wound, no apparent cause of death. Francella ran over to the servant.

            “Hey, are you okay? Hello?” He asked in a panic.

He tried shaking the man awake, but it was futile. Francella held a hand on the man’s chest but didn’t feel a heartbeat. He was most certainly dead.

            “Ceberus!” Francella called.

A few seconds later, the older man ran into the main entryway. His eyes fell on the servant’s corpse.

            “Estaire!” Ceberus spat.

Francella shook his head.

            “No, Ceberus! It wasn’t Estaire!” He protested.

            “How do you know?” Ceberus asked skeptically.

            “I was just at Estaire’s room a minute ago. She couldn’t possibly have come all the way here, killed the servant and got away before I got here.” Francella explained.

Ceberus nodded, stroking his chin.

            “I see. That proves Estaire innocent though, doesn’t it?” Ceberus asked.

            “Yes. It does.” Francella replied with a grin.

Ceberus nodded, looking at the dead servant.

            “This needs to be brought to Queen Yuka’s attention. The rats, too. She needs to hear about this.” Ceberus said.

            “I agree. Let’s go to her now and tell her.” Francella suggested.

            “Good idea. Let’s go.” Ceberus replied.

Ceberus picked up the dead servant and they both walked to Queen Yuka’s throne room. As they walked inside they saw that Estaire and Queen Yuka were both sitting on their thrones. Francella wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn he saw Estaire wink at him.

            “Your majesty! We have very troubling news!” Ceberus exclaimed.

            “Ceberus? What news do you have?” Asked the queen.

            “Francella found this servant dead in the main entrance. He has no blood showing and no wounds. He appears to have just… Died.” Ceberus explained.

The queen scoffed, waving a hand in the air as if shoeing a fly.

            “That’s preposterous! He had to have died somehow.” The queen said.

Ceberus shook his head.

            “I hate to contradict you, you majesty, but two days ago I found two dead rats in much the same situation; no blood showing, no wounds.” Ceberus told her.

            “Your claim is hard to believe, but seeing as you have brought me the corpse of the servant, I believe you. Do you have any idea as to what killed the rats or this man?” Queen Yuka asked.

Ceberus nodded, his expression going grim.

            “Yes, your majesty. I suspect that it is the work of dark magic.” He replied.

Queen Yuka’s slate grey eyes bore into Ceberus, searching for a clue as to whether or not he’s telling the truth or not.

            “I will have a medical examiner have a look at the body. Perhaps a confirmed diagnosis can be reached. I’ll contact you when I have more information. I thank you for bringing this to my attention.” Queen Yuka said.

            “It’s no trouble, your majesty.” Ceberus said with a bow.

With that, they left the corpse of the servant with Queen Yuka.

            “This isn’t good, this isn’t good at all.” Ceberus worried.

            “I know. We need to tell the others that Estaire is not the dark magic witch. They’re all most likely in the dining hall.” Francella said.

Ceberus nodded and walked to the dining hall with Francella. They found everyone sitting at the table, eating.

            “Everyone, I have news. I must have a word with each of you without your servants.” Ceberus said.

Everyone nodded and left the table.

            “What is it, Ceberus?” Martha asked.

            “Princess Estaire isn’t the dark magic witch.” Ceberus began.

            “I told you so!” Erin said excitedly.

            “Do we have any other leads?” Raymond asked.

Ceberus shook his head sadly.

            “As of yet, no. We need to stay sharp though. The dark magic witch is most likely residing here in the castle. Be on your guard. All of you.” Ceberus said.

            “Don’t worry, we’ll be okay. We just have to be smart.” Francella said.

            “I hope we catch this dark magic witch, and soon. I’m getting too old for this.” William chuckled.

Author's Note

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