by Renna Peak
After a moment, she pulls away from me.
“The way I see it, our only hope is to figure out exactly what we’re dealing with,” she says. “And there are only a limited number of people who know what that is. I doubt Reginald will tell us anything, not in his current state. But certain members of the Royal Guard had to know. Someone had to build this weapon. Someone had to order its deployment. And everything happened in the eastern wing.”
She nods, decision made. “That’s where we’ll go. There has to be someone there who realizes what sort of trouble we’re in and is willing to give me the truth.”
“I think you’re right. It’s our only shot.”
She nods again, then turns to continue walking—before abruptly stopping and twisting back toward me, grabbing me by the shirt and pulling me toward her. She tugs my face down to hers, kissing me hungrily. My arms slide around her waist as I kiss her back.
“I love you,” she murmurs when she pulls away. “More than anything.”
“And I you.”
Then she takes my hand and we go off in search of answers.
The eastern wing of the palace is as silent as the rest of the building, but there’s something restless about the stillness here. I feel almost like we’re being watched, but I see no one as we make our way through the corridors. We head toward the office of the captain. It feels like ages since I was last here. I wish we’d thought to find Julian first—he’d probably have given us an idea of what to expect, perhaps even led us to other members of the Royal Guard who might be sympathetic to our cause.
The door to the captain’s office is unlocked. We open it slowly, but the room on the other side is empty of people. Maybe they’re all off preparing for the coronation tomorrow night.
“Quick,” I say, striding over to the desk. “We don’t know when they might come back.”
As I start opening the drawers, Justine goes over to the large cabinet against the wall. We hunt for anything that might give us a clue as to what we’re dealing with.
Unfortunately, the first round of my search turns up little of interest—some supply ledgers, lists of officers, and other spreadsheets and such, but nothing about Maximilian’s weapon. When I get to the bottom drawer of the desk, though, I find it locked.
“Any idea how to pick a lock?” I call over to Justine. There’s a letter opener on top of the desk, and I grab it and stick it into the lock, trying to jimmy it open.
“No,” Justine calls back to me. “That’s not something they typically teach princesses.”
“Princes either.” I frown and try again, giving the letter opener a jerk. Nothing happens.
Maybe there’s a key somewhere, I think, scanning the desk again. I open the top drawer and reach inside, feeling along the edges and the top of the drawer for the key. I find nothing, so I move onto the next drawer and try the same.
Suddenly, I hear a gasp from Justine. My stomach tightens, and I sit up so fast I bang my head on the corner of the desk. As I grab my throbbing skull, I look over at my wife.
“This has a false bottom,” she calls over her shoulder. She’s halfway inside the cabinet. “There’s something hidden here.”
I leap up and go over to her, the sharp pains in my head forgotten for the moment. I hear the creak of wood as Justine pulls something aside. The bottom of the cabinet slides off in her hands.
“What is it?” I say, trying to see over her shoulder.
Before she can answer, though, I hear a throat clear behind us.
“And what exactly are you doing in here?” comes an unfamiliar voice.
I straighten and spin around, putting myself between the voice and Justine. There’s a man standing in the doorway—a man I’ve never seen before. He’s not wearing a guard uniform, but somehow he still manages to look as if he belongs here. His sharp eyes take in the pair of us.
“Well?” he says, stepping further into the room. “Care to tell me your business here?”
Justine
I turn to the man, straightening. “I am Princess Justine of Rosvalia. Perhaps you would care to tell me of your business here?”
William places a hand on my shoulder.
The man cocks his head. “I had no idea there was a princess. Does this mean Reginald is your brother?” It’s clear from his accent that he isn’t from Rosvalia, though I can’t say for certain where he might be from.
“It does.” My gaze never wavers. “Though that doesn’t explain—”
“This is the captain’s office. I used the office through there when we were still working on the project.” He nods in the direction of the door beside me.
“And just who are you?” William calls out to the man from behind me. “And what business would you have with the Royal Guard?”
He looks between the two of us, the uncertainty of what to say clear in his expression. His shoulders drop as he lets out a long breath. “I just came to get the last of my things—”
“My husband asked you a question.” I glare at the man—he may hold some sort of esteem with the Royal Guard, but I’ve never seen him. It is basic courtesy to show some respect for royalty—and he has shown none.
“I…” He looks again between the two of us. “I suppose if your father had wanted you to know about me, he would have told you.”
“Her father?” William’s grip on my shoulder tightens. “Did you have something to do with what happened at the mines?”
The man rubs at his chin. “It isn’t my proudest work, but yes—”
William takes a menacing step forward. “What exactly did you do?”
“I…” The man takes a step backward, clearly trying to give himself an opportunity to run should the need arise. William is quite a bit taller, many years younger, and considerably more muscular. It wouldn’t even be a fair fight. “Perhaps I should come back—”
“You’ll tell my wife and me of your business with the mines. Are you some sort of scientist?”
“A geologist, to be precise.”
“And you poisoned the mines?” William takes another step toward the man, his hands clenched at his sides.
I know this look in my husband—I’ve seen it many times. Someone always manages to get punched when William gets this upset.
I walk toward the man, stepping between the two. “Is there any danger to people from the damages done at the mines?”
“Danger?” The man rubs again at his chin. “I wouldn’t say danger, exactly. The salt is definitely unfit for human consumption, so as long as no one ever ingests it—”
“You poisoned the mines…so that the salt can’t be used?” William shakes his head a few times. “What sort of scientist are you, destroying something so innocent? What could have ever prompted you—”
“Money. And a lot of it.” The man doesn’t even appear sorry for his actions—it almost looks as though he’s covering a smile instead. He glances over at me before continuing. “Your father paid me an exorbitant amount of money to build that weapon. More than I deserved—I told him it was a terrible idea and that it wouldn’t make him the tyrant he seemed everyone to want to believe of him.”
“He was a tyrant.”
The man’s eyes crinkle in such a way I’m surprised he doesn’t grin. “Perhaps. Or perhaps he only had strange reasoning for doing the things he did. Either way, he was willing to pay me enough money for me to be able to retire after completing this job. Which is exactly what I plan to do—”
“My wife is pregnant. Is there any concern for our children after we were exposed to this…this poison?”
He shakes his head again. “I wouldn’t concern yourself. Unless you personally consumed any salt from the mines after the weapon discharged, there’s nothing for you to worry about.
Something in my chest feels some sense of relief at the news. My head, on the other hand, is telling me I should try to give him something to worry about.
“How can it be fixed? What can we do to restore Montovia’s mines?”
“So the mines aren’t just destroyed…” William’s voice is almost broken, hopeless. “The salt itself is destroyed.”
“That’s the long and short of it,” the man agrees. “I really don’t have time to explain the nuances right now. But maybe another time. He smiles at me. “And I promise you and your unborn have nothing to worry about.”
I suppose I should take that as a sort of peace offering, but there’s something about him that makes me want to battle him. He destroyed a major export of another country for God’s sake.
“How do you live with yourself?” I give the man a long stare. “How can you possibly live with the knowledge that you’ve destroyed something so valuable—”
“It’s salt, Princess.” He shakes his head at me, almost as though he can’t believe how dumb I am. “It isn’t like it’s diamonds or gold. It’s just…salt.”
“Salt that provides jobs for hundreds of people. Salt that is a huge part of my country’s economy, affecting thousands of innocent people.” William’s brows draw together. “How is it you don’t understand that? How can you not care—?”
“What I care about is getting my things—”
“My father will have you locked in a prison cell.” William’s fists curl into balls again. “One where you will never escape—never see the light of day again.”
“He’ll have to find me, first.” He laughs again. “Particularly since there is no extradition law between our counties.”
William glares at him. “If you could destroy the salt, you can fix it. You can reverse the damage somehow—”
“If it was reversible, my employer wouldn’t have paid me the sum of money he did. He got exactly what he asked for—a way to destroy the salt in the mines without harming too many civilians.” The scientist turns his attention to me. “And how many were injured?”
William’s hands ball into fists. “I don’t know, for certain. Not too many—”
“See?” He smiles. “Then I believe my work here is done.”
William
I start to lunge toward the man, but Justine grabs my arm, stopping me.
“Attacking him won’t change anything,” she says quietly. But even in her calm, I can see she’s as pissed as I am. Her jaw is tight as the man walks closer to us.
“My things are just in there,” he says, indicating the cabinet behind us, apparently unconcerned by what I’m certain is a fairly murderous look in my eye.
But I’ll be damned if I let him take one step further.
“I think it’s best if you leave,” I say, my tone dark.
The man shakes his head. “I’m afraid I’m under no obligation to obey your request. You’re neither my sovereign nor my employer.”
“Your employer is dead,” I remind him. “Leave.”
Something in my voice finally seems to get through to him, because the slight smile drops from his face as he looks up at me. It’s taking every ounce of my will not to punch him right in his smug face. My entire body is rigid with the effort. This man may have damned Montovia. Even if we avoid the pointless deaths of thousands of people, his weapon will probably still have catastrophic effects on my home country’s economy.
My hand curls into a fist at my side. “You have thirty seconds to be out that door, or I won’t be held responsible for what happens to you.”
Justine doesn’t even try to restrain me again. Instead, she speaks to the scientist.
“He’s right,” she says. “I think you should go.”
The man’s frown deepens. “When your brother hears about this—”
“Then I’ll deal with him. In the meantime, I want you out of this palace immediately.” Justine steps toward him, and he actually flinches. “You may not have known who I was before today, sir, but trust me, I have the means of dealing with you if you ever set foot in this place again.”
The man makes no secret of his displeasure now.
“Reginald won’t tolerate this treatment of me!” he says. “I’ll be back for my things!” He turns and strides toward the door, then pauses at the threshold. “I did only what I was brought here to do. One day people will appreciate my invention for what it is—a brilliant, groundbreaking scientific contribution. Something the pair of you will never understand.”
I start toward him again, but once more, Justine stops me with a strong grip on my arm and a shake of her head, letting the man escape.
As soon as he’s gone, I turn to her. “He’s not even sorry for what he did! He’s destroyed so many lives—”
“I know,” she says. “But giving him a couple of black eyes won’t change what he’s done. We have to act quickly.” She turns back to the cabinet. “We need to grab everything we can and get out of here in case he actually goes to my brother.” She reaches into the hidden compartment and begins grabbing papers and notebooks. She shoves most of them into my arms and then goes back for the rest.
“Where do you think we should take these?” I ask her.
“Back to our suite for now. It’s not ideal, but there are a few places where we might be able to hide them in the short term.”
“One of the hidden compartments where you keep your journals?” I ask her.
She looks at me sidelong. “Right now, that’s our best option. We need to keep these in our possession. And get a closer look at what he’s done.”
“Do you think there’s any way to undo it?” I ask her. “Maybe if we get these plans to another scientist, one on our payroll—”
“He seemed fairly certain the damage has been done. But I don’t know what else to do.”
When the hidden compartment has been cleared out and our arms are full, we quickly leave the office. The corridors of the east wing are still oppressively silent, but even though it unsettles me, I’m grateful we don’t have to stop and explain ourselves to anyone. We have enough obstacles as it is. When we’re free of the east wing, I rearrange the papers in my arms and pull my mobile out of my pocket. I call Andrew and update him about the situation. My normally stoic brother has a hard time hiding his shock and dismay when he hears about the poison, but he promises to evacuate the area around the mines immediately. And I promise I’ll give him more information when and if Justine and I get any. Then I hang up.
I breathe a little easier the closer Justine and I get to our suite, but I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe again, not in this palace. Not considering everything that’s happened here.
I should have done a better job of investigating the eastern wing while I was here before, I think. If I’d discovered what they were planning months ago, we could have avoided this. Instead, I’d treated the mystery of the east wing like a game—I never once considered that something this catastrophic might be happening.
“There’s nothing we could have done,” Justine says to me.
“Hm?” I look over at her—how did she manage to read my thoughts?
“There’s nothing we could have done,” she says again. “I imagine that’s what you’re telling yourself right now—that you should have done something sooner. That you should have stopped this. I know because it’s the same thing I’m telling myself. But it’s not true, is it? My father and Reginald did everything in their power to hide this from us. Do you think if they suspected we knew something they’d have let us do anything? They would have thrown us in the dungeon. Or worse. There’s nothing we could have done.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
She pauses. “Me either. But it’s the truth. And we have to live with it.”
I glance over at her. “You know, you’re sounding more and more like a queen every day.”
It may be the dim lighting, but I swear her cheeks color slightly. “Nothing has changed. I’m just telling you what I think.”
“On the contrary—everythin
g has changed. You’re finally starting to accept who you are.” I cock my head toward her. “The way you talked to that scientist back there, I swear he nearly pissed himself.”
She shakes her head. “I was just trying to stop you from killing him.”
“No—you were acting like a queen.” I readjust my grip on the notebooks in my arms. “Deny it all you want, Justine—you were born for this.”
She doesn’t answer, and when I glance over at her, I find her chewing on her lip, lost in thought.
“Don’t worry,” I tell her, trying to lighten the mood a little. “I’ve always had a thing for women in power.”
I watch her bite back a smile. On such a grim day, it’s more than I could have hoped for.
We’ve reached our suite, and I shift my burden slightly, trying to free up a hand for the door. My eyes are still on her, though.
“I’ve always believed in you,” I tell her. “But now, it’s more than that. I can’t explain it… It’s just…” I stop fumbling for the door. “We’re going to stop this war. I feel it, deep down. I don’t know how…I just do. And every step closer you come to accepting who you are, that belief strengthens.”
I expect her to smile, to show some glimmer of hope or pleasure or even pride, but instead her eyes fall away.
“I wish I shared that belief,” she says softly. “I can only continue to hope that we aren’t too late.”
Justine
As soon as we enter the suite, I make my way over to the far wall, reaching behind the bookshelf to pull out a wooden slat.
William follows me over, shaking his head as he grins at me. “I never would have found it.”
“That’s the entire point.” I have to bite back my own smile. He hands me the papers and books, and I slide them into the wall next to the journals and books I’ve already hidden in there before I replace the board to hide them. “Though I suppose I’ll have to find a new hiding place now. I’d still rather not have you reading my journals.”