Lord Ashcroft frowned. “A few years ago, I’d laugh at such a suggestion, but Gautherd’s age is catching up with him.” His amber gaze scanned the area, likely searching for anything Gautherd could have hit his head on.
Jax snorted at the futility. “He may be getting on in years, but Master Gautherd would never misplace an item from his precious archives.” She met the quizzical looks of both men. “Carriena and I got our knuckles rapped more than once by the archivist for our often careless shelving of material.” A crooked smile tingled her lips, her thoughts drifting to one particular memory. She and Carriena had been researching old trade routes throughout the duchies for an upcoming exam. Eager to be done with their lessons and onto the evening’s social events, the two young women had shelved a map of Beautraud in with the Crepstian maps, and as a result, had been forced to write lines for the cranky old archivist well into the night.
It’s hard to believe there was a time in my life when the most concerning thing on my mind was sneaking out to an unsanctioned gathering with classmates.
George continued studying the worktable with keen interest. “Well, if that’s the case, then whoever took the documents knew exactly what they were looking for.”
“What makes you say that, Solomon?” Ashcroft cocked his head.
George motioned to the worktable. “It may seem a cluttered mess to the untrained eye, but everything here is actually very well organized.” He began pointing to various stacks of parchment. “These are harvest reports, Troissaint estate visitor logs, birth announcements, personal correspondences…everything is ordered by topic.” His hand hovered over the only spot on the worktable where the polished wood surface could be seen. “This must be where Master Gautherd had the providence documents laying out.”
Lord Ashcroft nodded his agreement. “This room is filled with treasures. For the culprit to only take one pile of papers…”
“Means this wasn’t just some random robbery,” Jax finished. “We can assume whoever stole the providence documents did so intentionally.” Her stomach flipped with dread. “Someone else knows of their existence.”
“No need to worry, Duchess Jacqueline.” Ashcroft patted her hand in reassurance. “I’m sure my men have captured the culprit by now. With the extra security measures Ezarath requested, there’s not an inch of the compound that’s not under surveillance. No one could possibly try and sneak out without being discovered.” His smile brimmed with confidence. “Why don’t we head upstairs to my office to listen to the reports?” He gestured toward the exit, and Jax realized that was his subtle way of forcing them to leave the processing room.
Worry fluttered through her. Shouldn’t they look around for any clues as to the intruder’s identity? A sudden thought left her breathless. Did Lord Ashcroft believe she had something to do with these missing documents? His comment about her arrival aligning with their disappearance suddenly took on a new, darker meaning.
Jax cast a quick look at George, who nodded curtly that she should walk ahead of him. His deference to Ashcroft puzzled her. She knew Saphire had no jurisdiction here, but was George really going to let Ashcroft leave the processing room without first examining the crime scene for evidence? That wasn’t like him, unless…no, it couldn’t be!
But the thought, once rising to the forefront of her mind, lingered like a stubborn stain. Could George be responsible for this? Had he been returning from the archives when she’d found him on the third-floor landing before lunch? After all, the disappearance of the providence documents could benefit her if they fell into the right hands.
She shook her head to physically rid herself of such thoughts. George knew how rattled the existence of these documents had made her and that she would never feel comfortable about her claim to the Hestian throne if she failed to uncover the truth. No, she could not believe he would orchestrate such a lecherous scheme without her knowledge and consent.
Or so she told herself.
“Right this way, Duchess.” Lord Ashcroft offered her his arm as he led them out of the archives, only pausing to lock the door behind them with his own key.
She didn’t bother with conversation as he escorted them up several flights of winding stairs. Her thoughts wandered to the scene below. How long had Master Gautherd been lying in the processing room unconscious? Headmaster Ezarath had spoken with the archivist before their noontime luncheon, meaning Gautherd could have been attacked anytime in the last hour. She frowned as she mulled over the timeline. Could Ezarath have assaulted his own friend and absconded with the providence documents himself? She sensed the headmaster had been hiding something from her during lunch. Had it been his role in this attack?
Lord Ashcroft’s office had a breathtaking view of the Academy’s sprawling estate, although she doubted the man spent much time ogling the sight. No, more likely he lorded over his domain from this perch, able to keep a watchful eye on the enormous property.
“If you would wait here a few minutes, I want to see how Master Gautherd is settling in.” Ashcroft didn’t give George or Jax a chance to respond before closing the door behind him with an echoing click.
Jax’s eyes widened. “Has he locked us in here?”
George moved to the door and yanked the brass handle. “Looks like it.” His features darkened.
“George…” Jax hesitated, unsure if she wanted to voice the concerns poking at the back of her mind. “Y-you had nothing to do with this, right?”
He stared at her, his expression unreadable.
“It’s just…you were already out on the landing before lunch…”
“Speaking with Ashcroft. I told you that.” He continued to stare blankly at her.
“I-I know. I…” Her words died in her throat as she sank into a nearby chair. “I’m sorry. I’m just being silly.”
At that, the corner of George’s lips curled upward. “Should I have stolen them for you? Usually I’m the one upholding the law, not breaking it.”
Jax waved a hand, relieved they could joke about it. “No, no, of course not.”
His expression sobered. “I won’t lie to you, Jax. It has crossed my mind that the disappearance of these troublesome documents could be more of a blessing to Saphire than a curse if they’ve fallen into the right hands.”
“The same thing went through my mind.”
George held her gaze a long moment, looking like he was struggling to find his next words. She, too, could not summon a suitable reply. How could the two of them be so incredibly different, yet so incredibly alike at the same time? It was a mystery that had always baffled her mind.
They waited in silence for several more minutes, and Jax jumped in her seat at the sound of the door handle clicking. Lord Ashcroft strode confidently into the room, a look of relief and satisfaction lingering on his sharp features.
“Is Master Gautherd already awake?” Jax asked as the man settled into his desk.
Ashcroft nodded. “He was just waking up when I arrived, although still very groggy.”
Before he could speak about Gautherd any further, a young sentry burst into the room. “Lord Praesidio, Sergeant Parville said you wanted an assessment of the fortress right away.”
“Indeed, Barnabas. Have the men located the intruder?”
Young Barnabas shifted on his feet. “No, my lord. That’s just it. We can confirm no one has entered the Academy since the Duchess of Saphire’s arrival.” Only then did the sentry seem to belatedly realize that the woman he spoke about was sitting in the room. “Your Grace.” He gave her a clumsy bow.
“Please, Barnabas, continue with your account,” she said with a demure smile.
The lad nodded and resumed his report to his superior. “With the increased patrols, as per the headmaster’s request, every inch of the rampart was under watch. No one could have entered the Academy without the Praesidio being aware.”
“How are you so certain?” Jax interrupted, her curiosity bursting.
Barnabas paled at her direct qu
estion. “Well, Your Grace, the barrier around the compound is sixty feet high. For someone even in the fittest physical condition to scale it would take at least ten minutes. We have patrols assigned to monitor every inch of the barrier every five minutes. It would be impossible for us to miss someone grappling up the side.”
Jax considered his words and after a moment, dipped her chin in agreement. “I see. So, any intruder would have to go through the outer gate.”
“Y-yes, Your Grace,” Barnabas stammered. “And besides your party, no one has been let inside the Academy.”
Lord Ashcroft stroked his beard in thought. “What about departures?”
“We’ve had no one leave the grounds at all today. In fact, the only time the gate has been opened in the last week was for Duchess Saphire.”
“Then our culprit is still somewhere inside the compound.” Lord Ashcroft rested a balled fist on an open ledger on his desk. “Without risking the security of the barrier wall, I want every nook and cranny searched. If our thief is hiding, we will ferret them out. Thank you, Barnabas. That will be all.”
Barnabas bowed and took off with great haste. The door slammed behind him with a resounding shudder that seemed to reverberate around the room.
George moved out of the shadows and closer to Ashcroft’s desk. “If no one has come in or out of the fortress within the last week, except our party, then the culprit must have already been inside the Academy for quite some time.”
A grim smirk emerged from Ashcroft’s beard. “You seem very keen to throw suspicion off your own party, Captain Solomon.”
George did not dignify the response with anything other than a severe frown.
Ashcroft steepled his fingers together. “I apologize, old friend, but I’d be remiss not to consider your party suspect.”
Jax scoffed, trying to ignore the very real fear boiling inside her.
Her flippant response had the Lord Praesidio narrowing his sharp eyes in her direction. “Consider how it looks from my standpoint, Duchess. You arrive at our doorstep, concerned that these providence documents will upend your claim to the Hestian throne. Not two hours later, Master Gautherd is attacked, conveniently found by the two of you.”
“You think we attacked the poor man?” Jax stared at him, dumbfounded. Was this the same Lord Praesidio who had been praising her and her father mere hours ago? How could he consider she’d personally been involved in such an underhanded scheme? She rose and stomped toward his desk. “I will not have my honor sullied by such accusations. If you think George and I attacked Master Gautherd, then took the documents ourselves, I demand you search us both now.” She shuffled the skirts of her dress in challenge. “Go on.”
Lord Ashcroft’s face turned a violent shade of red at the suggestion that he should search her person. “Forgive me, Duchess,” he finally managed through a stuttering cough. He held up his hands in sheepish defense. “I was only joking.”
Beside her, George trembled, and a look at him revealed he was shaking with laughter.
Annoyed, she turned her fiercest glare on the Lord Praesidio. “How can you be so cavalier? A crime has been committed.”
At that, the Lord Praesidio sobered. “Indeed, Your Grace. And rest assured, the culprit will be ferreted out and dealt with. For now, I suggest you and Captain Solomon return to your rooms while the search is being carried out.”
Jax’s mouth hung open. She was being dismissed? “Lord Ashcroft, I’m sure you’re aware that—”
“That the Academy is my dominion, Duchess? Yes, quite.” The mischievous twinkle in his eyes had been snuffed out. “I know you have been involved with your fair share of mystery and intrigue, but I must insist you return to your rooms for now. We’ll send someone to fetch you once we have something to report.”
A silencing look from George kept her from protesting further.
“We’ll see ourselves out, Lord Ashcroft.” George bowed his head and quickly guided Jax from the room, his grip firm on her arm.
“Are you really going to allow him to keep us in the dark about all this?” Jax hissed once they were alone in the hall. “We need to find those documents.”
George gave her a rather condescending frown. “I agree we need to locate the providence materials, but we also have to be mindful of our place here. The Academy is not under sovereign rule. You can’t bully the Lord Praesidio into allowing you to help him investigate.”
“Then what? I must wait to be personally invited?” Jax snapped.
His lips curled upward as he lowered his voice. “No, Duchess. We simply look into this ourselves.”
Chapter Nine
George held a finger to her lips to prevent her barrage of questions, the action strangely comforting as it was intimate. “Not here. I don’t want to risk being overheard.”
Jax surveyed the empty corridor in which they stood. “By whom?” she whispered.
George’s grin had a devilish gleam to it. “I can’t believe you’ve forgotten.”
“Forgotten what?”
Eyebrows raised, George coyly tapped a brick.
She froze, momentarily paralyzed by the sudden flood of memories that overwhelmed her. How many times had she used the Academy’s maze of hidden stairwells to sneak out to the gardens to see George when he came to visit her? There, they would sit on their favorite bench swing beneath the willow tree…
Shaking her head clear of an image bathed in moonlight, she sought out George. He had already set off down the hallway without another word, forcing her to hurry after him.
Once she caught up with him, he resumed speaking. “Ashcroft has commanded that the entire fortress be searched. Those passages aren’t so secret to the Praesidio.”
Jax had only learned about the hidden routes herself from George. As a senior member of the Ducal Guard who had been in charge of the Crown Princess’s safety, Lord Ashcroft had shown George the hidden passages to prove that the Academy would be a safe place for the future Duchess of Saphire to conduct her studies. The Lord Praesidio had explained how the secret stairwells connected from floor-to-floor, hall-to-hall, allowing his men to move quickly about the castle, should they need to defend the young heir during her time at the Academy.
The two kept quiet during the remainder of their walk back to the dormitory, both on the lookout for signs of the culprit. As they arrived at the third-floor landing, they spotted Ziri coming up the other opposite stairwell.
“Duquessa! Thank the Virtues you’re all right.” The spymaster’s forehead was crinkled with worry. “I thought something terrible had happened to you. Several guardsmen intercepted me just outside the astronomy tower and told me to report to my room.” Hands resting on the hilts of her twin daggers, her dark eyes swept over Jax. “If you weren’t already here, I was going to go search for you.”
“It’s a good thing you didn’t, or the Lord Praesidio probably would have had you apprehended on the spot.” Jax glowered at the thought.
“What’s going on?” Ziri looked from George to Jax. “Is the Academy under attack?”
“Nothing that serious, at the moment,” George reassured her. “Come, let’s not speak out here. I’m sure the Praesidio will be by shortly to conduct a search.”
No sooner had he spoked than two knights appeared on the landing, claiming positions at the end of the hallway.
With Jax’s suite being the most accommodating, the three of them shuffled inside, away from the prying eyes of the guards.
“What’s this all about?” Ziri folded her arms and leaned against the closed door.
Jax and George quickly shared how they had found Master Gautherd unconscious in the processing room, with the providence documents nowhere to be found.
Ziri’s brow furrowed as they concluded their tale. “If the Praesidio have reported that no one has entered or left the fortress, then the documents must still be inside somewhere.” She shifted on her feet. “I suppose that is why we were asked to return to our rooms. The Lord Praesidio susp
ects our delegation?”
Jax snorted. “You’d think that, wouldn’t you? But Lord Ashcroft was quite dismissive of the idea that our party could somehow be involved.”
“And why are you so upset by that?” George cocked his head, a smile growing. “Back in his office, you seemed a bit insulted when he accused us. Now you’re offended that it was only meant in jest?”
Jax rolled her eyes. “Because any investigator worth their salt knows that everyone is suspect. You simply can’t overlook people because you respect or admire them.” Jax’s throat tightened with her own burning shame. There had been several instances over the last few years when she had suspected some of her closest companions of committing unimaginable deeds.
“So, you don’t believe Lord Ashcroft is capable of getting to the bottom of this simply because he thinks we’re innocent in this matter?” Ziri brought them back to the issue at hand.
“Exactly.” Jax smoothed the non-existent wrinkles from her gown. “Which is why we’re going to look into this ourselves.”
If her declaration surprised Ziri, she did not show it. She simply turned to George with an eyebrow raised. “What is your opinion of Lord Ashcroft’s ability to investigate this theft?”
“When I initially informed him about the attack, I gave Lord Ashcroft my word that the Saphire party was not involved. A Captain’s word holds a great deal of weight, which is why I am not going to judge him too harshly for believing in our innocence. However,” he paused, giving Jax a pointed look, “I also cannot ignore that we’ve been sent to our rooms with sentries posted at either end of the hall. We are being monitored. So, I wouldn’t say Lord Ashcroft has gone completely soft.”
Jax felt somewhat chastened by his comments. “So, what? We’re just going to sit in here while the peace of the realm hangs in the balance? We must locate those documents.”
A knock on the door made them all stiffen. Ziri recovered first and opened the door a sliver.
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