Chapter 68
RYKER’S PO.V
I could feel Camilla’s excitement and I immediately knew that she had found something. She wasted no time in turning to my side of the bed and showing me the singular quote. I read it over again but it didn’t seem to make sense. I hadn’t spoken to Leanor much before she died but one thing we- or rather, she- always threatened me over was that she never wanted me to be a cheater like her husband.
Judging by that singular quote, he was in love with this mystery woman and that was at odds with the image I already had of him in my head. I couldn’t tell if Leanor got it wrong or if he had just convinced himself in the moment that he wrote that he was in love with the woman. Despite my confusion, I was still able to offer Camilla a smile of encouragement. It was getting late so I took the book from her and kept a random piece of paper to hold her page.
Camilla was stubborn and she tried to pretend like she wasn’t exhausted but the moment her head hit the pillow; she was out like a light. I found it harder to fall asleep. There were so many thoughts going through my head at the same time. The thoughts had been plaguing me since the first day we had the misfortune of meeting Frederick. I was unsure if during all of this, I would be able to properly protect my family.
After a lot of tossing and turning, I managed to fall asleep. I was up early as usual and Camilla woke up while I was getting dressed. I reminded her about Audrey and it was clear from the guilty look on her face that she had forgotten. She was quick to get ready and when we got to Audrey’s room, her entire face lit up. I could tell that she didn’t expect Camilla to come. I watched as they interacted and I noticed Christine sneak in. It was clear that she wanted to say something.
I grabbed her upper arm and pulled her out of the room. “What is it?”
She retrieved a piece of paper from her back and I wasted no time in taking it from her. It was another page from a journal and this time, it was detailing how Frederick’s first birthday was spent.
– “Frederick dropped this off last night. I think he is doing some sort of countdown until the final day. I’m guessing this means that he is still within the palace borders but I don’t understand how he hasn’t been seen yet. He would need to eat.”
“He might have people within the palace walls,” I finally let out the
thoughts that had been bothering me for a while. “Whether we like it or not, it is something that we should consider. How many guards have seen this?”
“Only the four who were watching the back entrance because that is where he placed this one. Although, I am sure it is only a matter of time. before the news spreads. Guards like to talk and the servants will overhear. I just don’t want it to get into town because that is where we might have a problem on our hands.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are a few people who weren’t happy when my aunt was ruling. They felt that she wasn’t a direct descendant and she was a woman. They are mostly quiet because they know that she would not have tolerated any treason but Camilla-” she trailed off with a sigh. “Camilla isn’t her mother. She is kind and I fear that some people may see that as her being weak.”
Before I could respond, I heard the door open and Camilla made her way outside. She glanced between Christine and I. “Is everything alright?” My first instinct was to hide the page from her and pretend like all was fine but I knew I wouldn’t be helping her in any way so I reluctantly handed it over. “Frederick dropped this sometime last night. You can read it on your way to the council room because we have another meeting with the elders. We need to find out who that woman was.
The elders proved to be useless. None of them knew anything about the king’s affairs. According to them, he never left the palace except on hunts and diplomatic meetings but that didn’t make sense except his mistress was in the palace or he was sneaking out without anyone knowing. The former was the most likely because I doubted that the king would be able to leave undetected.
“What about people in the palace?” I asked and the elders glanced at Camilla before they spoke.
“He had a fondness for serving girls but he wasn’t in love with any of them. He never visited the same girl more than three times. None of the palace serving girls got pregnant. If they did, we would have been the first
to know.”
“Just like you were the first to know about Frederick,” Camilla quipped and they all went silent. “Is it possible that he used to sneak out using the same means that Frederick uses to sneak in? It might be something he
was taught, don’t you think?”
“That makes sense,” I said slowly wondering how I didn’t think of that. “The fact of the matter remains that we still don’t know how Frederick is sneaking in.” I turned to the elders. “Have you found anything?”
They all shook their heads and I realized we were back at square one. I hated not knowing and I hated when someone else had the advantage. It felt like I was playing their games and their rules and more often than not, you were bound to lose if you did that.
“I understand that this is crazy and we have almost nothing to go on but we don’t have time. Frederick will be here and everything my mother has worked for will be gone,” Camilla spoke softly almost as if she were tired and I wouldn’t have blamed her if she was.
“Forgive me, your majesty,” one of the elders spoke. “But this is your father’s kingdom, isn’t it?”
Camilla raised a brow. “Is there a point to that statement?” when the elder didn’t speak she stood to her feet. “Find something, anything we can use to pin this guy down. If you can’t find who he is then at least find out where he is. He has to be within or close to the palace in order to drop daily notes on our walls and he needs to be finding food from somewhere. I want answers by tomorrow.”
She didn’t wait for a response from them before she stormed out of the room with me following directly behind her. As soon as the doors shut and we were alone in the hallway, I saw her shoulders sag. I knew it was hard for her to be going through all of this especially after just having a baby.
I walked up behind her slowly and placed my hands on her shoulders. She relaxed against me instantly and I k*ssed her head. “You should go and rest, I can handle the rest of the day.”
“I am Queen, Ryker, I do not have the luxury of rest.”
“I am your mate and I will not watch you destroy yourself like this. You are tired, not just physically, go upstairs.”
She looked like she was going to refuse but the exhaustion won out because she nodded. I watched as a handful of guards followed her up the stairs and I waited until she had disappeared from view before I went off to the next meeting.
Before evening, I was just about ready to call it a day. The day had been a process of running around in circles. Some of the guards had gone into
the town closest to us to ask around for Frederick but no one knew who he was. The caves in the woods nearby were abandoned and Frederick was nowhere to be seen. If I didn’t know better, I would have assumed that he was a warlock who could appear at will but he was flesh and bone like we were and for some reason, he was in the air like smoke.
The elders were just as useless because they couldn’t find anything. It was incredibly difficult to find out about someone’s past if you didn’t know where they came from. They were determined that his mother was found. outside the palace but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that she worked here so I asked for a list of every single female who had worked in the palace since the king was born. The list was extensive- there were over a thousand names- and each name came with a file of what they did and the interactions they had with him.
The first thing I did was filter out the much older women and the obvious minors but there were still a lot of names and by the time the sun was setting, a headache had started to form but I was determined not to go to bed until I found something. I didn’t realize how long I had been locked in my office until I heard a soft knock and Camilla walked in.
“It’s late,” were the first words out of her mouth. “Audrey is asking of you and you haven’t even held Aurora today.”
I closed the files in front of me and stood to my feet. “I lost track of time.” “What are you doing” she asked never taking her eyes off the files.
“I’m trying to find Frederick’s mother.”
“Any luck?” I shook my head. “Maybe dinner can help that.”
I couldn’t agree more. We were barely out of my office when Christine came rushing over. There were a bunch of scrolls and rolled up pieces of paper in her hands. She came to a stop in front of us and I could tell that she was trying to regulate her breathing.
“I found it,” she sounded excited and I wondered what she was talking
about. “I found out how he is getting into the palace undetected.”
