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I eagerly flipped it in my hands to look at its red wax seal.
Horse...horse...please let the seal be a horse.
The disappointment when I read the big letterMinstead was crushing, like the sun had stopped shining to make way for an ice storm.
Trying to hide my disappointment, I opened it. By now I was familiar with the seal as well as the handwriting. It was from the doctor, Malick.
My Queen,
With sadness, I bring the news that your father
has not found his death naturally.
In an experiment, I fed parts of his liver to rats,
and they found their death soon after.
Your humble servant, Malick
My hand flopped next to my hip in disgust, shock, and raging pain. The thought that rats had been fed parts of my father was as horrifying as the realization that someone had killed him. Yet, I told the doctor to do whatever it took...and now I held the answer in my hand, which slowly clenched into a trembling fist, crunching the note into a ball of paper.
“My Queen,” Dieter inquired, his voice filled with concern. I handed Dieter the crumpled paper. He held it in front of his good eye, then lowered it in shock.
“So it is true, then,” he mumbled.
I bit my lower lip—hard. “Have every soul who was present the night of my father’s death found and have them all sent to the Rhine Castle. I will find out who it was if it’s the last thing I do.”
Dieter nodded. “What about your cousin and his wife?”
For a moment, I saw them in front of me, smiling, welcoming, kind.
I shook the idea off like a fly. “Them too.”
Dieter bowed and was about to ride off, but I stopped him by raising my hand.
“Who would I write to arrange for my crowning ceremony? Given this unfortunate news, it will have to take place as soon as we get back. The world needs to see who I am, and I need to know who is with me and who is not.”
It was terrible. My father wasn’t even in the ground, but time was of the utmost importance here. My people needed to know who I was before some plotting noblemen could seize the moment and use my dead father to benefit them.
“That would be Wimfred, Your Highness. He is the head of all ceremonial and functional practices for the royal family. If you wish to keep him, that is.”
“I do. He was a loyal friend to my father.”
Dieter nodded in approval. “I’ve known him for a long time. He will be yours as well until the bitter end if need be. Will Her Highness spread the news of this murder at her crowning? Whoever killed him should not get the advantage of doing so for us.”
I shook my head.
“Not until I have proof of who it was. Otherwise, the whole North will be blamed, rebels included. As of now, it is only a spark of a rumor. Let’s not make it a raging forest fire.”
“As you wish, My Queen.”
Dieter bowed once more, then he rode off shouting instructions.
I let my tired eyes wander over the endless green fields of my kingdom. How peaceful my lands seemed...yet somebody had tried to kill me and had succeeded in killing my father. And although the list of people who would benefit from our deaths was longer than this field, one name was shining on that list like the bright sun.
“Algar.”
Saying his name out loud repulsed me. I hated that man. I truly did. He must know that I suspected him of the murder of my father and would come for him. And there was only one reason why none of this would matter to him: he thought me incompetent, was certain I would lose my throne in no time. Then he could get rid of the noblemen who rebelled against him and end the war in his favor.
The rage I felt was indescribable. I was trembling, close to screaming. Not only had Algar come after me and most likely killed my father, but he was also thirsting for the blood of the one person I truly loved.
And for all of that, I would make him pay...in this life and in whatever came after.
