An hour later, in a damp, dimly lit cellar beneath a nondescript warehouse in the lower district, Lord Basil was not having a good morning. He was tied to a chair. His fine clothes were stained with sweat and dirt. His face was bruised. He looked terrified. The door to the cellar opened. Derek walked in. He looked furious. He had removed his coat and riding gloves. His sleeves were rolled up. He held a sharp dagger in his hand. Lord Basil’s eyes went wide.
"Your Grace!" Basil cried out. "Please! I don’t know anything! I was drunk!"
Derek walked slowly toward him. He dragged a wooden stool over and sat down directly in front of the bound man.
"Lord Basil," Derek said calmly. "You are going to tell exactly what happened in that room. You are going to tell who opened the door. You are going to tell who locked you in."
"It was the Duchess!" Basil wailed. "She dragged the girl in!"
Derek sighed. He looked disappointed.
"Wrong answer," Derek said.
He stood up. He gestured for the Elite Shadows, the silent assassins standing in the corners, to pin him down on the wooden table.
"Unbound his hands and spread them on the table," Derek ordered.
"Yes Your Grace," they replied in unison.
They moved efficiently. They cut the ropes binding Basil to the chair and hauled him over to the rough wooden table, holding his head down. They slamd his hands down, splaying his fingers wide, holding them in place with iron grips.
"Let’s try again," Derek said, looking at Lord Basil. He walked to the table, the dagger gleaming in the dim light. "And this ti, think carefully. Because if you lie to again..."
He raised the dagger.
THUNK.
He hit the dagger into the wood, right in the space between Lord Basil’s index and middle finger. The blade vibrated.
He leaned in close, looking at im straight in the eye, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"...I will make you wish you had died in that room."
Basil trembled. He looked into Derek’s eyes and saw no rcy.
"Your Grace," Basil sobbed, "I’m telling you the truth. The Duchess brought the girl in."
Derek shouted, his patience snapping. "It’s impossible!"
He pushed the blade deeper into the wood, slowly, deliberately, the steel grating against the grain.
"Are you sure you aren’t mistaken for soone that looked like her?" Derek demanded.
Lord Basil scread in agony as the wood splintered near his skin. "I swear, Your Grace! The girl tried to run but the Duchess caught her! And she... the girl... the girl looked like she was drunk!"
Derek paused. "Drunk?"
He frowned. Could this be a clue?
"How could she be drunk after spending so ti outside?" Derek asked, pushing the blade a fraction of an inch to the left, nicking the skin.
Lord Basil replied, tears streaming down his face from the pain. "I don’t know! She was stumbling! Her speech was slurred! She slled of sothing sweet!"
Derek stared at him. The description didn’t match. Marissa was poised. She was sharp. Even when she was pretending or being harsh, she was controlled and would never force anyone to drink. A stumbling, slurring drunk? That sounded like... soone made Mira drunk. Or she was under the influence of sothing else.
Frustrated in getting nothing but the sa story, Derek yanked the dagger from the table.
He removed his dagger, giving Lord Basil a deep cut across the back of his hand as he did so.
"Argh!" the man wailed as he held his hand, blood welling up.
Derek turned away, disgusted.
The Shadow Elite took him away, dragging him back to the corner to be bandaged and silenced.
The leader of the Shadows ca to Derek, who was wiping the blood off the blade with a rag.
"What’s next, Your Grace?" the leader asked.
Derek replied, his voice grim. "I’ll go and et Commander Odis. Since Lord Basil’s testimony isn’t useful—he truly believes it was her—we will have to find an alibi."
He threw the rag onto the table.
"We need to find soone who saw the real Marissa at the ti of the murder,"
Derek said. "Soone who can prove she wasn’t at the Golden Swan."
He walked out of the cellar, erging into the blinding daylight. He mounted his horse.
"Let’s go girl," he said.
~ ••••• ~
The interrogation room in the palace dungeon was cold. Marissa sat on a simple wooden chair. Her shackles had been removed, but the door was locked.
Captain Odis sat across from her. He was a fair man, but he was bound by the evidence.
"Your Grace," Captain Odis said. "We have more than three witnesses who place you at the scene. We have the mother’s testimony. We have the patrons."
"They are mistaken," Marissa said calmly. "I was with my husband."
"The Grand Duke’s testimony is... biased," Odis said gently. "He is your husband. He would say anything to save you."
The door opened. Derek walked in. He looked exhausted, but determined.
"Captain," Derek said.
"Your Grace," Odis stood up. "Do you have new evidence?"
"I have a question," Derek said. "What ti did the girl die?"
"The witnesses say it was around seven in the evening," Odis replied.
Derek nodded.
"At seven in the evening," Derek said, "my wife and I were in the carriage, returning from the market square. We stopped because a child ran into the road."
He looked at Marissa.
"The driver saw us," Derek said. "The footman saw us. And..."
He paused. He rembered the mont in the carriage. The hug. The almost-kiss.
"...And we were seen by the City Watch at the East Gate," Derek lied smoothly. "They logged our entry."
Odis frowned. "I will check the logs."
"Do that," Derek said.
He walked over to Marissa. He put his hand on her shoulder.
"I tried to get Basil to confess," Derek whispered to her. "He thinks it was you. Whoever impersonated you... she was good."
Marissa looked up at him.
"Go to the market square," she whispered back. "A lot of people saw there. They can testify that they saw ."
"I know, I know," Derek said. "But we need solid proof. Today marks the second of the festival. Will they rember?"
Marissa replied. " Just do it. That’s the last resort."
He nodded and turned to Odis.
"Captain," Derek said. "I want to you to take so guards and join in the market square. I’m sure there are witnesses there who saw my wife with ."
Odis hesitated. "That is highly..."
"My wife’s life is at stake," Derek interrupted, almost sounding desperate. "Please, grant this."
Odis looked at Derek’s intense face. He nodded.
"Very well," Odis said. " I will accompany you."
Reviews
All reviews (0)