Chapter 47: Chapter 48: The suspect
Kaelen’s pov
"Without guards." Lena’s face had gone pale. "Without protection. Without telling anyone where she was going."
We looked at each other.
"We need to search the grounds," I said, already moving toward where my sword belt lay. "She cannot have gone far. Maybe she just needed air. Maybe she went to the gardens"
"In the middle of the night? In secret?" Lena shook her head. "No. Sothing is wrong. Very wrong. And it’s all your fault."
She moved to the door with sudden decision, throwing it open.Her voice carried down the corridor, sharp and commanding before I could stop her.
"Guards! I need guards here imdiately!"
The response was almost instant. Footsteps echoed in the hallway. I heard voices, confused and alard. Within seconds, two palace guards appeared in the doorway, their faces showing the kind of alert concern that ca from hearing that tone in a voice.
"The queen is missing," Lena said without preamble. "Search the grounds. Check the gardens, the stables, anywhere she might have gone. Move quickly."
The guards looked past her to , standing half-dressed in the queen’s bedchamber, and I saw the understanding register on their faces. Saw the judgnt.
"Go!" Lena snapped, and they scattered.
I finished strapping on my sword belt, my hands moving on automatic while my mind raced through possibilities. Where would Elara go? What would drive her to leave in secret? Last night had been–
Last night had changed everything. I knew that. We both knew it. But I had not expected her to run.
Unless she was not running from . Unless sothing else had driven her out.
More footsteps in the corridor. Heavier. More nurous. I heard voices,sharp questions, demands for information. The alarm was spreading.
Lena stood in the doorway, her back straight and her face composed again, but I could see the fear in her eyes. "This is bad," she said quietly. "This is very, very bad."
"I will find her," I said.
"You will do no such thing." She turned to face
fully. "You will stay here and pray that when she is found, there is so explanation that does not destroy everything."
Before I could respond, the crowd in the corridor parted. New voices. Authority.
Thorin appeared in the doorway.
He was fully dressed, perfectly composed despite the early hour. His eyes swept the room in one quick assessnt, the disordered bed, Lena’s pale face,
standing there with my shirt half-tucked and my hair still tangled from sleep.
His expression did not change, but sothing cold flickered in his eyes.
"Where," he said, his voice perfectly calm, perfectly controlled, "is Her Majesty?"
Behind him, I saw Lord Malakor appear. Then other council mbers crowding the corridor along with Captain Varrus, drawn by the commotion.
"We do not know," Lena said. She stepped slightly to the side, as if to block their view of , but it was too late. They had all seen.
"You do not know." Thorin’s gaze moved to . "And yet her personal guard is here. In her chambers. At dawn."
The implication hung heavy in the air.
"I was on duty," I said evenly. It was not quite a lie. Not quite the truth.
"On duty." Thorin took a step into the room. "Inside her bedchamber. With the door locked."
"The queen requested additional security."
"How convenient." His voice was soft, dangerous. "And where is the queen now, Captain? While you were providing this... additional security?"
I t his eyes directly. "I do not know."
The silence that followed was crushing.
Malakor pushed past Thorin into the room, his face tight with barely controlled fury. "Soone tell
what is happening. Where is Queen Elara?"
"Missing," Thorin said, never taking his eyes off . "Vanished during the night. While her guard was... occupied."
The narrative was forming. I could see it taking shape in the eyes of everyone crowded in that corridor. The queen disappeared. Her guard was with her. No witnesses. No explanation.
And now she was gone.
"Search the palace," Malakor commanded. "Every room. Every corridor. Check the gates, find out if anyone left during the night."
"Already done," one of the guards called from the hallway. "The gate guards report no one left through the main entrance."
"What about the other exits?" Thorin asked. "The servant passages? The stable doors?"
More guards scattered to check. The corridor was filling with people now, servants, soldiers, nobles drawn by the commotion. All of them looking at
with varying degrees of suspicion and judgnt.
"Captain Kaelen." Captain Varrus
stepped forward, his expression troubled. "You were the last person with Her Majesty?"
"Yes."
"And you claim she simply... disappeared?"
" I do not know where she went or why."
"Convenient," Thorin said again. His voice was still soft, but now there was steel beneath it. "The queen vanishes. Her guard, the sa guard who let her leave the palace the last ti and questioned by this council, has no explanation."
"I am not the one who made her feel trapped," I shot back before I could stop myself.
Thorin’s eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"
"Nothing." But the damage was done. Everyone heard.
"No, please." Thorin’s voice was dangerously pleasant. "Explain what you ant. How did I make Her Majesty feel trapped?"
I said nothing.
"Could it be," Thorin continued, "that Her Majesty felt pressured? Overwheld? Perhaps by soone who took advantage of her vulnerability?"
The accusation hung in the air, ugly and pointed.
"Enough." Malakor’s voice cut through the tension. "We are wasting ti. Every mont we stand here arguing is another mont the queen is missing and potentially in danger."
He was right. But the damage was done. I could see it in every face. The suspicion. The doubt. The conclusion already forming.
"Seal the palace," Malakor ordered. "No one enters or leaves until we find Her Majesty. Double the guards on every exit. Search every building on the grounds."
"And him?" Thorin gestured at . "What do we do about the guard who was supposed to be protecting her?"
Malakor looked at
for a long mont. I saw the calculation in his eyes. The weighing of options.
"Captain Kaelen will remain in the palace under watch," he said finally. "He will assist with the search, but he will not be alone. Two guards will accompany him at all tis."
"House arrest," Thorin said. "How appropriate."
"Protective custody," Malakor corrected. "Until we understand what happened here."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to push past all of them and tear this palace apart until I found her. But I had no authority anymore. Not here. Not now.
The corridor was filling with more people. Servants huddled in doorways, whispering. Guards rushed past with orders and reports. The mood was shifting from scandal to crisis in the space of a single morning.
And through it all, I stood in the queen’s bedchamber, surrounded by the evidence of our night together, with everyone’s eyes on .
Judging. Accusing. Condemning.
The queen was missing.
And I was the last person who had seen her.
Reviews
All reviews (0)