A crown of flames

Chapter 22

I expect his face to pale or his eyes to widen in shock but he just smiles at me , his eyes were searching my face , for what i didn't know.

"Touché Melian , Touché"

I try to ignore his indifferent response. I had just told him that i'd discovered a big secret and he's impressed ?

When Julia stole the royal records I'd found the King's autopsy.When he died almost 2 years ago his cause of death was announced as "natural causes" , people believe it was a heart attack.

On his autopsy , it was suicide.

I am guessing it was too much of an embarrassment for the court to admit their King would rather have died than served them any longer.

The prince stamps his finger against the wall , removing the poisonous ink but then he took advantage of my loosening grip on him , he grabbed me by the waist and pushed me against the wall instead,dropping my dagger.

Pulling out his own dagger he brought it to my throat.

His weapon made mine look like a butter knife.

Whereas mine was no more than three inches , his dagger was at least 11 inches of polished metal with a golden base.

The handle was around 5 inches of straight gold with intricate geometric carvings, and at the base of it was a skull the size of a small tennis ball with emeralds in the place of eyes.

"Don't threaten me again Elide , i promise you next time i won't hold back"

"Liar"I say "you weren't holding back , you had to wait for me to loosen my grip before you made your move" i manage to let out , uncomfortable with my proximity to both his body and his blade.

"You forget i could have touched you and you would have collapsed"He says "Again"he adds.

Damn him.

He pulls his knife away and i get out from beneath him glaring at the ground as i make my way to the door.

He unlocks it for me "You shouldn't tell anyone about my father , not for my sake , but for my sister's , she doesn't know "

I pause.

He's made my life hell , and despite my respect for Alan she's done nothing to help me either.

Why shouldn't i put him in his place?

Because that would make me just worse than him.

I nod and make my way to my rooms and head to sleep.

The next couple of days are pretty uneventful.I had my first History of international relations & politics class but my physical combat instructor sent me a letter cancelling our Friday lesson so i had an extended weekend.

I spend my spare time with Victoria and Luke and I manage to get some rest and recover from my first week at Yorthendon over the weekend.

I even discover the royal spa on the ground floor and spend a whole afternoon indulging in the luxury of it all.

On Sunday i decide to leave the palace for the first time to explore Dolnis , I hadn't spoken to Jeremiah since that night but i call for him today.

"Miss Melian" He says not quite looking me in the eyes.

"Jeremiah" I nod.

"How may i help you today"He asks

"I'd like to go down to Dolnis , what places would you recommend for a tourist?"

"Perhaps the Dolnis markets"

"The markets it is , please call a car to pick me up"

He nods and turns to leave.

"Jeremiah"I say " I don't blame you for the other night , i know you were helpless"

"I - I truly am sorry either way Miss Melian"He said sadly.

I nod.

Before i spend the day out , i had something to do.

"Take me to the dungeons" I demand.