VOX

Ch 15

The headline Crowns Demand Devoes Step Down, or Rumored Hostility Between Royals never came. The headline that did stare up at them in thick bold letters, only a week after the murders were announced, was Devoes Declare Long Lost Heir. Which no one saw coming.

The article told (in vague detail) of a child produced after a one night stand King Clovis had twenty years ago, with a woman he met during a royal tour of Nescio. There was no mention of the supposed child's name, their location, or what they looked like. Naturally the country quickly ran with the news.

Girls from every county were lined up at the gates of the Devoe estate, with stories of how they were related to the royal family. How they had the same pale hair, blue eyes, or some other trait of the families.

So far the family had yet to accept one of the many girls clambering outside the metal gates. Clearly there was something they were looking for, or they were faking the whole "lost child thing" as Robert announced over that morning's paper. She couldn't tell yet.

They were in the middle of discussing the likelihood of a mystery heir when a series of raps came from the front door. Robert practically fell out of his chair trying to get to it quickly, which made Finn choke on his coffee. While she cackled and passed him a towel, she heard Robert thanking whoever it was at the door before it creaked shut.

"Who was that?" Finn called as he shot her a dirty look for whipping the towel at his head.

"Somethin' I've been waitin' for all week." Robert shook a yellow envelope as he came back into the dining room, and set it down in front of Finn's half-eaten plate of rice and eggs.

"What's this?" he asked through a mouthful of food.

"That, is a back up plan," Robert sighed as he rubbed a hand down his tired face. Paranoid and tired Robert looked a lot like the man that opened the door on her first night on 1229 Bell st, wild, unkempt, and tired. She wondered when the last time he actually got a full eight hours of sleep.

While Finn nodded and stared steadily at the envelope, Davina asked "back up plan for what?"

"Ah, don't you worry. Just the paranoid musings of an old man. You finished?" When she nodded he picked up her plate and his and walked towards the kitchen. The sputtering of the kitchen sink could be heard a moment later, and that was all he would say on the subject. When she turned to Finn to ask what the sun was that?, all he could do was shovel another forkful of rice into his mouth and shrug. Men.

Two days before Finn's new crew was set to sail out of port, Davina once again found herself on another "emergency" errand. Robert, with his scheming mind, had found more complex ways to keep them out of the house. For example, they were currently on a hunt for dried senna leaves- not crushed, exactly 11 oz no more no less, which wouldn't be too hard except that the only seller who carried the damn leaves only sold them in 10oz bags. And Mrs.Coffret would sooner cut off one of her arms before she'd allow them to add another ounce to the prepackaged baggies. And Robert was smart enough to only give them enough money for one bag.

After hiding behind a nearby stall for far too long strategizing, the only plan they could come up with was for Finn to distract the woman with his "rugged good looks" (his words), while she snuck a few leaves into their bag while the woman's back was turned.

The plan...well it didn't not work. Finn was able to distract Mrs. Coffret, but only because she pointed out a splotch of dirt on his nose and chided him for his poor hygiene. Once the woman batted them away from her cart for "blocking potential customers" did Davina realize that in her haste the few leaves she managed to pinch in between her fingers were the wrong kind. But hey, maybe Robert wouldn't even notice? It wasn't like he actually needed senna leaves in the first place, he just wanted us out of the house. Which she couldn't understand.