Adelaide

Chapter XVI

Adelaide DuPont

As I head back to the northern tower, I contemplate the bitter sense of accomplishment pounding in my ears. The gardener is the murderer we sought.

Something about the sight of that bloodstained knife sitting on a desk in the greenhouse triggers a parallel memory from when James once brought me a locket I desired. 'Where did you find it? I only saw it once at an antique store,' I'd asked, so happy that I almost missed the calculating gleam in his eyes or the flecks of carmine across his hands. 'You said it yourself: some people would kill to have it,' he'd replied, stroking my hair and insisting that no one could ever be as beautiful as me.

My walk back to the common room is loud, the halls silent while my mind screams. However, my thoughts linger not on James, but Julian. I gravitate toward him without thinking, my every move mirroring his.

Sleep is out of the picture for tonight. Time flies by, but confronting the gardener is my only objective. I must go alone this time. Sweet as he is, Emerald restricts me. Once the halls empty again, I slink back outside to the greenhouses and stride straight through the entrance. The wooden tabletops stand barren now, cleared of everything, yet the familiar sound of pen scratching against parchment whispers through the still air.

"Hortus, I know what you did."

My words ricochet throughout the open room. I round a corner, coming face-to-face with the same man as before seated among the flowers and shrubs. He glances up, the deep blue of his beady eyes glazing with anxiety. Clearly, his crimes already drive him beyond help. I only need to prompt his confession.

"What do you mean?" he stalls, his voice flinty and uncertain.

"Marcus Ludo hasn't been present in these halls for weeks. Do you know anything about that?"

"No. Why would you ask such a thing?"

I postpone my response, listening as I approach him like a cat stalking a mouse. James would be impressed by how calm I've become. As I near, the gardener's eyes widen into starless pools of horror and regret. I suppose my own gray watch remains sharp and alert. I kneel next to him, tracing the outline of a magnolia blossom with a gentle smile. I've witnessed firsthand what it means to kill and to endure the consequences of such a transgression.

"This is so much more complex than you anticipated, isn't it? You didn't know what you were getting into when you agreed to do this."

"What are you going on about, girl? You're speaking nonsense."

I turn from the waxy shrub to face him, and he flinches at the dulcet expression in my doe eyes.

"You have his knife. Don't try to hide yourself from me; I won't tell anyone in authority," I continue, feeling my control slip temperamentally on his lack of response, "Still, can you imagine the shock of finding out the gardener murdered a teacher? What would they say? A lowly groundskeeper, jealous of — what, a higher position or payment? I mean, you toil away everyday to maintain the school, while some professor profits more by sitting around and lecturing about a moribund art."

"Shut the hell up. You have no idea —"

"Face it: you messed up horrendously. You either live with the shame of murder, or you confess who made you do it."

"Tonight — at midnight, in the eastern tower."

He's trembling, and something dreadful lingers behind those murky eyes, a sick expression waxing over his wrinkled skin. Satisfied with the rendezvous, I merely nod, stand, and walk away, weaving back towards the citadel. Only one thought crosses my mind: I need to find Sapphire.

However, rather than the commons, I find myself back in the library where it all began. Like clockwork, I glimpse Julian seated in the same corner he haunted the very first day. Leaning motionlessly over some book in his lap, he appears almost frozen in time. I'm stricken once again by his similarity to James with those pale eyes and dark curls.

"Jules."

"Adelaide."

For the first time, I hesitate to address him further. His expression remains solemn and unmoving, while his eyes trail down my face. I want him — all of him — and this tension is torturous. After a minute of stillness hangs between us, I crouch down next to him, panic splaying in my chest. What if he wants nothing more to do with me?

"Julian, please."

"What do you expect me to say?"

"Anything to break the silence."

Instead of speaking, he shoves himself away from the wall and steps towards me too fast. I lean back against the bookshelf for support as he towers over me, but I refuse to cower. Is that regret I see reflected in his eyes?

"Meet me tonight," he finally murmurs, tracing my cheekbone with the back of his hand, his touch as soft as moonlight.

Then, he's gone, brushing past me and returning to the shadows elsewhere. I'm stranded feeling utterly confused and disturbed in his wake, overwhelmed with a sense of déjà vu from my conversation not long ago with Hortus. Once I regain my wits, I set off toward the northern tower for the second time, flinging open my door to find Sapphire asleep on her bed, a lonely game of chess situated atop the duvet.

"Saph, Hortus did it."

"He what?" she mumbles drowsily, pushing herself into an upright position and knocking wooden pawns to the ground in the process.

Once her cerulean eyes gain more clarity and my words register in her mind, she quickly rambles, "Saints, you found proof? Hortus, a murderer — I couldn't have suspected. Certainly, one who tends to flowers and maintains the grounds so harmlessly could have no such enmity with a music professor?"

She glances back towards me when I fail to answer, her absentminded expression already evening out into something more astute.

"You're perturbed, Adelaide. Has this conclusion shaken you that deeply, or did something else happen?"

I disfavor the way she reads me like herself.

"It's how he looked, Saph — empty, hollow. He can't have acted on his own; someone must've pressured him to kill," I elaborate, seating myself on the bed beside her, "It doesn't help that Julian's upset with me, and I'm not sure why. Something's wrong."

Sapphire shifts to face me, her expression vaguely empathetic. Of course, she understands my concern. Topaz acts distant and unrevealing with her more often than not these days, despite his pining glances. The constant uncertainty surrounding their relationship likely exhausts her. I've noticed the heartache pooling in her aqueous eyes.

"Have you talked to him, or is he not even willing to extend himself that far? Perhaps his agitation has little to do with you, and he simply has nowhere else to turn with it but to his ... friend."

"I'm not even sure. I have no clue what I'm supposed to say."

I allow acute distress to widen my doe eyes as I run a fidgety hand through my tangled hair. It's gotten long since my arrival at the school; I hadn't noticed.

"Ruby," I quickly reroute, "She must be terribly distressed about us suspecting the gardener. Have you spoken with her?"

Sapphire winces, and I can tell she's keeping something from me. Her smile is strained and she quickly shakes her head as if clearing her thoughts.

"I haven't. Something came up. You know how she and I are — always at each other's throats about one thing or another. Anyway, I hope things between you and Julian sort out in the end. I can tell you two are already very close."

Briefly, she reaches out and touches my hand in reassurance, before drawing her arm back to her chest. The gesture strikes me with its compassion, chasing the words from my mouth.

"It's very late, and we both need rest," she supplies softly on my behalf, "Sometimes, it helps to sleep on your troubles, so you awake with a clearer perspective."