Of Blood and Roses

Chapter 19

Jourdon returned the morning after Sabine's news. I did everything in my power to avoid him, mulling over the spy's words.

I knew I could only avoid him for so long.

I leafed through King Aurel's advisor's book--Marquess Jean, looking for any mentions of Queen Giselle. Sabine and I had been up late the night before looking at the Vidame's book, and I could not bear to look at it a moment longer.

The details unnerved me. There were instructions on how to drain the blood from a human body since they believed our blood was connected to the Gift--that and they were convinced a witch would keep moving even with their head chopped off because of our partnership with demons.

Their ideas were all things born of fear. And I couldn't say it was completely without cause. Even though I had never used my Gift, I knew its power. There was a reason Garnette demanded for it to be locked away.

Sabine sat beside me, on the other side of the table. She pored over a book she had found in her own search of the library. She's returned with many I had never thought to consider. Some Fairy Tales from Perle. A Testament to the Goddess of Cristaney. She silently considered them, at times referencing pages in the Vidame's book, a furrow in her brow.

Shafts of rare Garnetti sunlight fell across her shoulders in a pale halo, illuminating her from behind, catching on tones of gold in her dark hair. I had dismissed all my other handmaids for the day. It was just us. Alone.

A comfortable rhythm settled between us, both of us searching for answers to questions we didn't know to ask.

After catching myself staring at the spy yet again, I returned to the book in front of me. I had come across a curious bit of information, though I wasn't sure it was anything more than some interesting gossip.

"King Aurel's heir was not born of his wife," I said, catching Sabine's attention as she reluctantly pulled away from her research.

She considered the piece of information. "And he naturalized him? Interesting. Any word on who the mother was?"

I shook my head, sighing deeply as I glanced at the book, pushing it away. I had thought it was useful, but it had been mostly details of past balls and what the royals had to eat for their many meals and many courses. King Aurel's early years were considered a golden era in Garnette's history.

He was the first and only king before Gilroy to attempt any peace or relations with Rosailles. But Queen Giselle had hardly shown up in the journal at all. There had been one account of her dancing with the king at one of his balls. An attempt on Queen Giselle's part to seduce the king under her spell, as the Marquess put it.

I had dismissed the entire account based on his flagrant sexism and Aurelian regard for Rosailles and it's queens. He had called her all sorts of names— harlot, seductress—in only a few brief mentions of her.

"No. It seems the king was smart enough to not entrust such information with the Marquess—the judgmental loose-tongued man that he was. Can't say I blame him."

A trace of a smile ghosted upon Sabine's lips. I found myself drawn to it. Similarly, to how Pierre's eyes drew me in. I glanced away, frowning. I had yet to hear from the younger Prince since that day in the garden. I wondered what he knew about all of this. Did he suspect his brother was involved in such things? I knew if the culprit wasn't so obviously Jourdon, Sabine would have been more than happy to place blame upon Pierre.

"A shame. But I doubt any affair he might have had is all that significant. Unless it was with the Queen?"

I laughed, Sabine joining me. It was exactly the type of scandal the Garnetti would exploit had there been even the briefest whisper. But I knew their play was just that: a play, a mockery. There was no way such a thing carried any flout. I pushed the book away. "It would have been impossible to hide such an affair, especially from the Marquess. My guess is that it was one of his maids." I shook my head. "The poor girl."