Masquerade

Chapter Seven

"I give up! I. Give. Up."

Jac smiles wearily in response. He is currently sitting in a very strange position, one leg tucked into his chest and the other on the back of another chair. But due to tonight's events, nothing surprises me anymore.

"I just don't understand," I groan, throwing a very dull history book across the room. "There is nothing here on Queen Saffron. Simply nothing."

"You're right. It's quite strange," he says reflectively, shifting his position to a more comfortable one. "It's almost as if she's been completely erased from history."

"Right! How come the Morning of Mourning is the only time she's mentioned? We've been here for hours, and yet there is not a single book in this whole library that drops her name. You'd think there would at least be a book to honor her memory, or something."

The room goes quiet. I have no more words for this situation, and it seems like Jac feels the same way. I sit there thinking, going through all the possible explanations as to why the queen isn't mentioned here. But I can't come up with anything that makes sense.

I think about King Malin's speech, digging through my memory for clues. There had to be something in what he said; he did have a lengthy discussion about her death and the nomads who killed her, even though I had kind of tuned out.

The nomads.

That's when something clicks. I jump up and start repeatedly nudging Jac in the arm, causing him to get irritated and swat me away like a fly. But it does not phase me, because this is important.

"Jac! The nomads."

"Yeah? What about them?" He inquires, lifting his eyes from the book in his hands.

"King Malin talked about how he thinks they're the ones who killed Queen Saffron. If they're in fact the ones who did it, then of course they know where the cabin is. And I'm sure there are plenty of books in here on them, so if I can just find out where they are then we can go to them and ask for help!"

I run over to the shelves once again and start desperately leafing through the books, searching for anything. Jac doesn't follow me, staying rooted in his seat.

"Fawn, with all respect to you, let's not be naïve here."

"I'm not naïve!" I cry, popping my head out just to give him a glare.

"One: do you really think the nomads are going to share info with us that easily? If they truly killed the queen, they probably want to cover it up. Two: if they're murderers, then they're not people we want to mix up with. There's no telling what they'll do; they could stab you just for looking at them funny. Three-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," I sigh. "But what if none of that is true? What if...what if they didn't kill the queen? What if we've been wrong about them this whole time?"

Jac's intense interest in the book he was holding seemingly fades away, as he leans forward in his chair and looks up at me with a curious look. "Are you suggesting that the king is lying?"

"Oh goodness, no! I would never disrespect him like that!" I cry, horrified that he would suggest such a thing. But then I stop and think, realizing that it is what I was implying. And then again, King Malin's credibility is something I've questioned for years.

Jac smirks, finally getting up and walking over to stand next to me at a particularly dusty bookshelf. "Don't be ashamed of it, Fawn. I like the way you're thinking now."