A Kingdom of Tales

Chapter 38

We decide to sneak into Kyoshi's room to get the key. Before we left the ballroom, we made sure to check if Kyo was preoccupied, and she was. She was speaking to a bunch of important looking people, dazzling them.

When we make it up the floor, we start our search for the princess's room. Hers must be close to mine, so we start our search there.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea." Marilla—Amelia says from behind me as I open the door to the first room we come across.

I don't know what I'm looking for, but based on her preferred color for dresses, I assume her room would be a bright pink.

"I have to do this. I don't know how much more of Miles' humiliation I can bear." I whisper back.

The first room is completely empty; there is no sign of anyone occupying it, so I move on to the second one.

This one looks like someone lives in it, but judging by the black clothes on the rack in front of the bed, I'd say it belongs to Yuri.

In front of the last door in the hallway, I know what I'll find behind the door. A neat pink themed room, larger than any of the others that I've been in. I snicker at how obvious it is who the favorite of the emperor is.

I walk in, with Amelia following me. We search through the room, inch by inch. After about 10 minutes of searching that yielded no key, I started to lose hope until I heard Amelia calling out for me from the dressing room.

"Jasmine. I found it."

I rush to her side, only to hear the door knob jiggling. I freeze in my spot until Amelia breaks me out of my trance by pushing me towards the bed. "Hide." She orders.

I push myself under the bed, hoping she finds somewhere to hide too. My hand touches something sharp that nicks the skin.

I bring the object to my face and have to suppress a scream. It's the knife. The one I found under my pillow a few days ago. Yuri was right. It was Kyoshi.

The blood is now dry, and I wonder whose it was. Who did she kill to stain this knife?

"Princess Amelia. What are you doing here?" I hear Kyoshi's soft voice. Amelia must've not hidden then. What was her plan?

"I only wanted to leave you a gift, princess."

I hear footsteps moving closer to where I'm hiding, making my heart race. "What gift?"

"This. I saw it on my travels and immediately thought of you." I hear the jangling of metals.

"That's very kind of you, but why are you in my room?" Kyoshi's voice takes on a lethal edge.

"I did not want to give it to you in front of all the guest's downstairs. I thought it would be rude to have brought you a gift and not one for the emperor as well."

"Thank you then." Kyoshi's voice softens again.

The jewels clang as Amelia hands them to Kyoshi.

"Let's go back to the party downstairs. Shall we?" I hear their footsteps moving away until I hear the door click shut.

I slide out from under the bed, my eyes zooming in on an object on the floor next to me.

The key.

She must've left it there for me to find. I stuff it into the bodice of my dress and walk out of the room and back to the party, where I find Amelia and Kyoshi speaking.

"Jasmine. Where were you?" Amelia asks with a glint of amusement in her brown eyes.

"The bathroom. You'd be surprised at how long it takes to get out of this dress." I chuckle, saying the words I'd rehearsed in my head on my way back.

I see Kyo smile from the corner of my eye. That backstabbing bitch. Literally.

I was going to make her pay, one way or another. I smile through the heat coursing through my body.

My eyes fall to where Miles is kneeling. He looks like a fallen prince. He doesn't raise his head at all, resigned to his fate. I grit my teeth against the urge to go to him, to comfort him as he did me.

I feel Kyoshi's eyes on my face, so I force another smile and turn my attention back to the conversation they're having. Something about rare jewels.

I tune out their superficial words and try to quiet the rage brewing inside me. If I didn't calm down, I might just pull the key out of my bodice and stab Kyoshi with it, which would lead to neither me nor Miles getting out of here alive.

No. I will bear it until tonight. I will stay put until everyone retires and they take Miles back to his cell.

"Excuse me for a moment. These pastries are calling my name." I force a chuckle and walk to the buffet.

I pretend to look at the delicacies, but the true reason I'm here is to stuff a butter knife down my bodice, right next to the key.

"Hey, caterer. Which one do you recommend?" I distract the man standing next to me and hide the knife in my sleeve, praying that it doesn't slip out. I'll need it if there are guards stationed down there tonight.

I pretend to listen to what the caterer says while I formulate a plan in my head.