The Assassin and the Murderer

Chapter 10

A/N: The song above is good to listen to while reading this. It's from Much Ado About Nothing. :)

Oletha sat in front of the casket as she arranged small blue flowers in Laurel's hair. When Gabriel and Denzel came out carrying Laurel and Sam in their arms, Oletha couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was so shocked that she didn't even cry until she saw Gabriel's tears. That's when she knew it was real.

Denzel didn't say much to them as they boarded a ship for Erilan and waved their teary goodbyes. They arrived at the castle the next morning, met up with Gavin, and set the preparations for a funeral.

They had decided that to have Althalos leave them alone, they had to make a big deal out of this, so he knew she was dead for sure. And leave Spencer alone, as well, wherever he was. The way to do that was to announce the tragic death of the king's fiancé Lady Lissa. That alias was the starting point for this whole thing, and Althalos would definitely get their message.

The funeral would be a traditional royal funeral procession. The royal family would ride on white horses with a band following behind, and they will walk the coffin around the town for the people to see. For Althalos to see.

Oletha hoped it worked, because she didn't want to see Laurel like this for another second.

~

Spencer had to run to keep up with Linden, who was dragging him through the crowds of people.

"Let's go, Spence. We're never going to find out what this is all about if we can't see anything!" She said, weaving through a group of women.

Spencer caught a bit of their conversation, and was shocked at first.

"It's so heartbreaking, isn't it?" Said one of the women. "The king's love, killed!"

Spencer didn't catch what the other women's replies were, but he had a gut wrenching moment where he thought they were talking about Charles. But that didn't make any sense. No one knew about that. Laurel figured it out on her own, and he was the only one she told, so there was no way that those women could be talking about him. So who was dead?

Linden nudged her way to the front of the crowd, just in time for the procession to march past. Gavin rode in the front, with his sister and mother forming a triangle behind him. They were followed by the coffin, which Spencer couldn't see into yet, and then Oletha and Gabriel.

What were they doing back?

But Spencer didn't get the chance to wonder for long, because that's when he saw the body in the casket. His eyes flicked back up to Oletha, and she looked at him for only a moment before wiping away a tear and looking forward again. Her eyes had seemed to widen just a little when she spotted him in the crowd.

All Spencer could think of as he ran through the crowd was about what he had just seen.

Even as Linden called his name and chased after him in alarm, he ran and ran and ran.

Laurel was dead. His Laurel was dead.

~

Oletha couldn't believe what had just happened. Of course Spencer was in Erilan. She had been stupid to think that he would have gone somewhere else. But why he wasn't dead at the hands of Althalos, she couldn't figure out. But it was the fact that he now had the same knowledge as Althalos that worried Oletha. True, it was a good thing that Althalos had gotten the message, but Spencer surely wasn't supposed to have seen this. She hoped he wouldn't lash out and do something stupid.

Stressed, she walked as fast as she could through the castle, and entered the Healers' Ward.

"I need to speak to Ellette, please." Oletha said to the healer at the front desk. The woman nodded, and walked behind a curtain, emerging moments later with Ellette.

"Ready?" She asked.

Oletha nodded, and she watched as Ellette gathered some things, and followed her out the door.

Oletha brought her to the room where Laurel's casket was being held, and the young healer sat on the floor, mixing some things in a bowl while Oletha nervously stood nearby.

"Okay, help me with this part." Ellette said, and Oletha propped Laurel's body up while Ellette poured the substance down her throat.

The two girls waited impatiently, before Laurel gasped and started coughing.

Oletha couldn't help crying tears of joy that it had worked.

"L-Letha?" Laurel asked, looking freaked out and confused. "What happened?"

"It's a long story, but you were stabbed. And... Kind of killed, I guess. At least, that's what we thought. But then your wounds kind of... Well, they cauterized themselves. So you were actually alive... So we gave you a sleeping draught and faked your death."

"How is that even possible?" Laurel asked.

Oletha looked over to Ellette.

"Our theory?" Oletha said. "Is fire magic."