Three Pretty Princesses

Chapter 11- Evalyn

King Thomas was not the wise, mature ruler that a Guide to Fairfax City painted him out to be. This was no surprise to Evalyn, of course, who knew that most people born of a cousin-marriage and raised with every their every whim attended to generally end up spoiled and tetched in the head. Royalty was a poorly thought out concept, Evalyn thought. Like inbreeding physically manifested itself in the Tilney Kings and Queens, corruption became worse and worse with every generation of power. Sure, there were some rare gems amongst the dirt, but power was not built to be passed down.

On the second night after wedding and bedding the most beautiful woman of the day: Lady Gwendoline of Avauntwood. King Thomas bedded another woman, and has continued to do so ever since. He'd slept with maids, cooks, ladies-in-waitings, and oh-so-many prostitutes. Evalyn wondered whether Pauline was one of the numerous bastards he fathered. Usually he had the women brought up to his chamber, but this time he didn't. Instead, he left the Palace with his brother, the Duke Edward of Jacobmire to rove around the chaotic brothels of his city.

Evalyn swung open the door of his bedchamber, feather-duster in hand. She most likely had at least 3 hours to forage around for secrets before he came back. The only complication she could foresee was if the actual maid scheduled to clean his quarters came by, in which case, her tightly fitting maid's outfit borrowed from Sonyae would not be enough to escape suspicion. The girl's eyes scanned the room. Where to begin? If Evalyn was to hide her secrets, she'd bluff- hiding them in plain sight.

But King Thomas was not as crafty as her, so Evalyn started in the best (or perhaps worst) places to hide secrets. She lifted the mattress from the bed and checked underneath. She checked every single book on the bookshelf to ensure that the contents matched the description. She opened every drawer, even sticking her hand in between to ensure nothing was stuck.
Stumped, Evalyn stood in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips. She briefly considered the possibility that the King had no secrets, but this was the King.
"Power leads to corruption, and corruption leads to secrets," she murmured to herself, fruitlessly looking up at the ceiling for a possible hiding spot that lay above the eyeline.

Her eyes were suddenly drawn to a portrait of Lachlan the Charming situated above the King's bed. Lachlan was perhaps the opposite of King Thomas- wise, mature, and with a deep care for the affairs of his people.

She crawled onto the bed to approach the portrait. "Surely not..."

As her hand slipped in between the wall and the painting to feel a folded piece of parchment wedged in the gap, Evalyn triumphantly exclaimed, "You motherfucker."

The writing was small and smudged, but if Evalyn squinted her eyes and held it in the light she could just understand it. The note was some sort of list.

The first entry on the list read, "Nathaniel Johnston - Fentown - One hour after sundown began speaking about his disappointment in the King; only got worse as became drunker. Eventually proposed Duke Edward replace the King."

The entry was crossed out. It took no sleuth to deduce what was going on. King Thomas had hired an assassin to murder his subjects to speak out against him. This seemed like an illogical gamble to Evalyn, but she knew that people in power would clutch at weeds to stay in that power. Her mind immediately remembered that the King was currently in the company of Duke Edward. Fentown was the capital of Jacobmire. Would the Duke be happy knowing that the King had murdered Jacobmiran civilians? No right-minded person would accept this.

Evalyn shoved the note into her corset, and exited the room. She was so impressed with her find that she failed to check both ways as she stepped into the hall, and was promptly bowled over by a bakery cart.
"Oh my Typtris," Reese gasped, as he marvelled in horror over the girl at his feet surrounded by red velvet cupcakes.

"I'm so sorry," Evalyn cried, as she desperately snatched up the cupcakes, "I should have looked."

Reese chuckled to himself. "It's fine, really. The Princess doesn't eat much. She won't notice."

"I know you can't exactly serve them, but do you want them back?" Evalyn, still on the ground, offered the cupcakes in remorse.

"You can have them. You're probably really exhausted," Reese patronisingly purred, giving her a wink.

Exhausted? It took Evalyn a few moments to realise what he meant. She had come out of the King's bedchamber. Reese probably knew the maid that cleaned the chamber, and could spot an imposter.

"He has you dressed up in maid's uniform, does he?" he laughed, gesturing to Evalyn's uniform that she now realised was far too tight for her chest, "That's new."

"Oh Gods no! I was just asked to clean this by Sonyae, because she injured herself and needed a break," Evalyn lied.

Reese seemed to believe the fib, deciding to introduce himself as he helped her to her feet. "I'm Reese. I work at the bakery."

"I'm Evalyn, lady-in-waiting to the Princess. Yes, I'm not a maid, but I wasn't in their for the reasons you suspected. The King's out anyway. I just wanted to help a friend. Good day."
Evalyn fled the scene as quickly as she could, picking up her dress and scuttling away. She swore under her breath, coming up with so many better ways the interaction could have gone.

"Smooth as butter," Reese quietly groaned to himself as the pretty lady left. He tried hopelessly to keep his eyes off her as she gracelessly stomped away. '