Her Hero

Chapter 10

*Hannah's P.O.V*
Once we got back to the palace and Grace was safely inside, I pulled Mamrie to somewhere private to talk.

"Look,"
I began.
"I think I have my first suspect."

Her brow furrowed
"What do you mean? Who?"

I took a deep breath. Since she and Chester had been friends, she might not take the possibility well.

"I think it might be Chester."

Mamrie began to laugh.

"That's hilarious. But seriously, though."

"I am being serious, Mames. He tried to tell me a story that I knew was completely not true. He was lying about something."

Mamrie put her hand on mine, like a mom who was trying to take a gentle approach to her unruly child.

"Look, I know that you don't like the guy 'cause he's trying to steal your girl, but murder is a heavy accusation to make. What did he tell you?"

"He told me they got into a fight and Josh stormed off. But if that had happened, he certainly would have said something to me about it when we went for drinks that same night. Yet, he didn't say a word. In fact, he was in the best mood I had seen him in in a long time."

She sighed.

"I don't know what to tell you, Han... We are going to need A LOT more evidence to convict him than just your word. Especially when you almost died for the same crime."

Damn. She was right. I was going to need solid proof that Chester was then one who killed Joshua.

"You're right, Mames. And I think I know just how to do that."

I got up and left the room. There was no other way to do this than to just go in and ask him. Of course, I couldn't do it now, since he would be at dinner with the Royal family. I just needed to get him alone.

*Grace's P.O.V*

I sat quietly at the table and fiddled with my food. I wasn't hungry, or in the mood for our 'family dinner'. You couldn't even really call it family since it was just Chester, my younger brother Tim and myself. Tim tried to make light conversation, by asking Chester questions about the military and his job, but Chester was in too bad of a mood to answer. If I had learned anything from my few years of knowing him, it was that when he was in a bad mood, there was no getting him out of it. I decided that I would take this opportunity to try and make a clean break between us. I set my fork down and took in a deep breath.

"Chester. I know I keep saying that we need to talk, then we end up not taking, but I think now is as good of a time as any to finally tell you that.. "

He looked at me with a look of concern. As if anything I said that wasn't to confess my undying love for him, would surely break his heart.
I almost stopped myself, not wanting to hurt him, but I knew this had to be done.

"Look, I really like you, and think you are a great guy. I just also think that you would be happier with someone else. Someone who could truly love you, like I never will. I want to call off the betrothal. I hope you can forgive me."

His deep brown eyes looked defeated as he looked down at his empty plate.
I knew I had hurt him.
I placed a gentle hand on his arm, trying to make him feel better, but it was no use. He yanked his arm away and stood up.

"I'm so sorry, Ches..."

He shook his head.

"No. You don't get to do that. With all due respect, princess, I would prefer it if we didn't see each other again."

With that, he stormed out of the dining room. I wanted to go after him,  but I knew that if I did, whatever friendship we still had would be ruined.

"So.. "
Tim said trying to lighten the heavy mood that had decended over the room.
"Are you planning to tell mom and dad?"

With sigh, I slammed my head into the table and in hindsight, I have never regretted anything more.

*Hannah's P.O.V*

As I sat in my room, cleaning my dagger, I heard the sound of a loud slam. Confused, I decided I would go and investigate the sound.
When I got downstairs, I saw Chester. He looked pissed. What had happened?

"I was so CLOSE!"
He shouted as he punched a wall.
What the hell? What did he mean?
I hid behind one of the large pillars and tried not to let him see me.

"All I wanted was to be king! Now that will never happen because of that spoiled BRAT!"

Holy shit! This was the proof I needed... But, it would still be my word against his. He couldn't have been working alone. I needed to find out who he was working with and make them squeal like pigs.
I turned and ran back up the stairs to find Mamrie. This was all finally beginning to come together.
I found Mamrie standing guard outside of the princess's bedroom, like I should have been.

"Mames! It all makes sense!"
The red head looked at me like I was crazy.

"What are you talking about?"

"Chester! He practically gave me his confession."

I could see her trying to process what I was saying.

"I don't understand.."

"Look, I was downstairs and I guess Grace must have said something to Chester that made him upset, because he was pissed. He said that all he wanted was to be king and he would never get that because of Grace."

I could see the wheels in Mamrie's head beginning to spin.

"That would give him the perfect motive to kill Joshua!"

"Because Josh was a shoe in to be head guard. And the head guard is who usually marries the princess and becomes king."

This was coming together perfectly.

"And since Chester was just below Joshua in the ranks, he needed to get rid of him and the only way to do that was to kill him and take his rank. Giving him full access to the princess and the throne."

Mamrie's face lit up with excitement.

"Hannah, you're a genius! But wait, to be king, he would have to get rid of the reigning king and queen."

She was right. That was probably what he was going to do next. The King and queen were currently away on a diplomatic mission. Which would be the perfect time to kill them.

"Oh no."

Mamrie and I looked at each other, knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

"He's going to sink their ship!"

We had to warn Grace and get to the docks, but for all we knew, it was too late.

A/N:  Omg! Three chapters in a row guys! In honor of the greatest trinity on the internet, here is a third chapter. Sorry (not sorry) that it's a cliffhanger. Anyway, I hope y'all like it. Enjoy!

                        -Liz