Hoodwinked: The Summoning Book One

Chapter 16

Thursday afternoon, the king, Prince Greggor, Yugeer and Captain Greypol sat in the parlor. The men peered at a small paper with five names written on it. These names belonged to the queen's closest allies.

"The two servants were in the kitchen preparing the afternoon tea and crumpets during the time of the poisoning on Monday," Greggor announced, pointing to two of the names at the top of the list.

"What about the three guards?" King Nathar asked his son.

"These two were watching the front gate. Neither were seen leaving their posts. This other one was confirmed to be resting in the soldiers keep before he took watch at midnight."

Klav stood from the patterned chair to peer at the yellow flames of the fireplace.

"So, we have no suspects," King Nathar stated with a deep frown.

"We have 327 suspects. We have not singled out the killer," Klav clarified as he pulled his hand from his glove.

"We have seven days until the council meets for Hilvasha's trial. How do we find the murderer before they attack Otswana?" Prince Greggor asked.

"We have him come to us," Klav announced vaguely. He lowered his hand to feel the heat of the real fire.

"Pray tell. How do you plan to get the murderer to come to us?" Yugeer asked the captain.

"Do you remember the Flame Hunter that went rogue five years ago?" Klav asked.

"She didn't go rogue. She was looking for her egg. It had been stolen from her nest by a foolish adolescent whom died for his careless act," Yugeer corrected.

"How did the Flame Hunter dragon find the egg?" Klav turned to look at the men.

"She set the villages on fire. Wallslo, the foolish boy, finally brought the egg to the dragon. She burned him alive and took the egg back to her cave," Prince Greggor answered.

"To draw the murderer out of the crowd, we give him incentive. We suspect he wishes to protect Queen Hilvasha. What if we made the murderer believe she is in danger? He would most likely come to her rescue. If we do this, we must do it before guests arrive for the festival," Klav said with urgency.

"We are expecting the first guest in two days. What exactly do you plan to do?" King Nathar asked the captain.

Klav turned away from the fireplace and looked directly at the king. "With your permission, your majesty, I would like to start a fire in the dungeon tonight."

                                     * * *

At midnight an alarm rang out. "Fire! Fire in the dungeon!" A loud explosion sounded from the floors below.

Otswana awoke with a start. She sat up and looked around for her father. He was not in his make shift bed. Otti threw off her covers and grabbed her robe from the bed post. Otti ran to her door. She opened it, and found four guardsmen standing outside the entrance to her room.

"What's going on?" Otti asked Darzaveous, one of the Draconian soldiers. He turned his head to see Otswana standing in her doorway.

"Nothing, merely a small fire, your highness," Darzaveous said. "I urge you to go back into your room."

In that moment, her father appeared, pushing through the soldiers to get to his daughter. "Come, Otswana. We need to get you back inside your room."

Lord Briggon pushed Otti back in and closed the door to all the commotion in the lower floors of the castle.

"I heard a loud explosion. What has happened? What's this about a fire in the dungeon?" Otti asked, her voice laced with concern.