Burnt

Conspiracy

A lot happens in this chapter so bare with me, please. 

Lord Luka grabbed my hand gently and led me to the outside of the celebration room and into the hallway. He asked if there was another room where we could talk where no one could hear us. I knew that the washroom was near and I opened the door and closed it behind us. 

I had been alone with Leo before, a person that I barely know, and I was more nervous to be in an empty room with Lord Luka rather than Leo. Luka was also a lord, meaning that it was caught being indecent in a room with me, he could be executed and I could be accused of losing my virginity. We were risking a lot to be in the same room together.

"I assume that you have heard the rumors about King Charles and your brother's wife, Brooke," he started. I nodded, waiting for him to continue. "The hunting accident that she was killed in was the rumor. Your brother's marriage tour was taken outside of Marli so that the people who lived outside of Marli could see them. While the King's Guard was setting up for the night, Brooke went out to the lake nearby to wash up and a guard shot her with an arrow."

He was whispering the entire time, knowing that someone could walk by the door at any moment and hear what he was saying. 

"How do you know this?" I asked him. "Mousudor is a nearly formed kingdom and this happened almost six seasons ago, meaning that anyone who was around Mousudor at this time-"

"Could not know this information," he raised his eyebrows. "I was in Marli's King Guard before Lady Brook was killed. I was in the forest taking a leak when I saw someone shoot her. I was hidden so no one saw me but I heard them talking about ways to cover it up per instructions of the King. While I was hiding, I watched them dump her body in the woods.

"The next morning, the guards that were in on it were talking about the pay raise they were going to get from the King when someone found her and identified her. From what I understand and what I heard about your father's relationship between the King, the King did not want your brother to marry Brooke."

I swallowed sharply. Luka said that Brooke was bathing in the lake; the King's Guard had most likely seen her naked. They had not given her body any type of respect.

"Why are you telling this?" Knowing this information put me in jeopardy if the King found out that I knew. 

Luka did not answer and continued with his story. "When Jack found out, he was devastated, and decided that he would tell her parents that she had died in a hunting accident. He confided in one of my friends and told them of his suspicions of what happened; he was not that far off. He knows that the King was behind it.

"Before Jack came back to Marli, I left and he thanked me for my service," his voice lowered. "I eventually found Mousudor and the royal family needed someone to train their soldiers and to look after their children. They made me a lord and here I am.'

He outstretched his arms and bowed. 

"I already told Lord Noah and Ezra Baring," he explained. "Due to this circumstance, we are plotting to kill the King."

I felt myself start to hyperventilate. 

Killing the King was treason, and it does not matter if they had any logical reasoning behind it. Treason is treason. Why would Ezra or Noah want to kill their father?

"I understand that your father is trying to marry your brother and you off with the King's blessing. There are also rumors that the King wants you to marry Noah, which prevents you from turning away from Marli," he continued. "I have already met with Ezra and Noah, discussing a plan to kill the King. All of the Kingdoms do not need a tyrant who is killing people simply because something did not go his way."