The Royal Seamstress | ONC2020

Chapter 18: The Letter

Henry had been in bad spirits after the death of Sir Gerard. He had yelled out loud in the hall when the guard had told him Sir Gerard was dead. He had been so mad he had ordered the death of Lord Hereford right away. In the morning Lord Hereford had been executed at Tyburn. Henry had also warned to make investigations on all the murders. That made me kind of afraid. What if he discovered the murderer was me? I had made sure not to leave any traces behind. He could find nothing which led to me, but still I was uneasy.

I was already planning my next kill. I only needed to kill the last two nobles on that list. I had to get it over with and be done. I couldn't do this anymore. It was too much for me. I had had enough of all these killings, blood and fights between nobles who couldn't solve their own problem through talking. Today I was going to kill the last two ones. Today it would finally be over.

Lord Surry had given me a very fine dagger as a gift for my success in killing Sir Gerard. He had this time also written a little note that had followed the knife. It had said the dagger might be of better use to me than him and that it was a present for his little serial killer. I didn't like to be a killer. I only did it to keep my head on my shoulders.

In the last three days while killing the other men I had discovered that Lord Rochford had an affair with Lady Curtius, the wife of Sir Curtius. In all my secret I was writing a letter to Lord Rochford, telling him I knew of his little secret. As I wrote the last sentence I looked down and felt content with what I had written.

Lord Rochford

I know you have a secret. An affair with the Lady Curtius.

If Sir Curtius were to learn the behaving of one of his friends conduct, I'm sure your head wouldn't be on your shoulders much longer.

Before midnight today Sir Curtius will know of your little secret, and you will be a dead man!

Maybe the letter was too much of a threat, but I also had to make him die. I had to make things worse than it was. I had also written a letter for Sir Curtius, informing him of his dearest friend's conduct with him wife. I knew he would be angry and go to Lord Rochford's room, and my plan would work out perfectly. Both nobles would be gone, and the killings would stop.

In the night I sneaked out of my room and down the corridors to Lord Rochford's chambers. I slid the folded paper underneath the door and hurried into the shadows. I heard steps behind the door and soon it was opened by the man I had to kill. He looked for someone, but he didn't find me. As he locked the door again, I sneaked out and looked through the keyhole. He was reading the letter. The sweat was already dripping from his forehead. He was clearly distressed. A frightened look crept upon his face. He looked from side to side. Clearly considering what to do with himself. It was only ten minutes until midnight. He knew Sir Curtius would come for him soon.

Lord Rochford through the letter I had sent to him into the fire before pulling out his chair. He quickly took one of the ropes from his bed. He swung it up in the nearest the chandelier. He tied a knot on the rope and put it around his neck. He pushed the chair away from his feet and hung himself.

As he stopped breathing, Sir Curtius came from around the corner. He was furious. The way in which he walked down the corridor initiated how much he wanted to beat the life out of the already dead Lord Rochford.

I had already hidden in the shadows again. Ready to take on the last noble man and finishing the devil's work. My hand was on the dagger, ready to attack. Sir Curtius swung open the door to Lord Rochford's room but instead of yelling he was shocked to find his old friend hung from the ceiling. Before he managed to scream for help, I ran into the room and locked the door.

"Who are you?" he asked confused. "Do you know what has happened to Lord Rochford?"

"I'm your worst nightmare," I answered. "I'm the right hand of the devil."

And with those words I cut Sir Curtius' throat. The blood was everywhere. He fell to the floor, headfirst with blood pouring out of his throat. I looked down at myself. My dress was full of blood too. I had to flee right away. I put the dagger back under my clothes and ran away from the crime scene. I had to burn my dress as quickly as possible.

When I got back down into the sewing room I pulled the dress of my body and through it into the fire. I changed into a new dress and I sat all night, watching my bloody dress burn. My mission was now done. I had murdered seven nobles. I had done the devil's work and I was definitely going to hell.

The next morning Margaret woke me up. I had slept at the wooden table. The fire had gone out but to my great happiness, my dress was gone and no more. It was just ashes.

"What have you been doing all night?" Margaret asked.

"I just forgot the time. I have been sewing on one of the dresses which needs to be done soon."

"You haven't been murdering any people last night?"

"Why?"

"Lord Rochford and Sir Curtius have both been found dead in Lord Rochford's room. Lord Rochford was hung from the ceiling and Sir Curtius' throat had been slid."

"Don't tell anyone, Margaret."

"When is all these killings going to stop, Elizabeth?"

"I am done with them now. I have killed all those men Lord Surry wanted me to kill."

"Thank God," Margaret said. "I pray to God you're not caught."

"Me too, Margaret. Me too."

Word count: 1053 words.

Total word count: 20732 words.