Rule of The Monarch

Thirteen: Blueprints to A mind

20 September

'What the hell did you do?' were Astor's first words when he opened the door to a stone faced Evelynn and a barely conscious Heather. 'We have to get her to a hospital,'his gaze strayed to the blood stained clothes. 'Why didn't you go there?'

'Crowded,' she replied simply. 'There's a medical kit in one of the kitchen cupboards. Send it to her room, then stay out.'

'Maybe I could call for a physician? Anthony, the royal—'

'No. We can't alert my parents.'

'Then let me help,' his voice was filled with genuine worry. Heather looked too weak to be all right and he wasn't about to sit and watch as it happened.

'Fine,' Evelynn said grudgingly. 'But you arent to interfere. Or I won't hesitate to cut your toes off.'

•••

'There has to be something we missed,' Astor muttered, shuffling through a stack of papers. 'Are you sure this is everything?'

'I wiped the place clean,' Evelynn said as she sat down across him.

'But they're only drawings.'

'Yes Mr. Hemingway, what a brilliant observation,' she rolled her eyes. 'Isn't there a code you can decipher out of all this?'

'I'm afraid I'm no use with pictures,' he huffed. 'The prince's codes are nothing like I've seen.'

'Why don't you go through his notebook?' Evelynn exchanged looks with Amelia who appeared in the doorway.

The green leather notebook. The key to all this. It was the only thing on their minds besides Heather for the past three days. Only she knew where it was kept. They were desperate for something to do. something to distract them from every dark possibility.

'I'll check on Heather.' Astor stood abruptly.

'No, no. That's all right,' she matched his height. 'It's my turn. And you've been with her each morning to evening when you're not worried over this.'

'I have, haven't I?' He laughed nervously. 'Go on.'

Evelynn felt guilty more than anything as she headed to her sister's room. She had thought, all these years, that Heather should pay for what she'd done to their brother. A life for a life. Wasn't it fair for her to suffer as well? But Heather didn't remember that day like Evelynn did. Heather didn't remember him like Evelynn did. She didn't have to live with the burden of death by some miracle— and Evelynn wasn't sure she wanted to suffer what her father had protected Heather from.

'You lot talk too loud, do you know that?' Heather was up, sitting in bed. A bit pale but otherwise, she looked much like her lively self.

'You're up.' Evelynn closed the door behind her. 'How long have you been conscious?'

'About 24 hours,' she peered at the grandfather clock across the room. 'It's hilarious really, listening to Astor read aloud his confessions at night. He ought to tell Amelia soon though. It gets a bit tedious watching them shy away from each other,' she opened the drawer of her bedside table and pulled out Christopher's notebook. 'I appreciate you not going through my things, and not leaving me there.'

'You do value your privacy over everything else. Although I can't say the same for others.' Evelynn settled next to Heather.

'Did I kill him?'

There it was. They both knew it had to be sorted out sooner or later.

'No.' Evelynn lied. 'No, that was my imagination. I was young. It was something I came up with to cope with his disappearance.'

'Were you—' Heather stopped and cleared her throat. 'Can I see the drawings you brought from 816?'

'No need actually. They're all in here,' she flipped past past pages of flowers, insects, plants and people. 'We think it might be a code of some sort. Why else would he leave it there?'

'Maybe not,' Heather said slowly, the gears of her mind churning with a new puzzle. 'I've gone through this book over and over. Everything seems normal. Other than this,' she pulled out the folded drawing of her corpse.

'That,' Evelynn said meekly 'Was me.'

'There's a page in here that stands out,' she took the book from her sister. 'Try and decipher it.'

Three- SODB WKH QRWHV LQ QXPEUV BRX. IURP EODFN DQG ZKLWH LW ZLOO OHDG BRX IUHH

'Hold on,' Evelynn took a moment, scribbling in the book. 'Play the notes in numbers you see. From black and white it will lead you free,' she said after a moment of contemplation. 'What's your point?'

'What do you think he's writing about?' Her grin was wide and gleeful, like a child with a mouth full of candy.

'A piano?' Evelynn shrugged. 'Why are you smiling like a lunatic?'

'It's not a piano,' she turned the page. 'He's writing about a book. A book Evelynn!'

'What's this about?'

'Some things are just as they come. That's what he's trying to tell us!'

'You're starting to scare me.'

'The drawings are just that. Nothing more.' Heather said finally. 'We're looking at it the wrong way,' she shut Christopher's notebook and brought out her own. 'To put it simply, this is the final part of the code. There was no use for Mr. Hemingway to lead us here. Read the message again.'

Give me worry.

You see shadows.

I'm in a palace of the craziest.

No need fire.

Here I'll see you.

'I'm in a palace of the craziest,' Evelynn muttered. 'The Ealdor Mental Institute?'

'Close, but no.' Heather fixed her posture. 'Look at the second line. The Ealdor Mental Institute is blindingly well lit. And shadows usually refer to alleyways and abandoned buildings.'

'The craziest could refer to criminals? Christopher's kidnapper perhaps?'

'Now you're thinking!' Her smile widened. 'Go on, what else?'

'The park!' Evelynn exclaimed. 'Of course. No need fire, where else would it be?'

'Brilliant! Couldn't have phrased it better myself. Let's go.' Heather tried inching off the bed but was quickly stopped.

'We need a plan and you still need rest.'

'I'm perfectly fine,'

'We'll go tomorrow at best,' she said with authority. 'The four of us can come up with something here tonight. But you need to heal.'

'But I—'

'You need rest,' she repeated. 'You won't do any good by slowing us down.'

'All right.' A hint of mischief sparked inside her. 'But only because you lot aren't going anywhere without me.'

'Fair enough.'

A/N

Thanks for staying with me guys. 100 reads! Sorry for the late chapter. Editing schedules are a bit hectic, but I'll try t get a new chapter in by next week. Thanks for the sunshine!