Chapter Sixty-eight

It was not until days later I had the opportunity to read from the diary again. With the addition of court to my training and taking care of the children, it had become difficult indeed to find a moment's respite.

****Dear Secret Holder,
Over the last couple of months, I have observed something rather strange. The maids have been going missing. First my personal maid, then the head maid and so on. It is rather peculiar that no one has pointed this out or that no one cares. I understand they are servants but what if the same situation turned out to be members of the royal house?

****Dear Secret Holder,
I told my mother of my discovery today and she said I should not worry my head about such things. She pointed out that the servants might be rebelling and leaving the palace of their own will. She did promise that she would look into it but I do not think she took my concerns seriously. In other news, Camille has fallen in love with another boy. I am beginning to lose count of the number of boys she has fallen for.

****Dear Secret Holder,
The maids have not been leaving the palace of their own will. Someone has been taking their lives.
I felt quite restless in my sleep and decided to take a walk around the palace grounds. The garden my mother kept has always been a favorite of mine and it was not surprising that I somehow ended up there. As I paced about the garden, my flashlight highlighted something grotesque, it was a body. The body was twisted and badly mutilated. The face was barely recognizable. I bent down to touch the body and it was still warm; the corpse was still very fresh. At once I used my flashlight to check the grounds for footprints that did not belong to me. It was hard to spot anything as the garden floor was carpeted in green grass. Yet, I could make out a blood trail which I followed diligently. The trail led me to the royal quarters. But it stopped right at the entrance. Was the person hiding in our very quarters?
I inquired of the guards that stood guard if they had seen any strange person enter but their reply was in the negative.
Who can it be?

****Dear Secret Holder,
It is Napoleon.
It is Napoleon.
It is Napoleon.
When I discovered the dead body the other day and traced the prints back to our royal quarters, I had never imagined that it could be one of us. Killing people and dumping them in the garden was not our thing. If we were bloodthirsty, we'd go to war or something like that but not my brother.
I could not sleep tonight either so I strolled the palace grounds and what do I find? I see Napoleon walking out of the garden with his face and hands covered in blood. He looked like a zombie. I could not believe my eyes. I hid myself behind a nearby shrub and the moment he was out of sight I ran towards where he had come out from. And what do I find? A dead body.
Why was he doing this? Was the vampire leaning so strong within him that he could not hold himself? But if he needed blood there were squirrels and animals and if he was so desperate for the blood of another vampire, he could have asked for it. It did not have to end with a dead body.
What should I do? Should I tell my mother?

What I had just read shocked me. Uncle Napoleon was a murderer? But once I had had time to process the information it was not so shocking to believe. He was the Alpha of this pack, he was a king, there was no way he would have got to that position without having killed someone before. It would be naive to think he had no blood on his hands.

“The king requires your presence, Your Highness,” I was interrupted by Sandra. I really did have to speak to her about knocking. She could not just enter my room without informing me of her presence. At the same time if I brought it up now would I not appear like I was hiding something?

And was it my imagination or did Uncle Napoleon just love seeing more of me these days?


“Uncle?” I peeked into his private studies and he waved me in.

I took my seat opposite him and waited for him to speak.

“What plans do you have for Charlotte's future?” he asked me in a tone that carried no emotion, it almost threw me off.

“Plans? For Charlotte's future?” coupled with the tone he had used I was certain I had heard wrong. Why would I be thinking about her future when she was still a baby? I just wanted her to grow up a decent person and choose whatever path she was passionate about threading. I realized though that I was being biased. Why did Charlotte get to choose her path while I was setting up Reginald to sit on his father's throne? Besides, Charlotte was the firstborn. If she wanted to become queen there was nothing stopping her from doing so.

“Do you know my biggest regret in life, Gina?” My uncle's voice bore a friendly tone but it creeped me out as my mind remained fixated on the last diary entry I had read.

“When Emily was just two years of age, Alpha Dagen's father proposed that the two become betrothed. But I was a traditional sort of person. I wanted Emily to meet her mate and get married. Emily is still very single and with no marriage prospects. If I had signed those papers then, she would be married now,” I was struggling to keep a straight face while my uncle spoke.

So my uncle was familiar with Alpha Dagen? And he thinks Emily could be married to him if he had made a different choice then? Emily and Dagen? I could not think of the match and it could never happen anyway. Alpha Dagen was still hung up on Lady Nydia. And more importantly, Alpha Dagen was the father of my children. As these thoughts ran through my mind I kept a calm and eager face like I was waiting for him to reveal the point of this conversation.