Catching Criminals
POV: Alexandra
Malinus pulled up a packet of papers and handed them to me. I took a deep breath as I looked down at the paperwork and found the name baby boy Batiste on the top. The paperwork spoke about how twins were born to House Batiste: one boy, one girl. They gave details on what was going on the night of the birth, who was in the room when we were born, and the physical appearance of the children. This seemed to be a reconnaissance report, possibly using magical paper since there was another set of handwriting. This set asked about the girl, “Maigny is interested in the daughter. What does she look like?” The answer came back, “She has black hair and violet eyes. She’s a very beautiful child but I don’t know if it would be feasible to take her.” The other writing on it said, “Yes, Maigny believes she would stand out and the family would know right away that she is still alive. He believes it is a pity since she would be the key to getting the power of the throne behind House Maigny. What of the boy?” Answer: “Well he is far more unremarkable than his sister. He has light brown hair and honey-colored eyes. The Marquis might be able to pass him off as his own. The father is saying that they will call him Ashton after his maternal grandfather’s middle name.” The questioner said, “Take the boy. Maigny believes he can use him against his own family even if he is disappointed he couldn’t get the girl. He was counting on the Batiste/Esperanza pairing to produce a beauty to rival any of the girls in Vellum to tempt one of the princes into marriage. He will just have to hope that the Marquess will produce a daughter at this point.” Answer: “As you will it, My Lord. Please remember your promise to release me from my contract. I wish to join The Order on my own.” The person who answered, who I now assumed was Count Kastilidan, stated: “Consider it done. Good luck in your new world U.”
I gasped at the moniker U which meant she was the one who kidnapped my brother and assisted in kidnapping Tyleesh. I turned the page to see the contract that my brother had with House Maigny, they called it a lifetime contract. I clenched my jaw and my hands tightened around the paperwork. I saw the hand of an elderly man gently pat one of my hands, “I know it is upsetting, my lady, but you will get justice with this information. His Majesty now has the physical evidence he needs to prosecute the Maignys.” I loosened my grip on the paper and placed it on the desk, “Eighteen years…eighteen years stolen from us to have a normal life with each other…all in the name of power and revenge. Never in my life will I ever understand that drive to seek something like power by destroying so much.” Malinus pulled me to my feet and embraced me, “That is precisely what makes you the most suitable to stand by His Majesty’s side.” I heard Lucien pick up the papers and read through the contents and he let out a frustrated sigh, “I really wish Grand Pretre wasn’t holding me back from arresting these awful people.” The General spoke up, “If I could speak freely, Your Majesty?” He nodded at the General, “Go ahead, I’m curious to see what your opinion on the matter is.” The General cleared his throat, “I believe her opinion is that the nobility would see you making a power move to eliminate the Maigny’s so that you could have the power of House Batiste behind you. You didn’t want noble House in-fighting so this is the proper path to a peaceful resolution. My lady is currently well guarded and the end of this competition is near. You will have a resolution to this situation soon enough.” Lucien sighed and sat down in his chair, “You’re right. Not to mention she can see all possible futures so she can probably see a bad outcome if we follow the path to arrest now. I really wish she would share that with us.”
I pulled away from Malinus and looked at him, “I think I can find out if you’re really curious, Your Majesty.” He looked at me, “I don’t know if we really want to know. Any time I ask, it is usually pretty grim with death and destruction. She is responsible for guiding us through the path that we are meant to follow. I am on the path that I was advised to follow even if I want the choice to be mine at this point.” He gave me a knowing look that said he wished to pick me if it were up to me. Edgar spoke up next to me, “We can’t even bring this to the Elder Council for consideration either. The Maignys have some allies within the council that would tip them off to what we are up to. This is how the accusation that Alexandra tried to assassinate was able to go through, they had quite a few votes and were able to convince some of the more neutral members of her guilt so they would vote with them. It would be great if we could find something in there that would indicate the elders who are allied with them were part of these schemes. We could hold a secret meeting without them to bring the whole of them to trial at once. I am unsure how to proceed once it comes to their arrest. As we all know, we have to oversee the accusations levied upon a noble.” The General went back to filtering through the documents, “Well, we should see if we can find that information then. Do you know who are the ones that are allied?” Elder Edgar walked over to where the General and Malinus were sorting through the papers, “I will point out the names if I see them.”
Lucien rose from his spot across from the desk and came to sit next to me, “I am curious about the rest of your time here. I get reports daily on whether you and the other candidates passed their tasks. I understand that you are spending time in the medical tent.” I nodded and turned to him, “I have. On the first day, I helped Doc to work on surgery for Countess Kastilidan. She had so many injuries that he needed my fire magic to cauterize the wounds. That was interesting but it took a whole lot out of me. That is why I had to go take a break and get a snack. I have been spending some time with the children who were injured. Many of them lost everything so I put together a list of what they wanted and I will give them toys. I’m also going to hand-make some toys for some of the children who wanted stuffed toys. I’m going to write to my father for the gifts and supplies tonight.” He smiled at me gently, “You can write it here and I will have it sent out at once. What of the children? Are they in good spirits?” I sighed and looked down, “Considering what they are going through? I suppose you can say that. I worry for the children who lost their parents. There’s a little girl named Lucy that I have grown pretty fond of that lost her parents in the disaster.” He leaned back in his seat and smiled, “Tell me, Alexandra, are we thinking of being a stereotypical Batiste?” He cocked an eyebrow at me and I knew he was referring to my family’s propensity to bring in the outcasts or orphans. I smirked at him, “You know me well. I was thinking of asking my parents to adopt her.”
He looked at me and leaned forward then whispered, “You didn’t want to make her our daughter?” I looked up at him surprised by the question, “How would that even work?” He made eye contact with me but called over his shoulder, “Elder Edgar, would you help me out with a question? If I were to adopt an orphan child from this disaster, would she be accepted as part of the royal family?” Edgar looked up from a paper he was staring at, “The child would officially be a part of the royal family, gain the title of prince or princess but they could never inherit the throne as they are not of the Doré blood. If you were to do so now, he or she would not be recognized at all once a new Queen ascends the throne since this would be seen as a decision made solely by the King. Family is seen as a joint decision in Vellum when it comes to royalty. Even if the Queen were to accept the child it would still be seen as something equivalent to a bastard.” I sighed, “So it wouldn’t work is what you are saying.” Edgar chuckled, “It would if a generous noble family would step forward and sponsor that child until such a time that they could be adopted. It is what humans call fostering I believe.” My face lit up with a smile, “Then I can ask my father and mother to sponsor Lucy and you would be willing to adopt her later into the royal family?” Lucien smiled back at me, “As long as my Queen agrees to accept her. I will make her a princess. I have a condition though.” I sighed wondering what sort of hoops this man would have me jump through to adopt poor little Lucy, “What would that be?” He chuckled, “Nothing big, don’t give me that pouty face of yours. I just want to meet her. You can make introductions tomorrow. I can order you as a King to his subject but I’d rather not.” I laughed, “You wouldn’t need to. I would gladly introduce her to you. You will fall in love with that child as I have.”
Elder Edgar made a humming noise as he was handed a paper from Malinus which caused Lucien and I to turn to look at him. Lucien asked, “Anything interesting?” He furrowed his brow and nodded, “I found a name of a member of the council that is on the Maigny’s side. It looks like he picked up the contract of a young boy but no indication of what he did with the boy. This will probably need to be investigated further when we bring charges. That takes one of the problems out of the secret meeting. We just need two more.” He filtered through the next paper and nodded, “That takes care of two of the members. This one had contracted two men to take out his father-in-law so that his wife could inherit his lands. Disgusting behavior.” The General grunted, “This one? Is he the last name we have to worry about?” The Elder plucked the paper from the General’s hands and read. As he read through the document his eyes widened and he looked up at me. He nodded and set the paper down, “That takes care of the three so we can have a secret meeting regarding bringing charges to the Maignys and the three members.” Curiosity got the best of me so I asked, “What was he allegedly guilty of?” He looked at the General then at Malinus, “I don’t know it is a good idea to mention.” Lucien rose from his seat, “If it has to do with Alexandra, I would like to know. Don’t make me command you, sir.” Edgar sighed and handed the paper to Lucien. Lucien took it in his hands and read through it. He said through clenched teeth, “I am going to strangle that bastard. I will make him wish he was never born. He will regret the day he thought it was a good idea to command this of the Kastilidans.”
