Chapter 17: Affirmation

Laurel followed Tina through the palace, barely listening to anything she was saying to the servants or what the knights were saying. Seeing Basil with Delia again had been harder than she imagined. She didn’t feel herself stepping back into her old memories, but it was a dreadfully uncanny feeling.
They were getting married soon which meant Laura had been dead for maybe two or three months? Four months at the most as Basil was known for his extravagance and would certainly make their wedding far more luxurious than his and Laura’s wedding had been.
She had been swept away by his handsome face and his power. As the heir to the kingdom and an alpha wolf, he had been the perfect fairytale prince. She’d seen in his acceptance a chance to prove that she was worthy of her place in the world. She had thought she would find love too, but none of those feelings remained.
She hadn’t even felt a twinge of jealousy seeing them together as she had then.
All of Laura’s bittersweet feelings of longing and anguish had turned to a wave of vengeful anger and hatred in her heart. It didn’t matter that she’d spent three years pining for his love. They had humiliated her. Basil was the husband who had abandoned her, and Delia was the slut who had seduced them. Would anyone expect her to look upon either of them kindly even if they weren’t more or less responsible for Laura’s death?
Had Basil not seen fit to humiliate her and banish her that night, she wouldn’t have run off into the woods. The person would have never been able to shove her over the edge of that cliff.
Could one of them have murdered her? It was possible, though Laurel wasn’t fully convinced.
Delia was just a survivor of a rogue attack, or so she said. She had been beloved by Basil quickly and had him completely enthralled. Laura, who had never even so much as hugged her husband, was no threat to her.
Between the two of them, Basil had to be the more likely of the two. For what reason, she didn’t know but resentment could have been reason enough. She would have to look into it further.
But how?
She was not luna. She couldn’t wander around questioning people. She was already staying in the castle at Adolph’s order, but that wouldn’t give her free reign.
“This way,” Tina said, stiffly.
She remembered all at once her predicament and her face heated with embarrassment. When Adolph had started to order arrangements to be made for her, the ministers had looked at her, the guards of the palace had too. Basil had stared at her outright. It had been nerve-racking, but worse than that was to have to follow Tina to her arrangements.
She had been hired by Adolph’s late wife and later became Basil’s nanny, but the woman treated herself as though she was Basil’s beloved stepmother. Tina had never thought Laura was worthy enough to be Basil’s wife and spent the last three years of Laura’s life making things difficult for her.
She hated Tina almost as much as the woman had hated Laura. The moment Tina had given Laurel the same look of contempt she had given Laura years ago, Laurel knew that not only would Tina be difficult, but she would not find a good room for her. Thankfully, Adolph thoughtfully gave her two guards, Sam and Lynn. Tina would, at the least, be forced to behave accordingly when they were around.
“Here you are.”
She looked into the small room near the kitchen. It was completely against Adolph’s orders, but Laurel wasn’t going to complain.
There was a lot of gossip in the kitchens.
“The day starts promptly at dawn. You--”
“She’s not a maid,” Sam growled at Tina.
“And who are you--”
“It’s okay,” Laurel said with a smile, placing a gentle hand on Sam’s shoulder. “I’m just a country girl. Being the maid of a grand palace is way better than I expected.”
“Well, at least someone knows their place,” Tina sniffed haughtily and walked off.
Laurel shook her head and turned to Sam, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine. How are you?”
Sam froze and averted his gaze, “I… I’ll be fine.”
She squeezed his shoulder, “You will be. I’ll be sure to advise the king to hold a mating ceremony for the people who have lost their mates as soon as possible.”
He averted his gaze, seemingly uncomfortable and she gave him a gentle smile.
“I’m not saying you have to go, but if you’re ready to… If you *want* to, that is.”
Sam’s gaze met hers and he nodded stiffly, “I… Thank you for your concern… I don’t think anyone else really understands…”
His jaw trembled a bit before he cleared his throat, “Thank you again, that is… For calming me back then.”
Laurel nodded, “You don’t need to thank me for doing what should be done, or caring about your well-being.”
Sam gave her a soft smile filled with gratitude. didn’t seem convinced, but he nodded stiffly. Seeing that there were no threats within the room, they left her alone.
Laurel whistled and dusted the room before going to pump water from the castle maid’s well for a bath. She was so tired from the lack of sleep, but she dressed again and went to go find Adolph to speak with him just as she promised.
She didn’t find Adolph, but she did find Chasel. He was busy replacing some of Adolph’s castle-bound retinue with soldiers from the front lines.
“You haven’t even taken a nap yet?” Chasel asked. “Please tell me what I can do to get you in bed and resting before he has a fit?”
Laurel laughed, “I need to speak with His Majesty.”
Chasel groaned, “He’s in a meeting with the ministers and the prince.”
He turned, “Please take her to the king’s throne room.”
“I--” She closed her mouth, remembering that she was no longer Laura and how strange it would be for her to know the way though she’d never been to the castle. “Thank you, Chasel.”
She followed the soldier down the corridors with a bit of melancholy nostalgia. When she was Laura, she used to walk the halls to oversee the maids’ work and to sort out her thoughts. Sarah would never be far behind.
She wondered where Sarah was and resolved to put that on her list of things to find out. As they approached the grand corridor and the golden gates that led towards the king’s throne room, she heard Adolph roar of fury.
She and the knight froze in place. Why would Adolph be screaming at the ministers and what would they be screaming about?
Was it about her actions as Laura? Was even Adolph upset about her efforts?
They drew nearer and Laurel strained her hearing, but she didn’t need to. Adolph was loud enough to be heard in the corridor.
“She is not to blame! You are!” Adolph growled, “Your idiocy nearly got me killed and cost the life of a good man!”
What could they be talking about?
“B-But--”
“You should have continued her efforts to ensure the safety of the food or Jack would still be alive!”
What did that mean? Why they talked about Jack?
Her heart clenched with anxiety as she thought about it. So long as the food was delivered by an armored guard from the orchard behind the castle, the food was safe.
How long after her death had they turned over the food deliveries to merchants? They’d left the food deliveries to human merchants as they had been urging her to do. Then, the food had been compromised. Adolph told her that Jack had died saving his life, but he never mentioned that he too had almost died, let alone due to poisoning. She had just imagined that Jack had taken a mortal blow on the battlefield in place of Adolph.
She gasped in horror as her pain seemed so tight it would burst. She felt sick and her eyes burned with tears.
“Miss?”
It was such an easily avoided death! All they had to do was continue sending food from the orchard along the routes she’d established.
How could Basil and Gavin let that happen?
She knew that Basil was not careful in handling state affairs and just relied on the ministers, especially his grandfather, Gavin. Fury burned in her. Gavin was a money-hungry, power-crazed man who only did what was in his best interest. Of course, he entrusted the food deliveries to his small collection of merchants who gave him enormous kickbacks to ensure they were always chosen for royal deliveries. It was the reason he, especially, had been so against her efforts and had done everything he could to block her.
Now, his greed had killed Jack and nearly killed the king.
She hoped he got the justice he deserved. She peeked through the slightly open door and saw Gavin’s unreadable face.
“And you! Are you really my son? Are you really learning how to be a prince or a puppet? Listening is a virtue, but only stupid people listen to *stupid* advice! Your wife did everything a good luna should have done, and you mock her death? You mock her care for the people who have been affected by the war? Not even the lowest commoner would scold his wife for her virtues!”
Basil said nothing, frozen in fear and staring at his father. She had never seen him look so scared.
“I don't care what kind of woman you marry, but your late wife has done a lot for the kingdom. She was a qualified luna, at least more qualified than you to lead in my stead. She is dead, and you show no respect to her memory? Yet you plan to marry another woman before her grave can even be truly settled? Where have your manners and royal upbringing gone?”
Laurel gasped, a shuddering little sound as tears rolled down her cheeks and she trembled. The last three years of Laura’s life seemed to gleam with new meaning, losing the bitter tinge of regret.
No one had ever acknowledged her efforts as meaningful.
No one except Adolph, who had never met his poor daughter-in-law.