Chapter 38: Unreasonable

"How can you bully Tina?"
Laurel's eyes widened and pointed at herself, “Are you talking to me?”
Delia sneered, “Who else but you? You must resent Tina for throwing you out of the castle. Poor Tina has been so severely chastised, and yet you still treat her like this!”
“I haven't bullied her,” Laurel said coldly. “She fell while carrying the barrel herself. You can ask Lynn what happened.”
Delia looked at Lynn who nodded, “Yes, we were just passing by, and the maid fell by herself.”
Delia was a little flustered but she didn’t give up, “Well, then, how can you watch Tina fall? She is older than you and in a higher position than you, you should help her—”
Laurel rolled her eyes and turned away. There was no sense in talking to someone unreasonable. She didn't know why Delia hated her so much and kept picking on her, but she wasn’t interested in remaining around to be harassed.
“Lynn, let's go. We're in a hurry.”
Basil walked to help Tina off the ground.
Delia’s face burned with a flush of anger and she looked to Basil, “Your Highness, how can she talk to me like this?”
He turned back to see Laurel walking away.
“Stop, girl!” He yelled. “Did I give you permission to leave? My wife is right. The head maid fell in front of you. Why didn't you go to help her? You are really a heartless and cold woman—”
Laurel looked over her shoulder, “She is no head maid now.”
“You—“
“I've heard the king has sent her to the kitchens.”
“It's all because of you!” Delia shouted, “You must have said something bad in front of the king!”
Laurel turned, lifting an eyebrow of disdain at them and wondering how two people could be so stupid.
“I was thrown out of the castle by this maid, remember?” Delia stammered and Laurel carried on. “Surely, you remember, don’t you? You were there when you two had my and Sarah's luggage thrown out of the guest room like trash.”
“You—“
“You ordered the jewelry to be kept, right?” Laurel tilted her head. “Weren’t you there when she called me a whore who seduced the king? Didn’t you agree with her and order me to get out of the castle?”
“I—” Delia’s gaze jumped between her and Basil nervously.
“She’s brought this upon herself,” Laurel scoffed. “The king ordered it, and who am I to question it? Maybe she’ll learn to be kinder.”
Basil frowned, at a loss for words. He hadn't known that Delia and Tina had done such things, but he figured they had done it for a reason. Surely, his wife and nanny could expel a rude girl from the castle. It was in their rights. Delia had been distraught, telling him that his father had ordered her confined to her rooms for a full day. He thought that his father had simply not liked her. Hearing this, he was mostly sure that he had overreacted. Delia was his wife, and Tina had cared for him since he was a child.
“What?” Delia sneered with a taunting tone. “Are you saying we were wrong and you aren’t the bitch who seduced the king?”
“Watch your mouth, lady,” Lynn growled.
Basil bared his teeth at Lynn, “A soldier dares to speak like that to my wife? How dare you! Leave my castle—“
Laurel stepped between Lynn and Basil, “Lynn is the king's soldier, not yours, Prince Basil. You have no right to expel him.”
Basil growled at her, “You—“
“Your wife has insulted me in the most vulgar way. He has every right to defend me as a knight.” She lifted her head. “It’s a knight’s duty to act with chivalry and honor.”
“You—”
“And if you think your *wife* is right, fine,” Laurel shrugged. “It just so happens I'm going to see the king, so let the king be the judge of whether she's right or wrong!”
Delia’s words went silent as if she had choked on them at the declaration. Basil paled and froze, looking harried and fearful.
He was Adolph’s son, but he didn’t think there was anyone in the kingdom who didn’t fear his father in some manner. He didn’t want to see him about anything he didn’t have to see him, no matter the circumstances. He looked at Laurel and glared at her. If she was telling the truth, there was no way he could punish her.
Impotent anger filled him, and he thought of Laura. She had seemed to be enthralled with him and feared his ire to some degree, but she had not let that stop her from voicing her opinions. Whenever she seemed to have given up in an argument, he found quickly that she found another way around him to achieve her goal.
It had infuriated him to have to hear about what she was doing from others and know that she had all but gone behind his back. She had been his wife and the luna of the kingdom. He’d had no way to depose her or divorce her before Delia.
He had gotten rid of her that night, but it hadn’t felt like a real victory.
His anger boiled in his blood and he snarled, “Who do you think you are? Even Laura didn't dare to talk to me like you do!”
Laurel was shocked to hear the name come from Basil's mouth. She felt sick as the memories started to swirl and push into her mind. She pushed them back and squared her shoulders. She wasn’t Laura anymore. She was Laurel.
“I am the daughter of Jack Miller, the soldier who died defending the life of the king. Like him, I serve the king.” She sneered at him. “And ever part of me despises you, Prince Basil!”
“You can’t talk to me—“
“You are nothing compared to your father. A cowardly little boy controlled by the ministers and without the first clue about what it means to be a leader. The only thing you excel at is demeaning others to make yourself feel better!”
Basil flushed, baring his teeth at her, “I will kill you!”
Laurel’s heart lurched, but she seized the moment, pushing through the terror. If she could get him to admit it now.
“Oh, really?” She lifted her chin, glaring at him. “Can you do that? Is that what happened to your ex-wife? You killed her for telling the truth?”
He froze, paled and his mouth opened as if she’d slapped him. Laurel wasn’t sure what to make of his reaction. If he was guilty, he would have avoided the topic. Why did he look so haunted?
“… What?” He blinked and he frowned. “Kill… Laura? Why would I do that? She was nothing to me.”
A spike of relief and disappointment went through her. He didn’t seem to be the murderer, but to hear him say that Laura had been nothing to him had been a harsh blow. She turned away from him, having gotten her answer, and left.
Basil and Delia shouted after her, but Laurel ignored them. She was puzzled. Her investigation had hit a dead end, and all the suspects had seemingly been ruled out.
Could her killer be someone else?
“This way,” Lyn said softly. Laurel followed Lynn as she turned over the issue. It was possible that one of them was lying or just a good actor, but she couldn’t rule out any other possibility.
Maybe it was someone from the Emerald Twilight Pack who wanted revenge on her parents for their greed. Maybe it was just someone in the court who had wanted to marry Basil. Whoever it was, she’d have to think hard about their motivations.
“Here we are.”
Laurel looked up and glanced around before freezing. She recognized the floor and was horrified.
“Lynn, why are we on the king’s floor?”
“The king ordered it so.”
Laurel’s jaw dropped open, “What?”
Lynn gestured to the door next to Adolph’s office. She knew it was locked from her last life. It was the luna’s office. Her stomach trembled as Lynn pulled out the key and opened the door before ushering her inside. Across the room, a large stained glass window let in light, depicting the history of the werewolf kingdom and the line of Raymond with their golden hair like sunshine.
Everything seemed trimmed in gold and silver. The desk was carved from a fine, dark wood that gleamed as if it had just been polished. Like Adolph’s office, there was a large bookcase that wrapped around the room, but there was nothing spartan about the room.
It looked as though it was made to showcase the wealth and strength of the werewolf kingdom in every detail from the trim of the window to the small circle of couches around the ornate coffee table.
“It’s… beautiful, but…” Laurel turned back to Lynn to see him offering her the key. She gasped, stunned into silence.
Lynn smiled, “The king said that this is your office from today on.”