"Edric!" Queen Kaliana cried.
"Kaliana?" the King said, his voice holding a hint of confusion.
All traces that the Queen had rushed over here out of nowhere were wiped from her face as she flowed into the room. "I"m here for the questioning of the Affiliate as I"m sure you were not going to do it without her Receiver present," Queen Kaliana said.
She sank effortlessly into the seat next to King Edric, who looked nonplussed at her appearance.
"Edric would never do anything without speaking with you first," Prince Kael said with enough sarcasm to make Queen Kaliana narrow her eyes at him.
King Edric cut in, "We had simply asked Affiliate Cyrene about her whereabouts the night and morning after of her Presenting."
"Yes, Affiliate, do tell us where you were," Prince Kael prodded.
Cyrene wanted to glare at Prince Kael, but she held her composure. She couldn"t seem frazzled. It was even more pressing now that the Queen was there.
"After my Presenting ball, I returned to my rooms to sleep. I was awoken in the middle of the night and went through the warrior ceremony."
The royalty before her stiffened.
"The warrior ceremony?" King Edric asked cautiously.
"Um...yes," she said. "I was left on a platform in the underground lake and had to find a way to escape."
"Kaliana," the King snapped. He glared at her with open disdain. "You said they had stopped."
"I"ll take care of it," she whispered.
"I won"t have any more of these pranks taking place," he told her.
"I said I"d take care of it."
"Good," he said dismissively.
Cyrene tried to remain outwardly calm throughout what had just occurred. But had they honestly said that what I had gone through was nothing more than a prank?
"A prank?" she asked in disbelief.
"Other High Order and Affiliates have been known to play tricks on each other on the night of their Presenting. It"s almost an initiation into their ranks," the King explained.
I could have died that night! All for a stupid prank. Just thinking about it made her blood boil.
"I see."
"My apologies, Affiliate. Please continue with your story," King Edric said.
"Of course," Cyrene said, covering up her frustration. Then, she recounted the tale of how she"d found Ahlvie in the stable yard, the state of his attire, and how he helped her home.
"Yes, but why did he do that?" Queen Kaliana asked. "He could have just helped you with the hopes that he would have someone to act as an alibi after he"d already committed the murder."
"Pardon, Your Highness, but if you had seen the state of his intoxication, then you would not think he would have had the forethought to use me for that. Not to mention, I had been there entirely by chance."
"But," Queen Kaliana said, facing the King, "she confirmed the state of his dress, including the blood on him, and that she wasn"t there the whole time. He could have killed Zorian the night before and then pretended to find him the next morning."
King Edric listened to his Queen without a word and then turned back to Cyrene. "What do you think, Affiliate?" he asked.
Cyrene swallowed. King Edric was asking for her opinion on the matter. Queen Kaliana looked at her in a manner that said Cyrene had better agree with her, and Prince Kael stared at her as if she were a puzzle he was trying to figure out how to put together.
"To be honest, I can"t see how Ahlvie had anything to do with this. The evidence is circ.u.mstantial at best. Ahlvie and I are only recently acquainted, but I don"t think the killer would have brought forward the body."
Queen Kaliana raised her nose in disagreement, but the King just nodded.
"Without more evidence, I"m going to have to agree with you. Thank you for your time, Affiliate. Hopefully, this case will be closed before High Order Zorian"s funeral."
Cyrene took that as her cue to go, and she hurried out of the room. She had only made it a few steps before she heard someone following her. She turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Why are you following me?" she snapped before she could think better of holding in her temper.
"I simply came to make sure you were all right," Prince Kael said with that devious smile. "It"s not every day you"re involved in a murder investigation."
She shivered. "I"m quite all right. Thank you."
He took a step closer until he was speaking only for her ears despite the fact that they were nearly alone in the corridor, "Why have you not heeded my advice?"
"Your advice?" She arched an eyebrow in question.
"You left the grounds. You went into the city when you knew it was not safe."
Cyrene took a step back. "How do you know that?"
"I"m well-informed on what goes on in and out of the castle."
"Did you have me followed?" she demanded. Did I scare myself in the Laelish Market over nothing?
He smirked but ignored her question. "Just stay in the court like a good little Affiliate," he said, patting her shoulder.
She slapped his hand away from her, but he just laughed.
That was answer enough. He"d had someone follow her in the market. She couldn"t believe it. No wonder she had felt like someone was watching her. Someone had been watching me!
Before she could say anything else, he retreated to the investigation room where the King and Queen still remained. Cyrene shook her head in disbelief at her afternoon. She just hoped that, after today, she could put this whole messy business behind her.
Rain fell in sheets on the High Order and Affiliates congregated in front of the gravesite outside of the castle grounds. Cyrene had the hood of her cloak held high as she shivered in the downpour. Maelia stood at her side in the crowd. She was even paler than normal and kept clutching at her cloak.
King Edric had announced the night before the funeral that the killer had not been located and anyone with news of Zorian"s death should step forward. She wondered what had become of Ahlvie-if they were still holding him or if he had been let go.
As a holy official intoned sacred language over Zorian"s body, her mind kept slipping back to the night of her warrior ceremony. She hated second-guessing herself. Ahlvie had been in a poor state, but she didn"t want to think that someone she had trusted could have done this.
A brush at her elbow made her jump, pulling her out of her thoughts. She turned to find that no one occupied the empty s.p.a.ce, and she narrowed her eyes in confusion.
Cyrene took a step closer to Maelia and tried to tune back into the ceremony.
"The Creator shine down on..."
Another brush made her heart stutter. No one was moving around her. It was as if the person flowed through the water-streaked shadows.
"Don"t fight."
She shivered and inclined her head to the left where the voice had come from. It had been just a faint whisper, but the voice made her skin crawl. Taking a deep breath, she waited a heartbeat before looking to see if there was anyone nearby. Nothing moved, but it felt she could feel eyes on her from a distance.
She shook her head, realizing she was just chasing ghosts. With all the talk of death swirling around Zorian"s untimely demise, she was simply scaring herself. It was probably the person Kael had sent to follow her in the Laelish Market. That was the reason she felt like she had eyes on her, and the whisper had been a figment of her imagination.
How could I possibly hear a whisper over the sound of the rain beating down on me?
She took another step to her right anyway until her cloak was brushing against Maelia, so she could feel the safety and security of another body near hers.
Cyrene spent the remainder of the ceremony with her head bowed, speaking to the Creator to bring Zorian peace and ignoring the tingling feeling on the back of her neck.
At the end of the service, the crowd dispersed down the path over the mountainside, heading toward the castle.
Someone grasped her cloak, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Easy, Affiliate," a voice said softly. "A little tense?"
She breathed out in relief that she hadn"t made up someone touching her. "Ahlvie."
"At your service."
"I am a bit jumpy. I did just come from a funeral."
His hood was covering most of his face, but she could see him nodding in understanding. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"I know you told them that you didn"t think I did it."
"I simply told them what I believed was the truth."
"Not many others would have done that. So...thank you."
He stormed off then, and she was left to wonder about him. Did I just make another friend? Is he a friend I"ll come to regret having?
With all the commotion around High Order Zorian"s death, Cyrene had had little time to work on her Affiliate studies. So, she fell headlong into Affiliate Lorne"s papers while still attending to court duties, feast days, and appointments with the Queen. After another week of slaving over the agricultural materials, Cyrene pushed the papers away from her in frustration. There was still so much to do, but her brain was turning to mush.
Walking into her bedroom, she loosened the floorboard that hid her Presenting letter and the book Elea had given to her on her birthday. She grasped the sheaf of paper and reread the note. Aralyn had said Cyrene could speak to other Affiliates about the letter if need be. Maybe it was time to pay her a visit.
Cyrene strode out of her room and then navigated the Vines until she found her sister"s room. She rapped on the door twice and waited. After several minutes, Aralyn opened the door. Her brown hair fell forward in front of her face as she stared at a book.
"Can I help you?" she mumbled.
"Aralyn, it"s Cyrene," she said, trying to attract her sister"s attention.
"Oh, yes, Cyrene. Come in. Was I expecting you?" Not even looking up at Cyrene, Aralyn just left the door open and retreated back inside.
"All right," Cyrene grumbled, following her, "you weren"t expecting me, but I wanted to pay you a visit."
"Lovely."
"Aralyn"-Cyrene waved her hand in the air-"can I have five minutes here?"
Aralyn sighed and then glanced up at Cyrene. "Sure. What is it?"
Cyrene withdrew the Presenting paper and handed it to her sister. "I was wondering if you could help me with this. It"s my Presenting letter."
"Let me take a look." Aralyn opened the paper and read through the contents. She bit out a harsh laugh. "This is gibberish, Cyrene. Don"t waste your time on it."
"What?" Cyrene gasped. "You were the one who told me it was important."
Aralyn handed back the paper. "It was part of a script I was given. I found nothing of use in my letter. You should focus on your Affiliate duties."
"So, you won"t help?"
"There"s nothing to help, Cyrene. If you must investigate this, go dig through the library, but you"re wasting your time."
"Fine," Cyrene snapped.
She stuffed the paper back into her bag and stormed from the room. She couldn"t believe that Aralyn had just laughed at her after telling her how important it was in her Presenting. Cyrene knew there was something to these letters.
Cyrene left the Vines in search of the library. She had been inside the archives at the center of the castle several times, but she"d only looked at the agricultural volumes.
Her head swam with ideas as she walked in through the enormous circular doorframe. Filling the room, hundreds of rows several stories high were full of books stacked as far as the eye could see. It smelled like old leather, musty paper, and aging ink. She breathed in the aroma and then decided to start looking through Presenting materials.
After an hour of wasted time, she got more creative and looked up riddles and their interpretations, deciphering meaning from the text. The whole time, she wondered if Rhea had decrypted anything about her Presenting letter while she"d been in Albion. Cyrene had received no word from her friend, but she hadn"t sent any word either.
At least the King was preparing himself for the procession traveling to Albion, which meant she would get to see her best friend again soon. Hopefully, I"ll find some answers by then.
"Not finding them now," she grumbled to herself as she slammed another ma.s.sive volume back onto the shelf.
With a sigh, she left the stacks and went in search of an Affiliate. Perhaps someone could point her in the right direction.
She walked up to the first woman she found and smiled at the familiar face. "Affiliate Leslin," she said in greeting to the woman behind the ma.s.sive desk.
Leslin had been with Aralyn the night of Cyrene"s Presenting ball.
"Ah, Cyrene." Leslin smiled up over her work. Her hair was frazzled, and she had an ink spot across the bridge of her nose and another on her dress. "h.e.l.lo. How can I help you?"
"I am doing some research on Presenting letters and their interpretations. Do you happen to know where I could start? Or maybe, do you know who writes them, so I can speak with him or her?"
Leslin smiled pleasantly. "All the Presenting letter information we have is in aisle seventy-six, section three thousand forty. We always have new Affiliates and High Order coming in and asking questions about them. As for who writes them, it is an Elder of the First Cla.s.s who was once a High Order or Affiliate. However, no audience is permitted with the Elder. Would you like me to look over your letter to help you with it?"