Chapter 16

Surprisingly, it was Eli who took control of the situation.

As soon as the entire matter was explained to him, including the events of the night before, he launched a full-scale investigation of the murders and ordered a protective guard for the four of them immediately.

"That's really not necessary-" Ari began, but Eli wouldn't hear it.

"They were obviously targeting all of you," he said grimly. "You shouldn't be in danger while you're here."

Eli, they found, had been corresponding with Jamie months before their arrival.

"We were called in to help protect the village in Verignes, and I asked for her help," he'd explained. There was something different about him, Lyla surmised; he seemed older, somehow, more mature. "Apparently the King was pressured to hire someone to investigate the matter further. Our Captain asked if we knew of anyone who was qualified, and I thought of you." He looked at Aveline as he said it, but she wouldn't look at him. Embarrassed, probably- she hadn't spoken two words since Eli had entered in the room. "Then I asked Jamie if she would contact the three of you, and she did."

"So you were the one who recommended us to the king?" Lyla turned to Jamie. "And you knew he was going to be here, the whole time?"

"I didn't know for sure," said Jamie, her face flushing. "It wasn't as if I was keeping it from you."

"So it was just.. what? Withholding the truth?" Ari taunted, but he appeared more bored than bothered as he examined a fingernail that seemed to be particularly vexing him.

"I had no idea that you would actually be hired," Eli added. "When I didn't hear anything, I assumed they decided not to get help after all."

"It doesn't seem to have made any difference either way," Lyla put in. "We got off the ship that first day and learned almost immediately that we weren't needed and that we should leave it alone."

"No one seemed to be in charge," Ari added, "and the only people willing to help us were murdered yesterday, if that gives you an idea of how well the investigation is going so far."

Lyla flinched at the reminder. She felt better this morning, but every time she closed her eyes, she kept seeing the lifeless bodies of Aiken, Matthias, and Sarya limp on the floor of Great Hall, blood trailing out of their mouths like drool.

They were still waiting to hear the official cause of death from the palace physicians, but that hadn't stopped Aveline and Ari from coming up with theories of their own. Lyla didn't like to listen; hearing about it made her feel queasy.

They hadn't deserved it, she thought somberly, forcing herself to pay attention to the conversation. At least Eli was here. They weren't allowed to leave the palace without guards with them, for "safety reasons", which Lyla thought was counterproductive, since the murders had occurred right there in the Great Hall. But Eli assured them that they'd be safe. Currently they accompanied the guards to town to question some of the villagers about the murders; Ari and Aveline had insisted on tagging along, and Lyla needed some fresh air, anyway.

So far, they weren't having much success. Each house they knocked on held people scared out of their wits, and they hadn't learned anything new.

The architecture here was so odd and uneven; the buildings tall and rising up in shingled turrets; with twirling, pointed spires and yellow light spilling out of the windows. Lyla pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders and cast a wary glance past the guard beside her to the dark forest that lurked like a great, hulking shadow.

The princess hadn't seemed overtly concerned about the danger her palace presented; Eli said she was speaking of throwing a ball.

"Just who is this woman?" Jamie said finally.

"Princess Camille Cedany," Lyla recalled. "Twenty-one years old, only child, heir to the throne." She had met Camille once; at a garden party when they were both much younger, but she could barely recall anything except that the younger red-haired princess had looked almost the exact same as she did now; beautiful, nose upturned, something sparkly in her hair.

"The nobles rave about her," she murmured to her friends now, on the other side of her. "She's one of the more fashionable royals."

"Which would be perfectly fine," Ari sniffed, "if it wasn't all she cared about."

Aveline leaned towards them conspiratorially, and Lyla could see the sprinkle of freckles on her nose. "I still would like to speak with her in person. Perhaps she could give us information-"

"I doubt it," Jamie whispered back. "Doesn't look like there's much going on up there, if you know what I mean."

Aveline covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled, prompting Eli to glance back at them from where he walked ahead with his fellow guardsmen. His gaze lingered on Aveline, and Lyla pulled Ari and Jamie ahead with her while he waited behind. Eventually Eli fell into step with her, and Lyla tried not to eavesdrop too obviously.

He crossed his hands together behind his back, chin up as they walked.
"Aveline," he addressed- rather formally, in her opinion. "I hope you have been well."

Lyla snuck a glance at her friend; Aveline's eyes were narrowed, wary as she surveyed the Kaidian guard.
"Quite," she said cautiously. "Aside from the threats against us, naturally, but what else is new?"

Eli smiled when Aveline wasn't looking.

"We're much obliged to you for helping us, by the way," she tacked on in a rush.

"Any way I can be of service."

They acted remarkably civil, Lyla noted with surprise; when compared to Jamie and Ari's combative reunion. Which she perhaps should have expected; Aveline and Eli were both generally mild-mannered, whereas Ari and Jamie were... significantly less so.

Lyla wondered what that meant; that she much preferred to be overly invested in her friends' romantic drama rather than have some of her own, and inwardly laughed at the thought.

Eli cleared his throat. "And you are enjoying your time in Apreuna, I assume?"

Aveline's gaze darted to Lyla; who glanced away quickly, pretending not to listen.

"It's lovely. Quiet."

"Truly?" Eli's voice hushed just a tad. "No homicidal sea serpents?"

A grin flashed across his face as she laughed, as if he was pleased.

"None at all."

"Well, that's disappointing."

An angry shout interrupted Eli and Aveline's tentative conversation, and Lyla's head snapped forward to the square. A small child dressed in a loose black dress stood trembling on the cobblestone before an older, gray-haired woman who was shaking her fist.

"Who is that?" said Ari, staring raptly at the scene. The voice gradually became perceptible as they moved closer.

"You don't belong here," the woman rasped. "Tell your people to go back where they come from, and to stop causing trouble in our village. We don't need any of you here, and certainly-"

"Is something the matter?" Aveline interrupted, her polite smile spreading thin across her lips.

The old woman whirled on her, exhaling when she caught sight of the guards behind them. "Oh, good, you're here. This girl is causing a public disturbance."

"By doing what?" Ari sputtered. "Existing?"

Her face reddened, and she looked as if she was about to start shouting before Eli intervened.

"I think I can help here," he said politely, shouldering past the other guardsmen towards the group. "Madame, she's only a child-"

"She's wicked and unnatural." The woman gnashed her yellowing teeth. "Those witches are tainting this whole village. Ask anyone."

Witches? Eagerly, Lyla leaned around her to see the little girl in black, but she was gone.

Lyla glanced around as Eli tried to calm down the surly old lady.

"Where'd she go?" Ari wondered, voicing Lyla's thoughts.

Finally she spotted the small figure scurrying towards the woods and ran forward before she could stop herself.
"Wait!" She called. "Stop!" The child didn't look behind her as she hurried away and disappeared between two thick oak trees.

Lyla was about to follow her before a guard stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Don't go in there, miss." His Verignes accent was thick and rumbly. "It's dangerous."

Lyla shook him off. "That's the point," she mumbled, but she could no longer see the young girl in the dark thicket of the forest.

"We should go back," Jamie suggested after a moment. "It's obvious here no one knows anything about the murder."

Lyla chewed on her lip as she squinted back at the woods. For a second, she thought she could see a woman's face watching her through the trees. A chill fluttered over her shoulders and she blinked.

"Did you see that?" Aveline hissed, and Lyla nodded vigorously.

"Someone was looking at us."

"It might've been one of the witches." Eli scratched the side of his head with his thumb, not seeming at all bothered. "They've got a group that live in the woods."

"Witches, again," mused Ari. "What is it about them that makes everyone hate them so much?"

"People didn't used to care. Now, with everything that's going on, they do." Eli shrugged. "Eastern witches travel around a lot, and then just sort of settle somewhere... it makes people here nervous." Seeming nonchalant, he started to walk back towards the carriage, and Lyla hurried to keep up with his larger strides, listening intently. "We have plenty of 'em in Kaidia, but in Verignes it's not uncommon to see them as pests."

"Yes, but everyone says they're the ones behind the illnesses."

"If they are, then I'd be frightened, too," Eli answered. "Over thirty normal, sane villagers; gone mad, just like that. They're being picked off one by one. I'm not saying it's witchery, but it's not anything good." He opened the door to the carriage, a frown pulling down the corners of his mouth. "It's getting late. Let's head back."

The ride back was bumpy, the wheels bouncing over jagged stones and uneven pebbles sticking out of the road. Lyla didn't feel like making conversation, and it seemed, neither did anyone else. At some point, she fell asleep on Ari's shoulder, and woke up just as they pulled up to the palace.

Eli turned to them as soon as the double doors closed with a loud clang behind them.

"Eli," one of the other guards urged. "It's late."

"I have to leave; we're supposed to be at post." Eli's voice lowered as he peered surreptitiously around the room. "I know the royals haven't been forthcoming; what with the King travelling and such, and the princess being... well, the princess, but if you want information, I'd find a way to speak with Lady Belthrop."

Ari's eyes widened. "The king's old, crazy aunt?"

"Eli?" Princess Camille's pretty, lilting voice warbled through the halls, right on cue as if she sensed their presences. Lyla grimaced. "Have you returned already?"

Eli cursed, running his hand over his jaw. "I have to go. I'll meet back up with you later?"

"Or not," said Ari.

"Hush," Lyla scolded him, watching Eli jog back down the corridor, his fellow guards in tow. "We need his help."

She went with her friends to find supper, but Lyla found herself distracted; her attention kept being dragged back to the window.

Past the fogged courtyard to the thick, black trunks of the trees; Lyla stared at the forest outside, somehow waiting for it to stare back.