Chapter 10: Behind the Tapestry

". . . Oh! I would not tell you what is behind the black veil for the world! Are not you wild to know?"

- Isabella Thorpe in Northanger Abbey

The door behind the tapestry was an old-fashioned style of door with a metal doorknob. Experimentally, Amanda turned the knob to see if it would open. It squeaked loudly, but the knob did turn. The hinges were rusty and creaky, too, but they did move. It had obviously been years since anyone had used this door. Amanda wondered how many people even had any idea that it was there.

Beyond the door was blackness. Amanda retrieved a small flashlight from her luggage and shone it into the darkness. There was a small hallway and some stairs leading down.

The logical thing to do in this situation would be to call the guards in from outside and have them examine the passageway for her, Amanda realized. A little voice in the back of her head reminded her that going alone into the darkness might be dangerous and that Sarek would certainly disapprove. However, the stairway was beckoning to her. The tantalizing mystery of where it led and the opportunity to explore its secrets unsupervised were just too tempting.

Amanda reasoned that there would be no harm in taking a quick look at where the stairs went. Still, she knew that she had to take some practical precautions. She left a note on the table in the sitting room explaining about the secret passage and placed a stack of books in the doorway to make sure that it stayed open behind her. Although it had opened easily enough from this side, she wanted to make sure that it wouldn't slam shut and stick. Satisfied with these precautions, Amanda picked up her flashlight and ventured into the secret passage.

"Was this the way that Cecily felt when she was exploring the mysterious corridors of Grey Tower Heights?" Amanda wondered. Of course, in the book, Cecily had no idea what would jump out at her from the darkness, but Amanda was pretty sure that nothing would jump out at her here. The amount of dust on the floor confirmed that no one had been in here in years.

Although the prospect of exploring a secret staircase had been exciting at first, it was actually proving to be a bit of a let down. There were no mysterious secrets in here, only dust. In fact, the staircase wasn't very long, and all too soon, the exploration was over. At the bottom of the stairs was another short hallway that ended in another door that looked very much like the first.

"It probably has a tapestry in front of it, too," Amanda thought. "But which room is it in?"

Amanda turned the knob on this second door and opened it slightly. There was definitely a tapestry over the door. The heavy fabric was all she could see so far. She was about to open the door wider when the sound of voices stopped her.

The first voice sounded like Prince Liron's. "Look, I've done as you asked and kept my voice out of these negotiations. What more do you want of me?"

The second voice was unmistakably Ambassador Rennila's. "Your father is about to abandon the talks altogether. That is the last thing we want. We want him to decide in favor of trade with Romulus, and we want him to send the Federation ambassadors away."

"Your arguments haven't persuaded him to do that?" Liron asked with a note of sarcasm in his voice.

"I want you to persuade him to do that," Rennila answered.

"No!" the prince said firmly. "It was bad enough not being able to take part in the negotiations. You cannot tell me or my father what is best for out planet."

"I think I can," Rennila said. "Unless you want me to tell your father about the two of us."

"What was between us was a mistake," Liron said softly. "I didn't know who you were then. I thought I knew what you were like, but I was wrong. The fact that I almost married you is embarrassing to me, but not as embarrassing as it would be if I allowed you to bully me or my father into making a bad decision."

"Once I tell your father about our affair on Argelius, do you think that he'll ever respect your opinion again on anything?" Rennila asked haughtily.

"The worst mistake I made, besides falling in love with you in the first place, was not telling him about you," Liron said. "Faridil was right. I had too much pride to admit my mistake."

"Your brother was hardly one to lecture on the subject of pride," Rennila said. "If he had had less pride, he would still be alive."

"What are you talking about?" Liron asked suspiciously.

"Your brother's pride is what got him killed," Rennila said. "If you want to live a longer life, perhaps you should swallow your pride and do as I say."

"Are you threatening me?" Liron demanded.

"Merely pointing out that you would be wise to cooperate with me."

"And how could you know anything about my brother's death? You weren't even here when it happened. I was!"

"I've heard things."

"From Ambassador Phocas, perhaps? You two seem to be awfully friendly. I saw you go out to meet him on the terrace last night, and then the two of you went back to his quarters."

"Jealous, are you?"

"Just trying to figure out what your game is. What are you and Phocas up to?"

"Let's just say that we have an understanding," Rennila said. "For your sake, I hope that you and I also have an understanding. You don't have your brother to shield you now, and you can no longer play the part of the foolish younger prince. Heir apparent is a much more difficult role, as I explained to you before, and people will be much less forgiving of your indiscretions."

Amanda heard the sounds of footsteps on the marble floor of the corridor outside the room, and then everything was quiet. She waited for a couple of minutes and then began to slowly open the door again. When she stepped out from around the tapestry, she found herself in one of the smaller sitting rooms on the first floor, one decorated entirely in shades of blue. The room was completely empty.

In the now silent room, Amanda struggled to collect her thoughts. Just when she had managed to convince herself that the conspiracies were all in her head, the product of a wild imagination, she had been presented with proof that they were real. Rennila and Phocas had been conspiring against the royal family and the other ambassadors. Rennila had used her past relationship with Prince Liron to keep him from the talks and prevent him from telling his father what he knew about her. All of that was obvious from the conversation Amanda had just overheard.

But what had Rennila meant about Faridil's pride causing his death? Had they tried some kind of blackmail scheme on Faridil and perhaps killed him when he resisted? Rennila hadn't been here when Faridil died, Amanda reminded herself, but Phocas definitely was. And what better place for a Minali like him to commit a murder than on the water? As an amphibian humanoid, his swimming skills were superior. Amanda could almost picture the scene: the prince in his boat on the river, Phocas's sleek body gliding through the water, and then . . .

And then what? Did he cause the boat to turn over or just drag the prince down into the water? It hardly mattered. At this point, Amanda was sure that Phocas had caused the prince's death. The real problem was how to prove it. If the investigators had missed some clue, the crime was now about a year old, and the clues might not be there anymore.

Perhaps it didn't matter, Amanda thought. Even though she might not be able to prove her suspicions about Faridil's death, she could still prove that there was a conspiracy between Rennila and Phocas. If she could find something in Phocas's room that pointed to his association with Rennila, that would help to convince the royal family and the other ambassadors that Phocas had tipped off the Romulans about the negotiations. Once she'd proven that, getting evidence for Phocas's earlier crime would be easier.

The time to act was now, while the ambassadors were still at the talks. If she waited to talk to Sarek about it, Phocas would return to his room and refuse to allow them inside until he'd had a chance to hide or destroy any evidence that might be there. Wasting no further time, Amanda headed directly for Phocas's quarters, keeping an eye out for anyone who might see her and stop her.