Hullo,
It was hard to write this chapter because I had to clear up the loose ends and make everything come together. I found out that I actually forgot a lot of the details, so I had to go over my story again to write notes on the plot and all the little clues that made this mystery a mystery. Next chapter hopefully coming soon!
"How are you holding up?" Kai asked quietly. He handed Cress a mug of burning hot coffee. She gave him a weak, grateful half-smile and wrapped her cold hands around the cup. She breathed in the bittersweet steam.
"Lots and lots of sugar?" she asked hopefully. "And milk?" Kai nodded. Cress let out a short sigh, worry still creasing her forehead.
"The doctors came out a short while ago confirming that the cause was oleander poisoning. All of them are stable. I did some research on oleander poisoning. Apparently, oleander causes different symptoms in everyone. It explains why Tandoori starting vomiting, and got confused and disoriented. It also explains why Cinder automatically thought she was dead. The poisoned often have slow, irregular heartbeats. Scarlet and Thorne fainted before the rest of the symptoms could affect them, thank the stars. Their stomachs got pumped to get rid of the poison and the doctors force-fed them the antidote." She scrubbed at her face, tear tracks still visible. "It was a close call."
Kai breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "How is Wolf taking everything?" The last Kai had seen of him was the brief moment his gourmet chef, Allen, rushed out to take in the catastrophe. The horrified look on the chef's face wasn't enough to deter Wolf from brutally connecting his fist to Allen's face. Kai winced just recalling the swelling redness of his chef's face and the blackish purple bruising that was sure to come later. Kai doubted Allen poisoned the Lunar delegates. He had known the political importance of this dinner and the assassin had blown it.
Now that he had thought of it... Why was it that every time he and Cinder were making progress, something big happened? Did the assassin want to disrupt the accord between the two union countries? If he did, the killer was a fool. If war erupted between the Eastern Commonwealth and the Luna, not only would Kai's relationship with Cinder unravel, the other countries in the Union would have to pick sides and there might as well be another World War. Kai's face contorted into a pained expression. And everyone knew which country would end up victorious.
"Wolf is... handling it in his way," Cress said slowly, choosing her words delicately. "His moods are erratic and Wolf can be quite volatile without Scarlet to hold him in check, but he is as well as one would think he would react in such a situation. That's all we can ask of him for now. Scarlet cannot..." Here, Cress' voice cracked and her face scrunched up in an effort to not start crying again. "She is needed here to take care of Ginger and Tobias. They are still too young. Too young." Cress calmed down again. "Scarlet will be fine." She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than reassuring him.
Kai gave her a tired smile. "I'm sure." Cress nodded firmly. There was a flurry of movement at the other end of the hall. They turned to see Wolf's wild-eyed gaze as he sprinted toward them.
"Where's Ginger?" he demanded to Cress. She froze for a single fearful second, then rolled her blue eyes and looked at him frowning.
"What do you mean? Didn't Scarlet tell you that she left Ginger and Tobias in the nursery with the other kids?" Cress huffed. "Don't scare me like that Wolf. For a moment I was sure that..." She trailed off as she saw the look on the guard's face. Cress closed her eyes and moaned. "Not now! We can't afford to lose time! Did Ginger disappear again?"
Paling, Wolf held up a relatively dirty stuffed bunny. One ear was hanging by a thread and the stuffing was poking out of the hole. Ginger's rabbit. "She left it," Wolf said hoarsely. "Ginger would never leave Mr. Peaches. She's gone."
Cress laughed, a panicked hysterical peal. "She can't be gone. What do you mean gone? How far could a little six year old go? How about Tobias?"
Wolf paced, short burst of energy exuding from him."He's fine. A bit shaken I think. He kept on crying Ginger's name. At least he attempted to. I think someone took her. I could smell another man's scent, something flowery for some reason. What kind of guy wears perfu-" Wolf cut himself off and paused in his pacing, his eyes widening in sudden comprehension. A quick look confirmed that Cress had reached the same conclusion.
"The oleander," Cress whispered the same time Wolf snarled, "The assassin." Whirling into abrupt action, Cress reached for her portscreen while simultaneously mashing her finger into the comms unit by her ear as if it would connect her to the recipient any faster.
"Come on. Come on," she muttered tapping her foot impatiently. "Thank goodness Kayla! Took you long enough. We need a contingent of the Wolves Guard in the New Beijing Palace ASAP. Scarlet and Thorne are both down and Lady Ginger has disappeared. Evidence points to a kidnapping executed by the assassin that took down the queen in the restaurant fire. Me and Wolf need backup, can you arrange transport?" There was a hitch in the conversation as Cress listened to Kayla. Confusion replaced anxiety as the dominate expression on her face. "What do you mean they are already here?" Cress pressed. "I didn't request extra forces until a-" Cress gave Wolf a baffled frown as she listened. "Cin- I mean, the queen ordered Ruby sector and a squad of the Wolves to come? But, why? She doesn't even like guards!" A long pause. "She gave that order three hours ago, you say?" Another pause. "You know what? Whatever. It doesn't matter anymore. The guards are here. That's all that matters. I need to hang up now. I'm going to the airstrip." Cress had already started running. "Yeah. I'll do that. Good luck. Bye!"
"Wolf," Cress commanded. "Go back to the suite to look for Cinder and Reece. Weird that they aren't here by now. I thought they would come and see Scarlet and Thorne."
"Reece probably told Cinder not to come to soothe her nerves. You know how she gets. Cinder would just blame herself," Wolf said in a strained voice. He was practically jogging in place.
Nodding, she waved at him hurriedly. "Go, go, go!" Cress cried. She sprinted down the corridor. Kai ran to catch up.
"Do you mind filling me in on what's happening?" Kai asked. He couldn't keep the irritation out of his tone. Cress gave him a look.
"Do you really think this is the best time to ask me this?" she shot back. "With so much going on?"
"You have to understand," Kai snapped, "I am the emperor here in a palace whose security is being threatened by an assassin that seems to have no problem sweeping past every systematic scheme we have in place to deal with such situations. I fear for the lives of everyone in this palace for they are relying on me to keep them safe! Would you not do the same in your alcazar in Artemisia?"
Cress' bright eyes flared with indignation. "Listen closely, Emperor." Her words as sharp and precise as a blade, cut deep. "It is hardly our problem if your security measures are failing to catch this killer. In fact, I would suggest you reevaluate the relative safety of your home. Scarlet and Thorne, two of our best, most high ranked bureaucrats were hurt because of the dinner episode. Even your own girlfriend nearly died. What does that tell you? That the assassin doesn't care about the casualties in this petty war." The slim blonde lifted her chin, eyes narrowed. "And if you aren't careful..." She paused for effect. "You might be next."
With that, she turned and pushed open the doors to the air base. "Tandoori isn't my girlfriend," Kai muttered, but Cress didn't seem to hear. Strong winds immediately swept in, whipping the thaumaturge's skirts wildly and ruffling the strands of Kai's hair. There was a droning sound as a sleek Lunar spacefighter jet glided onto the tarmac. A comm pinged on Cress' portscreen and she skimmed over it. She spoke into the comms unit.
"Aleksander? Why are you here? You know Lady Ginger is missing, right?" Cress watched the jet as she spoke. "Kayla said that the queen ordered the Ruby sector and a group of the Wolves Guard- Wait, what? What do you mean where's Reece? This is not even about him! It's Ginger that's-" Cress abruptly cut herself off. Her face whitened and she wilted almost crumbling to the asphalt. Kai caught her. "What?" she whispered. "No," Cress shook her head. "No, that's not right. Reece can't- NO. Just no."
The plane stopped and armed troops marched down the steel staircase that opened up. A fourth-tier thaumaturge in deep ocean blue led a group of men toward Cress, their faces grim. "Explain!" Cress demanded immediately when the thaumaturge . "What is this about Reece?" Her eyes narrowed as she spotted the handsome blonde man behind him. "And Sage as well, what a surprise." Her voice was dry.
"Where's the queen?" the thaumaturge asked in a low voice. He glanced at Kai then looked to Cress and raised a bushy eyebrow.
"He doesn't know," said Cress. "But you can tell him."
Wolf ran up, panting, and bowed quickly trying to catch his breath. "Sasha. Cress. Your Majesty." He swallowed. "Reece and Cinder are also gone." Wolf held out a folio of papers to Cress and bent over bracing his hands on his thighs. His throat moved as he wet his lips. "They left these scattered all over the floors and there was that same flowery perfume smell in the room. The servants even admitted they heard shouting coming from the room, but didn't dare meddle in the queen's affairs." Cress swung back to Sasha.
"I assume you have already heard about the dinner emergency?" Her voice was bitter.
Sasha coughed. "The council is in an uproar. Princess Winter is especially worried. The news hasn't been released to the public, but- well, you get the idea. Everyone wants the queen home safe." He gave Kai a withering look. "Something his Majesty clearly doesn't know how to do." Kai flushed and opened his mouth to protest, but they had already moved past him.
"What are those papers for?" Cress asked. "Who even uses paper anymore? We hardly have enough forests to go around as it is."
"Exactly what I thought," Wolf murmured. "They aren't used for anything but official documents. But these are the remains of what used to be a bound journal." Sasha's eyes narrowed on the folio and waved Sage forward.
"Tell them what you know."
Sage stepped forward nervously. He swallowed before saying, "I was the one who found those papers. I was in the Eastern Commonwealth on vacation. Nobody knew I was here because I told them I went to the European Federation." He inhaled. "I passed through Wall street with my guard, Aiden."
Kai jolted. "That's where Takazumi is." Sage gave him a bare nod.
"I saw Danto with a cloaked figure in an alleyway and at first I thought nothing of it. I knew Danto was going to be the one doing the treaty negotiations with Emperor Kai, but the scene was weird enough that Aiden and I paused to see. Danto handed him the two Tarsus in holsters-"
"Wait, Danto?" Cress asked, her blue eyes widening.
Sage nodded. "I went after the cloaked figure and Aiden followed Danto back to the palace. The man set a fire in the storage room and threw the journal in. I was only able to save those papers, but the more recent the entries, the darker and more threatening they became, so I gave them to Cinder. This was after the ambush because I had gone back to Luna to tell her, but she had already left for the Commonwealth. One of the reasons I was arrested was because Sasha found out that I gave Danto 250 000 univs and he assumed that the money was to hire Danto to get a rogue assassin to take out Cinder. Obviously, this wasn't the case. When I found out Reece had been bumped down to seventh-tier..." he laughed harshly. "You had no idea how ecstatic I was. I bribed Danto, Reece's overseer, to keep an eye on him without the knowledge that he was already on Reece's payroll. Sasha found a separate account that Danto had used to keep Reece's money. Danto took my money anyway and continued working for Reece. Aiden is a handwriting analyst. He checked the writing in the folio and compared it to a sample of Reece's writing. It was confirmed as a match."
"So it was Reece all along?" Wolf snarled in disbelief. "How many times have we left her alone with him thinking that she would be safe with him? Reece could've made his move at any time! He took Ginger! Poisoned Scarlet and Thorne." His hands curled into fists, baring his teeth. Kai cringed away from Wolf, but they didn't notice. "Stars, I'm going to kill him. Shred him to pieces I tell you."
"You and everyone in the council," Sage growled. "Wait in line, buddy."
"Cinder and Ginger were abducted by Reece," Kai said the pieces finally clicking together. They all nodded.
"He framed me and got Danto to put the cloak and the gas mask in my room to make it seem like I just the one who set the fire. Further investigation by Lunar chemists found particles of Reece's DNA in the fabric though, not mine. With him in the Commonwealth, Reece could have easily hired the rogue to glamoured the Earthen guards to attack Cinder and Scarlet and give the guards the two Tarsus'."
"That means her Majesty is in danger," Sasha said. "We'll figure out the rest later. At the moment, our first priority is the queen. I found some old records on Reece Blackcrest. His father, Darius, helped black out his criminal record. Apparently Reece had been charged with high treason in the past. He was only eleven years old."
Cress gasped. "What did he do? Reece was so young!"
Sasha shrugged. "He tried to kill Levana. Usually that constitutes death, but Darius bribed the jury. Reece's lawyer plead clemency by reason of youth and insanity. He had some kind of mental illness that warped his sense of right and wrong."
"So what you are telling me," Kai said, a rumble building up in his throat. "Is that Cinder and Ginger are trapped with a psychotic mental patient and we are doing what about it?"
Sage stared him down, his face worn and grim. "We wait."
Be sure to write your thoughts on the chapter down below in the box! Thanks. Love ya all.
-Silverleaf