The morning after the Masquerade, Ludwig was off duty, and Liane used the opportunity to go straight to Aristea and Heinrich’s to look for evidence. He knew her too well, and he’d draw the truth out of her. It wasn’t as if she didn’t trust him; in fact, there wasn’t anyone she trusted more. But she had to do this alone, without Ludwig’s help. As soon as she had proof of Heinrich’s treasonous plotting, she’d tell Ludwig everything. Ludwig would forgive her in the end; he always did. At least that’s what she told herself as she rapped on their chamber door. A maid answered.
“Princess Liane.” She bobbed her head in greeting.
“I’m here for Princess Aristea,” Liane said.
“I’m afraid her majesty isn’t here. She’s in the garden for luncheon.”
It was just as she’d hoped. With the glut of visiting nobles and dignitaries arriving daily for the coming Sun Ceremony, Aristea and Heinrich were preoccupied entertaining and wouldn’t be back to their apartment for a long while. Giving her plenty of time to search their rooms uninterrupted.
“Yes, I know. She sent me to fetch something from the prince consort’s study,” Liane replied.
“What is it? Perhaps, I can get it for you.” The maid frowned skeptically.
“Well, it’s long, or was it short. No, it was thick, or perhaps thin...” Liane trialed off. “Actually, don’t trouble yourself. Aristea described it to me, and I’ll know it when I see it. May I?”Without waiting on the maid’s response, Liane pushed the door open.
The maid had no choice but to step aside and allow her into the main sitting room. It had been months since she’d visited Aristea’s personal chambers, and everything was as pristine and orderly as she remembered. A bouquet sat atop a polished table between two velvet couches adorned with starched pillows facing the cold fireplace. Above the mantel hung a portrait of them. The artists had captured Aristea’s golden radiance, and they’d softened the edges of Heinrich’s slimy, smirking face but hadn’t failed to miss the possessive grip Heinrich had on Aristea’s shoulder. Once she found proof of Heinrich’s treachery, Aristea would be free of him.
“The study is this way, your majesty.” The servant directed her to the double doors which adjoined the room.
Liane stepped inside and scanned the room, skimming past dark, paneled walls to let her gaze rest on the cluttered oak desk. Fortunately, Heinrich had always been a slob. Rolls of parchment, leather-bound ledgers, and broken quills were scattered about yet to be tidied by servants. She could add to it, and he’d never notice, she suspected. Before she could start her search, however, she had to get rid of the servant hovering in the doorway.
“If I have need of anything, I’ll call upon you,” Liane said.
With a bob of her head, the maid retreated, closing the door after her. Alone, at last, Liane pounced on the desk and picked up a ledger to thumb through its pages. It contained nothing but an accounting of crops and livestock from his duchy in the west. Moving on, she shook out other books on his desk, hoping to find a secret letter shoved between pages, or a hidden account book. When she found nothing, she turned her attention to the drawers, only to find spare quills, loose pieces of scrap parchment, a spare inkwell, and empty ledgers. With growing frustration, Liane opened the final drawer on the desk and discovered it empty.
The grandfather clock in the corner ticked, mocking her efforts. If Heinrich wasn’t hiding evidence in his study, then where else could she look? In his bedroom? It would be harder to make an excuse to enter there. What if her hunch was wrong and Heinrich wasn’t the plotter, but surely it couldn’t be Mathias… there were other distant relatives, but their claims to the throne were much weaker than Heinrich’s.
In anger, Liane kicked the empty drawer closed, and as she did, something rattled around inside it. With a frown, she opened it again, still empty. Under closer examination, she spotted a gap along the edge of the drawer. Then, comparing it to its companion drawer on the opposite side, she noticed it was shallower.
After grabbing a letter opener from the desktop, she stabbed it into the gap and wriggled it around until the false bottom popped and revealed a stack of letters bundled up in red thread. Pulse pounding in her ears, she removed them with shaking hands before carefully untying the ribbon. As she unfolded the first letter, a woman’s perfume wafted off it. She expected letters about stardust, gangs, war, and elves, but instead, she discovered insipid love notes between Heinrich and his mistress. It took all her self-control to not crumple them up into a ball.
As deplorable as infidelity was, it wasn’t proof of treason. And Aristea had forgiven him in the past for being unfaithful. If she brought these letters to Aristea, she was certain she’d forgive him again. Though the letters made her stomach turn, she kept reading, hoping somewhere in their contents he’d slipped up and revealed he was behind the stardust plot. She knew him well enough to know he wasn’t sentimental enough to keep mementos. There had to be something here.
The writer was besotted, and her vivid descriptions of intimate acts made even Liane blush. The woman, whoever she was, seemed to be married as well, as she made many a vague reference to a husband. That’s why Heinrich had kept the letters, to blackmail her. Liane was about to give up in disgust when she discovered a fragment of a letter caught between pages. The edges were singed, and the writing almost indiscernible. But she could make out one chilling phrase.
“... I have given you an heir.”
Liane’s blood ran cold. Heinrich had a child, perhaps a son? For five years, Aristea and Heinrich had tried and failed to conceive. Rumors swirled that Aristea was infertile, but after numerous examinations by the Vice Premier, they’d found no reason she couldn’t. But gossip persisted. If Heinrich had gotten his mistress pregnant, then it proved Aristea was barren, but more importantly, it would destabilize her position as future empress. Those dukes that chafed of female rule might be willing to risk another coup if Heinrich had an heir.
But who was the woman in these letters? Liane sifted through them again, but whoever she was, she’d been careful not to sign her name. Even if she found the woman and Heinrich’s bastard child, it merely proved motive, not guilt. She needed something more, something more concrete…
Footsteps approached, and Liane froze in place, letters clutched in her fist. Thinking fast, she shoved the letters back into the false bottomed drawer and slammed it shut as Heinrich strode in. He paused in the doorway with a scowl, dark gaze darting from her to the desk and back again. Behind her back, Liane clutched the letter opener.
“What are you doing here?” He stalked toward her.
“I was looking for something for Aristea,” Liane lied.
“You were snooping,” he said. Only the desk stood between them.
The bottom drawer was ajar. If he came around, he’d see she’d found the letters. Not that he needed confirmation, he’d already figured her out. What would he do to her? Strike her? He’d never raised a hand to her before, but she was certain unleashing the vile Duke Licht upon her had been his idea of petty revenge. Heart racing, she tightened her grip on the letter opener. If he made a move, she wouldn’t hesitate to strike back.
“Why would I waste my time on you, unless you have something to hide?”
“You seem to think I do. Disappointed you haven’t found anything?”
He thought she was bluffing. Good. Let him underestimate her.
“I don’t need evidence to know you’re scum.”
