“What do we do now?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Filip said. “The prince needs his rest. We reconvene tomorrow.”
Hugo glared at Filip. Filip, to his credit, didn’t back down. Crossing his arms, he glared back at the prince. “You’ve been conscious for all of twelve hours. This can wait until the morning.”
“Fine,” Hugo huffed, rolling his eyes. He did look exhausted—his pallid skin accentuated the dark circles under his eyes, and he seemed to be having difficulty sitting upright. “Be in my chambers tomorrow morning and we will begin researching together.” With a sluggish wave of his hand, he dismissed me.
I made my way back to my bedchamber, chewing over Hugo’s proposition. It was tempting. With Tarben returning, I was more determined than ever to find the murderer.
But no one knew about the murderer writing to me. I had my fair share of secrets, for good reason, and would have to keep it that way. The question was, would I be able to work with Hugo and Filip while concealing things from them?
I would have to find a way because, loath as I was to admit it, Hugo was right. If I was going to stop this murderer, I would need all the help I could get.
***
In the morning, my breakfast tray was delivered by the same maid as the previous day. I learned her name was Britta.
As I picked at my toast, I hoped Runa would get better soon. Britta was fine, but I missed Runa’s cheery smiles and friendly chatter, and I couldn’t wait to tell her that Tarben was returning. She’d be so excited for me. I could already picture her fussing over how she was going to dress me for our reunion.
A knock at my door startled me—the maids usually let themselves in. Abandoning my toast, I slipped into my dressing gown and answered the door.
It was Filip. His jaw was tight and his brows were furrowed. His shoulders were drawn and his hazel eyes looked haunted as they avoided meeting my gaze. Ordinarily, I would make a joke about Prince Hugo being premature, but the look on Filip’s face told me something was wrong. Very wrong.
“They found the missing servant.” His voice sounded hollow.
“And?” I asked, my heart rate quickening. Whatever he was going to say next wouldn’t be good, and I wished he’d get straight to the point.
“She was murdered.”
I clasped a hand over my mouth to cover my gasp. I felt asthough a boulder had been dropped into the pit of my stomach, sending violent reverberations throughout my body. Another life had been taken.
Before I could utter a word, or even process what he’d said, he spoke again, finally meeting my eye and looking pained.
“You know her. It was the maid assigned to tend to you.”
“Runa?” My quavering voice came out as a whisper.
“Yes. Runa is dead.”
Chapter 37
The hallway spun. I clutched the doorframe to anchor myself, but it did nothing against the tidal wave of shock that crashed into me and rendered me speechless.
Filip’s eyes widened. He said something, but I couldn’t hear it over the ringing in my ears.
Murdered… Runa… Dead…
How could the words be true? Was this some sort of mistake?
Filip’s mouth moved again, and I blinked at him. “What?” I asked, in a daze. The sensations in my body felt far removed, like they were muffled by a thick cloud.
“What do you need? Can I get you some water?” he asked softly.
I shook my head, my churning stomach recoiling at the thought of swallowing anything right now.
I had so many questions, yet the heavy weight in my chest told me I didn’t want to hear the answers. Still, I had to ask, “What happened?”
He touched my shoulder gently as if expecting me to shrug his hand away. “Hugo has information, I’ll take you to see him. If you can?” he added, not unkindly.
