She throws her hands up. “I promise. Now, tell me!”
Satisfied, I say, “The investigators on the case have reason to believe that the murderer was close to someone in the family. Holly told me there were rumors that Etta had recently begun seeing someone, which I’m now realizing must be August. For some reason, I’ve been thinking that it was Marik this whole time.”
“Marik? Why?” she asks.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t have much to go on. He seemed sad at the funeral reception and like he knew her well. Plus, Asmo said they were friends.”
“That doesn’t mean they were dating,” she rebuts.
“I know that. Limited information here, remember?”
She sits back in her chair, twiddling a lock of her thick hair. “Hm…Marik and Asmo keep pretty low-key profiles, so it’s unlikely that Marik would have made it known to the kingdom even if he had started seeing Etta. My guess is that she and August were still hooking up or something and that he was her secret boyfriend. Wait a second. Do you think that whoever Etta was seeing was also her murderer?”
I nod tersely, then add, “I’m serious. If you share this with anyone, I’ll kill you.”
She gives me an exasperated look. “I won’t. But why would you think that?” she asks me.
“Because you have a big—”
“About Etta’s murderer,” she says, throwing another grape at me.
I catch it this time and throw it right back, a smile on my face. “Honestly, it was just a theory. Just me grasping at straws. We’re assuming whoever did it was close to the family, so I assumed it was someone that Etta had invited over without really knowing. That’s all I’ve got.”
“That’s kind of a shitty theory, no offense.”
“I know. I told you I was grasping at straws,” I say, popping a plump berry into my mouth before changing the topic. “Hey, have you heard of a fairytale about a deer queen?”
She stares at me. “Are you joking?”
“Why do I always get that response? No, I’m not joking,” I say, exasperated.
“Yes, it’s likethefairytale that we were all told as kids.”
I beckon her to elaborate. “What do you know about it?”
“It’s the origin story of our entire species. The Fae Queen found this stag in the forest. It turns out he was one of the long-lost Fae Kings, but he had been cursed to live as a deer. The queen tried to reverse his curse, but in doing so, she ended up transferring some of the curse to herself, creating the first Fae-woodland hybrid, granting her both Fae and elemental magic. Then, she turned four of her friends into different hybrids and created the different Houses.”
“That’s pretty much what I’ve heard. Do you know anything about the prophecy?” I ask.
She gives me a dubious look. “Some people believe it’s also a prophecy and that the queen’s ‘true daughter’ will one day ascend to the throne and bring in great change to the kingdom,” she says.
“You don’t believe that?”
“I mean, I guess it could be. My parents don’t believe it is, so I was raised believing that it’s just a children’s tale. I think if the story were true, her daughter would have found her way to the throne a long time ago.”
I nod in agreement.
But internally, I can’t help but wonder if maybe something else has happened.
What if her daughter had been hidden from the throne?
Chapter 15
Marik greets me in the lobbyof the castle, bowing the moment he sees me. He’s once again in an all-black suit with a surprising floral tie around his neck. His hair is perfectly coifed, a single lock falling forward and brushing against his forehead.
“Hello, Marik,” I say pleasantly. “Thank you for joining me tonight.”
One corner of his mouth quirks up into a half-grin. “The pleasure’s all mine, Your Highness. Shall we?” He holds out his arm, and I link my arm with his before we head down the hallway.
