“As you say, my lord!” she cried, smudging the black makeup under her eyes for added effect. Lupin looked so much like Esther that Lucy almost got comfortable and considered saying something very obscene—but no. She was there on a mission. The prince and king were uptight. Esther was fun. Lucy would have run away, too.
“Is there any knight in the castle who could track down Est—Princess Esther?”
Cue Basil.
“We haven’t had anyone in the castle with such a skill in over a decade,” Prince Lupin growled, dropping Lucy’s chin like it was a trivial thing.
Basil missed his cue.
“We must send out a search party,” the king said. “Call a guard to take this maid to the dungeon. We will extract answers from her.”
“If only,” Lucy tapped into her inner howler monkey, “there was an old man in the castle who could sense aura!”
She had no one to write to burn her super secret stash of books. Could she trust Basil to burn both Esther’s and hers?
“What is all this ruckus?” Basil entered.
“Sir Basil?” King Arcturus said. “Perfect timing. I am in need of your help. But first, summon guards to take this maid to the dungeons.”
Basil did not arrive exactly on cue.
“I am innocent, your majesty! Please take pity on this loyal, hard-working maid!” Lucy flailed dramatically.
“Let’s not be hasty. Why is Princess Esther’s personal maid being thrown in the dungeon?”
“Esther is missing,” Prince Lupin said, jaw ticking. Lucy appreciated his low voice. Her head was starting to ache from the king’s shouting. “This maid was the last to see her,supposedly. Now my sister is gone, and it must be tied to her magic lightning strike in the rose garden.”
Basil nodded thoughtfully. “I just reported to Captain Aldric that the magical residue in the garden does not match Princess Esther’s, nor anyone else in the castle. May I investigate her personal chambers?”
“Of course,” King Arcturus said calmly. Lucy felt a pang of guilt at the king’s somber expression but quickly flicked it away. It was his fault she ran away. How could he keep her locked up just to marry her off to an orc?
“The maid will accompany us. You can determine the validity of her story after my verdict.”
“My savior!” Lucy clasped her hands together and looked up at Basil adoringly. He returned a glare of pure disgust. Rude.
“Her aura is still strong in her chambers,” Basil said, standing in the center of the room. A broken mirror and messy bed added drama to the scene. It went against every fiber of Lucy’s sense of order not to tidy up—but Basil insisted it helped set the stage. She did smooth out the hair, though.
“Which means?” the king’s voice cracked.
“She was in her bed no more than three hours ago. I must conclude this maid is innocent.”
“My daughter…” The king’s eyes glistened, but he quickly composed himself. A heavy silence passed before he continued. “Do you have any insight as to her whereabouts, Sir Basil?”
“I can deduce she left of her own volition. There is a teleportation sigil drawn on the floor, by the mirror.” Basil had planted it the previous night. Not exactly a lie. They had only shifted the time and location, so Lucy couldn’t be blamed.
“Enough!” King Arcturus’s voice boomed, shocking Basil and Lucy straight. “I've patiently waited to see what ploy you were horribly acting out, but this is just laughable.”
“That is true,” Basil said flatly.
“You can't admit it that easily,” Lucy hissed.
“I know my daughter's magic. I assumed her maid was hiding one of Esther’s disasters again, so I left it be. But for her to have run away… never would I have thought.”
“It’s your fault,” Lucy interjected, irritation winning over respect. She shoved Esther’s letter at him.
She expected the King to get mad at her defiance, but instead, he looked stricken. Silence fell over the room, broken only by the sound of rapid heartbeats.
“Father, I will send an order to the most esteemed guilds and lead the search with the royal guard.”
