Chapter 3

3: 3

I gathered my robe to turn and go.

Then, after a moment's thought, I stopped.

Susannah and Leigh Rowe were devoted to each other. Even though she had shut herself away in the Queen's Chambers for three months, Leigh still came to see her almost every single day.

If Susannah had truly been swapped out for someone else, could Leigh really have failed to notice?

The longer I turned it over, the more wrong it felt. In these deep palace halls that swallowed people whole and spat out no bones, even the king himself could not be trusted.

If I rushed before the throne and declared his queen an impostor with no proof in hand, I was a dead woman.

So I set out at once to learn exactly who had been coming and going from Susannah's chambers these past three months.

And I found it.

Besides Leigh Rowe, the other frequent visitor was the royal physician, Dr. Whitney.

In the royal medical court, an attendant was about to carry off the tonic being sent to the Queen's Chambers.

And Dr. Whitney was furtively tipping some kind of powder into it.

I lunged forward and clamped down on his wrist, my voice sharp.

"Dean Whitney! What did you just put in the queen's medicine?"

"I'm wronged, my lady! I was only following His Majesty's orders. Her Majesty is delicate and can't stand bitterness, so I was adding a little sugar to the tonic, nothing more!"

He dropped to his knees, terrified, pleading. I looked closely at the leftover powder, and it was indeed sugar.

He clasped his hands and spoke in earnest.

"Lady James, you and Her Majesty are both the people I owe my life to. I would never do anything so ungrateful."

I watched him warily, but there was truth in what he said.

Five years ago, when he had erred while placing needles for the queen mother, if Susannah and I had not stepped in.

The grass on his grave would be waist-high by now.

Dr. Whitney would never harm Susannah.

I pressed the bridge of my nose and told him to get up, but he stayed kneeling.

He glanced left and right to make sure no one was near, then drew a slip of paper from his sleeve and held it out to me.

"Lady James, Her Majesty gave me this with her own hand two months ago, when I came to check the pulse of her pregnancy."

"She said you had to confirm what was inside it yourself."

My heart jolted. Susannah really had left me a clue!

The whole way back my hand went slick with sweat around that slip of paper. I wanted to run, but I was afraid of drawing eyes.

So I forced a calm face and walked quickly back to the Priestess Hall. Faster, faster.

What on earth had Susannah left me?

Had she written out all her suffering, everything they had done to her?

Was there some vast conspiracy hidden in this palace?

Who exactly was trying to destroy her?

I locked the door and opened the paper, ready to read whatever it was she needed to tell me.

And the instant it came clear, I froze.

On that scrap of paper, no bigger than a palm, was a single line.

【Rosie, take care of Leigh Rowe for me】

Her handwriting was messy, nothing like her usual delicate script.

You could tell she had written it in a great hurry.

But at a moment of such danger, she wanted me to take care of the king?

This silly girl, and this was all she had to say to me?

I clutched the paper, unable to believe it.

Impossible. Susannah was too clever for that. She would never leave me just this one line.

Telling me to take care of the king had to mean something more.

I made myself breathe deep and closed my eyes to think.

Susannah had been killed. Could it be that the next target was the king?

In an instant I ran for the Star-Watching Terrace, and sure enough, the North Star that stood for the throne flickered bright and dim by turns.

Their target was the king himself!

I stumbled back a step in shock, and the paper drifted close to the candle flame.

And at once another character rose to the surface!