Chapter 233
Rudolph swallowed hard at the threat and quickly snapped his fingers at a couple of servants nearby to bring his car around.
With a mask of calmness, I then turned to Casper. He was standing beside me, holding the poker with fear in his eyes. I leaned forward, snatched the poker from his hand, and pointed it at his heart.
Panicked gasps from servants and guards echoed through the foyer. A few guards rushed towards me, but Casper ordered them to stay back. Nico, however, did not do as he was told. With one hand on the poker, he was between us in a second.
"Stop this, Sophie," he urged.
When I refused to let go, he said in a low voice, "I remember my promise."
I didn't understand what he meant for a moment, but then I remembered that I had made him promise to look out for Owen. Did that mean he was going to try and help Owen?
My hand loosened its grip on the poker. I looked into Casper's eyes and said, "I will never forgive you for this."
I threw the poker to the floor and stormed up the stairs to my bedroom.
The next evening, I woke up to find Nico beside my bed. I took one look at him and rolled over.
"Are you still sulking over that girl?" He inquired.
"You know what, if this is how you treat women, then I'm no longer surprised about the angry witch in the back garden filling our tree with dead girls and black magic," I replied.
"Fairness is a fairytale, Sophie. There is no fairness in nature. Strongest wins, and the weakest falls. Rudolph is Casper's cousin, and as the King's cousin, he has influence and power. Christie may not love him, but she will have a comfortable life because of him," Nico explained. "She'll probably have a better life than she would with Owen. Love is nice, but it doesn't pay the bills, and Owen broke most of the time, despite being a Lord."
"That's such bullshit. Christie will be miserable with Rudolph."
Nico pressed his mouth into a thin line as he thought better about trying to argue the point with me.
He changed the subject and said, "My team interviewed the servants. We asked them about the girls who had gone missing. So much of their stories collaborated with what you told us about the woman green. A mysterious woman brought the girls to the lodge from the Spit. The girls would spend their downtime in the forest instead of hanging out with the other servants. Then, one day the girls would disappear."
"Did they mention anything about the woman in green and who she might be?"
"Nobody knew who this woman was. She never showed herself to the other servants. Only the girls she had rescued from the Spit," he said.
"What about the telephone number we got from the Landlord at the Old Mermaid pub?"
"We are still looking into it. The number we got from the landlord's phone is a forwarding number, so we are trying to figure out her actual number," Nico said.
"I guess that's better than nothing," I said, unable to hide the bitterness in my voice. "So, where's Casper this evening? Is he hiding from me?"
"He's down by the lake, thinking. Owen took off this morning after Rudolph left with Christie. I don't think he's coming back."
"Can you blame him? I wouldn't want to be Casper's friend after last night," I said.
"You shouldn't be so hard on Casper. Kings have to make difficult decisions. Contrary to the movies, being a King isn't about getting what you want all the time. Casper did what he had to do to keep the peace."
"I wish he would have released the damn video. I don't care what people think of me," I said, remembering how Rudolph had stood up in the middle of my wedding and called me whore. "They already think that I'm rotten."
"Well, not everyone thinks you are bad," Nico said, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his pocket.
He handed it to me, and I could see it was a folded newspaper clipping. So I unfolded the paper and saw a headline that read 'Rumored Queen Spotted at St. Lucretia's Market'.
I continued to read the first few lines of the article out loud. "The rumoured bride of King Casper was spotted browsing the stalls of St. Lucretia's Market accompanied by King's guards and best friend, Lord Owen of Lyonhall. The alleged Queen was seen giving her jewellery to a young orphaned boy and took time to speak to some of the young women who worked in the Silver Taverns. Due to this, the Spit people have given this mysterious young woman the nickname of the 'Queen of Hearts'."
Tears prickled my eyes, and I looked up at Nico and asked, "Is this real?"
He nodded and replied, "I may have allowed my soldiers to slip a few details to the market stallholders about you."
I smiled at Nico and mouthed, 'Thank you'.