Chapter 43
Jasmine's POV
“Good morning! And please shut the hell up before I shut you up. You’re acting like a caveman, no manners at all. The Sun just rose and you’re here already waking the whole castle up. You’re acting like this is your home, but let me clear up the confusion. This is not your home and never will be. You’re acting here all high and mighty, but you’re just making a fool of yourself. I wonder how you would feel if I’d be the one shouting from the top of my lungs in your house in the middle of the night. And what was so important that you couldn’t wait a few hours or at least come here without parading?”
“My Queen, I wasn’t expecting you. And I come here anytime I want in silence or not. What can you possibly do about it?”
“Hector dear! What I hate most is when assholes wake me up from my sleep, especially early in the morning. If you value your life you’ll never make this mistake again. I’m asking again. What the actual fuck do you want this early? Excuse my French. Queens aren’t suppose to curse, but I can’t help it when I see someone like you in front of me.”
“There’s a crisis in the hospital. Poor people are being treated before rich ones. The doctors refuse to treat according to hierarchy and this is outrageous. Lowly people can wait longer; they won’t die easily anyway. I came to report this to the King. I realized this after Cecily had to be admitted this night because of migraines. We had to wait for two hours, because according to the doctors other patients were more seriously injured.”
“And I thought it’d be a life and death situation and it turns out that you’re just exaggerating. If I’m correct, you’re the head of the council and yet you don’t even know what’s going on. Weren’t there a meeting yesterday? For your information I was the one who made this change after an incident. I’ll happily answer all your questions later. It might be the case with the King that everyone can come right after sunrise and right before sunset, but not with me. Unless it’s a life threatening situation I don’t want to hear a sound within these walls. Please come back after lunch. Nobody can bother me before that if it doesn’t fit the category of life and death situation. Am I clear?”
“We never had such a Queen before. You’ll cause the downfall of the realm. I can clearly see it. You’re trying to change things too fast and in a short time a riot will break out. I don’t think the people will be pleased that the Queen cannot be disturbed before lunch.”
"This is me and I won't change for anyone. Guards, please escort him out and don't let him in before lunchtime. He needs to know his place and realize that he's not the King. Until then, Hector."
He should be clear that I can't be messed with. I know that Dimitri's hands are tied, but mine aren't. I believe that the changes are not too fast. His problem was that discrimination ended when it comes to healthcare. I was wondering what kind of councilman he was, if he didn't even know what happened yesterday and why I changed the system.
I don't know why, but I felt closer to Dimitri than Axel and I was feeling guilty because of that. Maybe it was because I'm more of a demon than a wolf even if Daphne is Selene's daughter. When I returned breakfast was already on the table. Dimitri didn't ask anything and I didn't say anything either. We were enjoying the silence. To some people this might sound depressing, but for me it was heavenly. After breakfast we went back home without informing anybody. I know I told Hector to come back after lunchtime and I'll talk to him, but I was letting him wait. If it's really that important he can look for me on Earth.
"You're finally back, Jasmine. Sybill's body is here because we found something strange. She was definitely poisoned, but we couldn't identify with what." - Axel said as soon as we entered the pack house.
"Okay, let's take a look at the body. I'm furious that she died before we could get more information. What about the other suspects?"
"Everything's taken care of. It's a matter of time before we hear from Barbie."
The three of us arrived at the hospital and we went towards the basement. The morgue was located there along with Sybill's body. It was cooler than upstairs, but it was understandable. However I wasn't cold, because of the long-sleeved dress I was wearing. At first glance she was in perfect condition apart from the fact that she wasn't breathing and her heart wasn't beating anymore.
"What's that smell? It's disgusting." - I asked as I smelled an awful stench coming from her body.
"That's a poison from our realm." - said Dimitri.
"What kind of poison? And how did it end up here so soon?" - I ask
Demon blood mixed with poisonous plants. The most prominent is the Lily of the valley mixed with Daffodil. If I have to guess there's also spider or snake venom in the mix. You won't be able to separate the components and analyze them because of the blood. And it seems like there’s a traitor among the demons after all.”
“Do you have any idea who that person is?”
“If I have to guess someone we don’t suspect at all. But I’ll look into this matter. Someone’s trying to stir up trouble.”
Now it seemed like Sybill’s death was deliberate. They didn’t want her to talk. She must have known important things. I was calm because I knew they didn’t discover my identity yet. And if without me on their side winning was out of question we didn’t have to be afraid. I’d never choose their side willingly. I hated being in the dark, but right now it seemed like I was in the middle of a forest at night without much light. We didn’t even know where to start. Barbie was hiding and she wasn’t the mastermind behind all this. Someone was betraying Dimitri and wanted me to be on their side. Asking for a peaceful day was too much.
“I’m going back sweetheart. I need to look for information, you just stay here.”
“Sure, Dimitri. If there’s something, contact us somehow. Can we talk like before? It would be nice to stay conscious this time.”
“It can’t be done without you fainting. Orion will tell Calypso if there’s something worth mentioning.”
After Dimitri left I realized I had nothing to do. There was no information to look for on Earth, nobody to question, no idea how to look for Barbie and the mastermind. My parents were working so it was pointless to go home to be alone. After running around for days this new found nothing to do made me realize that I overworked myself in the last few days and weeks. I wanted to spend the day with Axel, but he had to do paperwork and I hated that. I started strolling around the pack house aimlessly and I quickly got bored with that so I went on a walk. The forest was peaceful as usual and now the leaves started to change colors. It wasn’t really prominent yet, but it was visible. Both Calypso and Daphne were a little jumpy, but I had no idea why.