**3rd Person POV**
“How dare you!” screamed Agatha. She had only returned and already she wanted to claw Armand. Their failed marriage and constant fighting was what had driven her to spend her time travelling instead of staying home.
“I'm done listening to this, I need to get ready for court,” came his response. He was about to leave the dining hall when a servant, panting heavily, came into the room. From his demeanor, the King and Queen could tell he had something of great importance to tell them. They waited for him to catch his breath.
“Major Drieden is dead,” he said. The two of them looked at each other baffled at the news. King Armand was especially surprised. He had just hosted Drieden a few minutes ago so for someone to tell him he was dead now needed further explanation.
“Dead? Dead how?” quipped the King, looking at the servant for more information.
“He was found dead in the stables,” came the servant's response.
“What happened?” asked Queen Agatha.
“It looks as though he was murdered, there's blood everywhere,” came the servant's response.
The King and Queen at once left the room to look at the stables where Drieden's body had been found. When they arrived, they saw that half the household had already gathered at the scene but everyone seemed to stay back from the corpse as though they were protecting the scene. King Armand could not believe his eyes.
He walked closer to the corpse and touched its neck. He felt for Drieden's pulse but there was none.
“Where is the doctor?” asked King Armand. The man appeared from the crowd and drew closer to the king. He had seen the injuries from afar and he had come to the immediate conclusion that there was no way he had survived it. Even if he had managed to, the man would be useless.
The doctor examined Major Drieden. He looked up at the king and shook his head, “He is dead.”
“How did this happen? Who would do this?” King Armand was perplexed. How did the murder happen in his own palace?
“He was shot in the head,” explained the doctor who was now checking Major Drieden's fingertips, “silver, the bullet was made from silver, possibly to ensure his death. It is murder, Your Majesty.”
King Armand looked at the crowd of people that had gathered and wondered if perhaps the murderer was among the people who were now looking at the corpse. Armand knew for a fact that Drieden had more enemies than he had friends. It was not a surprise that he had wound up murdered. Regardless, Armand had to find this person. He was not going to allow the murderer to go scot-free.
“Seal the palace grounds. No one leaves until we have found the killer,” said King Armand, his voice laced with venom.
“Especially the bloody werewolves!” shouted Azrael. Kristoff who stood beside him had the urge to tell him to cool off; it was way too soon to blame this on the werewolves. They had to investigate the matter thoroughly.
“Take his body to the lab; examine it for fingerprints and everything you can find to nab the murderer,” said Armand before walking away.
****
Charlotte was already very tired so when Armand walked away from the scene so did she and many others. She walked alone in the cool night. She was not particularly in the mood to talk to anyone. She was meant to return to her home the next day but now it did not seem like a journey home was plausible. Armand would want to find the killer before he allowed any werewolf to leave his palace.
“Why did you do it?” She turned to see Azrael who had insinuated earlier that the werewolves had killed Major Drieden. She looked at him as though he was insane. Why did she do what?
“I don't know what you're talking about,” she returned and continued walking. For some reason, she could not explain, and Azrael gave her the creeps. She was usually not afraid of anyone but somehow she felt this strange fear when she saw Azrael. He made her uneasy. It made her wonder how he and Kristoff could be such close friends.
“You know what I am talking about so answer me, why did you do it?” asked Azrael, stopping her from walking away from him by holding her hand.
“Leave me alone,” she said as she forcefully took her hand away from Azrael.
“I will tell everyone what you did. I will tell them,” he said. She looked at him wondering perhaps if he had lost his mind.
“What are you talking about?” she asked him.
“You had that gun. You pointed it at Drieden's head,” came Azrael’s response. Charlotte was shocked, to say the least.
“If you are going to accuse me of such you had better do so with evidence,” she snorted and made an attempt to walk away from him again but he stopped her by blocking her path.
“We can do it here by the wall and I will not breathe a word of what I saw,” said Azrael. Charlotte was so stunned by his words that she was stumped for words and actions.
“What?” was all she said when she had recovered from her shock.
“What will it be? You take your clothes off for me or I tell everyone you murdered Major Drieden,” it was a threat.
Charlotte's eyes narrowed in on Azrael. She closed the space between them and looked into his eyes such that their eyeballs were almost touching.
“There is so little you know about me Azrael, like the fact that I do not respond to threats. Get lost,” she spat on his face and walked away. However, before she was out of hearing distance from him, she heard him say, “You'll regret this.”
Finally, she made it to the door of her room where she saw Kristoff at the door. He looked like he had been waiting for her.