**3rd Person POV**
Queen Agatha looked away slightly embarrassed.
Prince Kristoff however was not surprised that Reginald had been exonerated. He had known from the very beginning that the young prince was innocent.
“What do you make of the Prince, Titus? Do you think he is an accomplice?” asked King Armand.
“No.”
“Then I owe the Elders an apology,” said King Armand in a humbling tone.
“We are only grateful that you have conducted the investigation with integrity so that our son has been exonerated,” came Elder Walker's response.
“We owe no apologies until the case is concluded. We still do not know who the murderer is,” said Queen Agatha.
“Regardless, we are relieved our son is free now,” said Elder Walker.
“And who knows what we shall find when the other rooms are searched?” quipped Queen Agatha.
****
Hours later, the rooms of the other werewolf royals were searched and nothing unusual came up. It was a relief indeed only that it put the investigation in a stalemate because there was now no progress.
Kristoff was on his way to his personal library. He was still not certain within himself if he had done the right thing. However, if he came forward with the evidence then he knew that Charlotte would be behind bars now. When he entered his library he was surprised to see Azrael standing in the library.
“Who let you in?” asked Prince Kristoff. He could not remember ever permitting anyone to enter his library. It was private to him alone.
“Why? Afraid of what I might find?” quipped Azrael. There was no hint of friendliness in his tone. Kristoff’s face darkened, something was wrong.
“What do you want?”
“I was surprised to see that nothing was found in Charlotte's room,” said Azrael.
“What do you mean?”
“I saw her that day. She had the gun in her hand; she entered her room with the gun. I would have said something earlier but I wanted to enjoy the shock on your face when you find out that your dirty little mistress is a murderer…” Prince Kristoff did not wait for Azrael to complete his words when he drove his fist into his mouth. Azrael had seen it coming but he allowed himself to be punched. He righted himself and had a wicked smile on his face.
It was too late when Prince Kristoff saw the gun in Azrael's hand.
“What's it going to be, Kristoff?” quipped Azrael. His blood-filled mouth made him look more evil than he was.
“What do you want?” quipped Kristoff, his eyes on the gun that Azrael held. He knew that Azrael wanted something from him or if not he would not have come to him; he would have submitted the evidence already.
“Charlotte will become my whore,” said Azrael. This elicited another punch from Kristoff. Azrael had not seen this coming and so the gun was now on the floor.
Kristoff wasted no time in reaching for the gun on the floor but Azrael was quick to recover from his shock. The two of them were now on the floor and struggling for the gun. They did not struggle for long as Kristoff was a lot stronger than Azrael.
Now the guns had turned.
A single shot was fired.
****
Gabrielle sat on the bed sobbing hard. As she sobbed she told herself, this was not the Ashton I married. No one can change like this, he's a different person.
Just last night she had walked in to see her husband of less than a month being intimate with her very own maid on the bed they shared together. He had seen her walk in; had seen the shock on her face and from the smile he had on, it was as though her shock made him happy; he had seen her leave the room in fury, too angry to even raise her voice.
She had refused to return to the room and had requested the butler to give her another room in the vast palace. After all, she was entitled to her own wing as a princess. The butler, however, had told her expressly that she was not to be allocated any part of the palace until such a time as she had produced an heir, that was the dictate of the palace.
In her anger, she had bashed into Ashton's office to express the full rage of her emotions.
“If you will behave like this then I will have my own place,” she spat out angrily. He had looked upon her mockingly. When he saw that she made no attempt to back down, he began to laugh.
“And if I do not permit you, what shall you do? Go to my father? Report to your father?” Ashton had a cynical smile on his face.
“Is this really who you are?” more than anything Gabriella was surprised that Ashton could behave this way and feel absolutely no remorse. She had known him for a long time and he had been nothing but a gentleman up until they had married. She had loved this man and now she could not reconcile the man she loved with this monster in front of her.
“What? What is wrong with me? Is my face distorted?” quipped Ashton, mocking Gabriella by looking into the small mirror on his table.
Gabriella scoffed.
“You will go to our room now and you will await me there. If I find that you're still sulking about the palace, you may not like your new sleeping quarters,” it was a threat. Gabriella had said nothing. She had walked out of the study and entered their room because she knew that he would have his guards watching her in case she tried something daring like running away which she did.
The second she entered the room she ran across it to the other end where a large window was awaiting her to aid her escape.