Chapter Two #3
Emmaline let her leave and returned to the foyer to find the lord and lady of the house speaking with the constable.
“Not sure what happened here,” Lord Edgar said, rubbing his own head. “Something in the wine, I suspect.” Looking up, he spotted Emmaline. His brow furrowed, then eased with recognition. “Ah, our guest from last night. I apologize for our rough state and hope you’ve had a better night than us.”
She didn’t know how to answer that question, so she simply stated, “Niall Payton poisoned you and your staff, sir.”
Lord Edgar frowned, then shook his head. “No, no, you’re mistaken. Niall is locked up in the cellar.” Glancing around at the burly men in his foyer, his cheer returned. “In fact, you all can take custody of him.”
Constable Gordon’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Glad to hear you’ve already caught the man we’re after, Your Lordship. I expect nothing less from a man of your caliber.”
“He isn’t in the cellar,” Emmaline insisted. “He escaped. Or … he was never tied up in the first place. He disguised himself with a glamour.”
Lord Edgar laughed good-naturedly at her insistence. “No, no, I assure you, young lady, everything is well. That mage chap with you—what was his name?”
“Valerian,” his wife answered.
“Yes, yes, him. He confirmed Niall’s identity himself.”
The constable’s lips pressed into a thin line and he glanced at Emmaline. She couldn’t tell if he doubted her story, or if he thought this was part of Valerian’s betrayal. “If you could show us to the cellar, we’ll take the fugitive off your hands.”
“Gladly,” Lord Edgar said, leading the way. “I uh, will still receive credit for his capture though?”
“Of course, my lord.” Constable Gordon turned to Emmaline and said, “Perhaps you should stay here.”
Since she had no desire to see the cellar again, she readily agreed. A few of the men joined the constable and the lord, while the others remained behind in the foyer.
Lady Charlotte also remained behind, delicately rubbing her temples.
“I have a tonic for you, if you’d like it,” Emmaline offered, searching through her mother’s bag. She'd used up quite a bit of the antidote already, but she wanted to help as many people as possible.
The lady smiled tightly. “A slight headache, my dear, nothing too concerning.”
Emmaline accepted her answer and walked around the first floor, treating the servants. Several minutes later, a piercing scream echoed through the manor, followed by a long, drawn-out sob.
She ran back toward the foyer, skidding to a stop in the doorway as she saw Lady Charlotte kneeling over a body.
Bern’s dead white eyes stared at Emmaline accusingly, the slit in his neck gaping wide open.
Lord Edgar leaned against the other wall, his hand covering his eyes as if he couldn’t bear to look at his son’s body. “Monster,” he hissed. When he raised his head, his eyes landed on Emmaline. Fury darkened his gaze, and he jabbed a finger at her. “You.”
“Me?” she squeaked.
“You’re part of this. You and your friends. I had Niall under control until you arrived. You must have drugged us, helped him escape.”
“We didn’t!” Emmaline insisted, shaking her head. But it was true that their arrival had been the catalyst. That Bern was only dead because Niall had to dispose of his decoy. “I-I’m only looking for my mother. She’s in danger—”
“Danger?” he scoffed. “She is the danger.”
“No!”
Turning to the constable, Lord Edgar straightened and said, “My son is dead, my servants have been poisoned, my house is in disarray, and I’ve been robbed. I demand justice.”
Constable Gordon looked between the lord who paid him and the girl who was a stranger from another country.
Then he grabbed Emmaline’s arm and forced her to face the wall.
“We will investigate this matter to the fullest extent,” he told Lord Edgar.
“Until then, I will secure the girl in Sparrow Hill’s jail. ”
“You can’t do this!” Emmaline protested, struggling as he locked manacles around her wrists. “I came to you for help! I’m the one who told you something was wrong at the estate!”
“That doesn’t absolve you of guilt. Plenty of criminals report their own crimes to try to avoid suspicion.
Until I have the whole story, I can’t risk you running off and joining the other culprits.
” He dragged her outside to the horses. As he passed one of the men, he whispered instructions to secure the perimeter of the estate and report any suspicious activity to him.
The constable helped her up onto his own horse, his hands surprisingly gentle. Then he grabbed Sugar’s reins and tied them to his horse’s saddle so the mare would follow them. When he climbed up behind her, he said quietly, “I’m not going to hurt you, so please cooperate.”
His words did not reassure her. In a matter of hours, she’d gone from being the captive of a mage to the prisoner of an angry lord. The latter was somewhat preferable to the former, but remaining a prisoner wouldn’t help her mother. She’d have to escape again, and this time, she was on her own.