Prince Ashworth Saved You
Cassidy rubbed her nose, trying to look innocent while feeling anything but. "I was just a little cold," she said, hopping from foot to foot. "Moving around to warm up, you know?"
Prince Ashworth, meanwhile, pointedly avoided the Duke of Crestfall's furious gaze, choosing instead to study the shovel in his hands and the freshly dug pit at his feet.
"I was just... testing the sturdiness of this shovel," he offered lamely.
The Duke of Crestfall ground his teeth. "You two," he snarled, his eyes flicking to the hole. "This pit isn't for me, is it?"
"Of course not!" the father and daughter yelled in perfect, guilt-ridden unison.
Reid Donovan, ever worried about his masters' reputations, quickly pointed to the dead man in black lying nearby. "Your Highness, Princess," he interjected smoothly, "wasn't this pit for burying these two thieves?"
That was all the cue they needed. Cassidy and her father immediately straightened, their brief moment of shame replaced by righteous indignation.
Cassidy jabbed a finger at the duke. "So much for the 'great' Duke of Crestfall! Your fighting skills are a joke! All that big talk getting out of the carriage, and what happens? I blink, and you're on the ground. How embarrassing!"
Ashworth tossed the shovel aside with a clatter, looking down his nose at his rival. "And look at these useless guards you employ. Couldn't even handle two attackers. Pathetic! In the end, I had to come in and clean up your mess."
"Exactly!" Cassidy chimed in, nodding emphatically. "If it weren't for me and my father, your men from Crestfall Manor would be rotting in a ditch right now!"
"And what do we get when you wake up? A thank you? No! We get accused! Honestly, it's just cold. It hurts."
Ashworth folded his hands behind his back, a mask of pure arrogance settling over his features. "If I hadn't stepped in with my superior skills, you would have been cut to pieces. You're lucky to be alive, let alone standing here running your mouth."
Cassidy bit her tongue. *Fine,* she thought. It wasn't every day her father got to grandstand in front of his rival. She'd let him have this one.
Playing along, she added, "When my father saw one of them about to cut you down, he leaped from the carriage without a second thought! He took them on two-on-one and, with the incredible skill he's honed over years of battle, killed them both on the spot."
The duke froze. Each accusation from the father-daughter duo felt like a physical blow, and his posture, which had just begun to recover, slumped once more.
He seemed to shrink, as if the weight of their words was crushing him.
His eyes darted to the large pit nearby.
For a second, he seriously considered jumping in and burying himself.
He opened his mouth, but his throat was tight and dry. "I... I was confused," he managed, the words tasting like ash. "I spoke out of turn. Please, forgive me. And thank you, Your Highness, for your help. I won't forget this."
Hearing the Duke of Crestfall actually admit defeat, and thank him, was so shocking that Ashworth felt the world tilt on its axis. A wave of pure, unadulterated glee washed over him, and he puffed out his chest, practically glowing with pride.
"Well, at least you have some sense," he sniffed.
"I've always been a man of integrity, so I'm not the type to hold a favor over someone's head. However, from now on, you'd better show me a little more respect. None of that looking down your nose at me like you usually do. Otherwise, I might just forget I saved your life today."
The duke had to wonder who, exactly, was the one acting superior whenever they met.
Faced with Ashworth's triumphant smirk, he felt his eyelids grow heavy. After a long moment, he squeezed out a muffled, ashamed, "Fine."
Desperate to stop them from piling on, he quickly changed the subject. "Where is Leo's... companion?"
His eyes scanned the clearing. When he saw the woman lying as still as his guards, his heart clenched. He rushed to her side and pressed his fingers to her neck. Feeling the faint flutter of a pulse, he let out a shaky breath. Thank goodness. She was still alive.
He turned to find the prince and princess completely ignoring the crisis. They were huddled together, shamelessly patting each other on the back and debating whose heroic feats had been more impressive.
A mix of anger and anxiety bubbled up in his chest. "Your Highness! Princess!" he yelled. "The woman is still breathing! We need to get back to the city immediately, wake her, and question her before this night gets any more complicated!"
Interrupted from their mutual praise, the two finally snapped back to reality and glanced over.
"How are we supposed to get back?" Cassidy asked, gesturing to the unconscious bodies littered across the ground. "Are we going to carry them one by one?"
At that, the ever-observant Reid grabbed a waterskin from the duke's carriage and began splashing water on the guards who had been knocked out by the sleeping powder.
"Search them," Cassidy ordered, pointing at the dead men. "See if they have any clues on them."
Reid and Jed immediately crouched down, their fingers moving expertly through the dark clothes. A moment later, Jed pulled out a small wad of banknotes.
Cassidy took the bills, fanned them out, and counted. "Two hundred and fifty dollars. Huh," she said with a wry smirk. "Specific."
Without a second thought, she peeled off fifty dollars and handed it to Jed, then did the same for Reid. Seeing this, Ashworth immediately held out his hand.
Cassidy just stared at him. Then, with a long-suffering sigh, she peeled off another fifty for her father. What could she do? He was her one and only dad. He had to be spoiled. Ashworth, unbothered by the small amount, promptly tucked it into his coat.
Suddenly fifty dollars richer, Reid's search became a lot more thorough.
He soon found several small packets wrapped in oiled paper.
Opening one, he took a careful sniff, and his expression turned serious.
"Princess, they also had sleeping powder. This must be why the duke's men all passed out. Other than that, their pockets are empty."
Cassidy took the packets. The thief who'd killed the Marquis of Stonehaven had also used sleeping powder. Seemed to be a popular tool for criminals these days. She tucked the packets away in her pocket garden without a second thought. Might come in handy later if she wanted to try it out herself.
Not wanting their earlier digging to go to waste, she had Reid and Jed bury the two bodies in the pit.
Soon, with everything taken care of, Cassidy led the procession back toward the city, heading straight for Crestfall Manor to interrogate the woman.
The moment they passed through the manor gates, the duke barked an order, his face grim. "Throw some water on her to wake her up! Bring her to the main hall for questioning!"
A splash of cold water hit her face, and the woman on the ground coughed violently, her eyes flying open.
A tremor ran through her, her gaze wild with lingering terror.
When she looked up and saw the man seated at the head of the hall, all the color drained from her face, and she began to shake uncontrollably.