Chapter 37 #2
Marchand seemed to notice just as the troopers approached him from behind, where he stood near the back with a group of men, his wife nowhere near him.
Marchand’s gaze flashed between the troopers, his face lit with confusion.
So his strategy was to appear innocent, not understanding why they came for him, rather than trying to run.
The crowd must have drawn the same conclusion as well, parting like a sea on either side of Marchand as the troopers closed in on him.
Their hands found the grips of their pistols, a subtle threat of deadly force in case Marchand decided to try anything.
A collective gasp arose in the room as the royal family watched the military apprehend the one who had organized so many deaths.
“What is the meaning of this?” he cried, taking a faltering step back. Beside Jade, Theo took a reactive step forward, ready to break off any escape. “How dare you accuse me of killing Lord Grannam, and at his memorial service no less. He was my friend!”
Devereaux continued, silencing the crowd. “Our agents recovered both firra and morsbane in Lord Marchand’s greenhouse, the two components necessary for the poison that killed the duke and many others.”
Another singular gasp was followed by louder murmuring, and even some hateful slurs were thrown in Marchand’s direction.
“I did no such thing!” he cried over the growing din. “I don’t even grow those plants!”
“We have enough evidence to take you into custody, Lord Marchand,” Matherson replied, his voice echoing off the high ceilings. “There’s no getting out of this.”
Disdain transformed to panic on Marchand’s face as the reality set in.
“That’s impossible. I know every single plant in that greenhouse and on my grounds, and neither firra nor morsbane are on that list. I haven’t possessed them in years, and I don’t intend to cultivate them again.
I do not want to give anyone the opportunity. ”
Jade swallowed hard. Her gut twisted, telling her something wasn’t right. She’d found something about the plants in the greenhouse unusual, and now this . . .
“Lord Marchand, Earl of Southbury, you are hereby officially apprehended by the king’s military of Marran for organizing and supervising the murders of two members of the royal family and seven others involved in this conflict.
” Commander Matherson’s booming voice carried over the growing clamor of the crowd, who had backed away as a group from Marchand, already physically separating themselves from him and his deeds.
“I told you,” he began, his eyes cutting pleading daggers into the troopers, but a loud metallic crack above them drew their attention upward.
Something clattered to the ground, but Jade didn’t look for it. Her eyes were instead on the chandelier directly above Marchand and the troopers, creaking as it swung subtly back and forth.
“Theo . . . ” Jade said, not moving her gaze. The chandelier swung again, and with an ear-splitting pop, it disconnected from the ceiling.
“Move!” Theo must have followed her line of sight, because he was already moving, shouting the command at the troopers. They dove out of the way as Marchand looked up, Theo barreling toward him in an apparent attempt to remove him from the chandelier’s path.
Jade was hot on his heels. Theo wouldn’t make it in time.
Marchand appeared to realize the danger and made to run just as Jade reached Theo’s jacket and tugged. She threw him backward into her and in turn sent herself flying back as the chandelier crashed to the floor.
Glass shattered and metal scraped as the massive fixture smashed against the wooden floor, sending debris flying in a circle around it. Jade landed on her stomach and flung her arms over her head to protect herself from the onslaught of projectiles.
When things had stilled, Jade lifted her head, catching sight of the mayhem before her.
Jade’s heart rammed against her ribcage to the beat of the stampede of footsteps as people rushed out of the ballroom.
She caught sight of Matherson and Devereaux as they shielded Prince Reynauld, helping him out of the room.
One of the troopers ran to the other, both alive but not unscathed.
The broken chandelier rocked back and forth on the floor, a heap of twisted metal and broken glass.
Jade jumped to her feet, the gray of Theo’s uniform peeking out at the edge of the rubble.
She rushed to him and crouched down, placing a gentle hand on his cheek, a long red cut beside his ear dripping with blood.
“Theo!”
He moved at her touch, and she helped get him out from under debris and sit on a clear part of the floor. She halfway held him up, her arm around his back as he leaned against a hand pressed into the floor. Theo’s eyes were locked onto the sight before him.
“Are you okay?”
He blinked several times, seeming to come back to himself, and he nodded before finally meeting Jade’s eyes. Fear and despair swirled in the blue depths of his own as he searched her face before dipping his head back in the direction of the chandelier. One word came from his lips.
“Marchand.”
Jade turned to look behind her and noticed what she had not seen before. A hand stretched out of the debris. Peering closer, Jade followed the black sleeve past the hand to a coat, where Marchand lay crushed and mangled under the chandelier in a pool of his own blood.