His Princess Mate

13 - What's the Truth?

დHenryდ

I was still trying to move past my extremely awkward conversation with Rose, however, nothing I seemed to do could take my mind off it. I wanted nothing more than to confront Lucinda, lock her up, or end her life. I knew I couldn’t, and it was beyond frustrating. Worse, I was almost certain that Rose was also a shifter. I had no idea how it was possible that she wasn’t aware of it, or why she had not activated her abilities and the thought had crossed my mind that she may not even be aware of it. I sighed as I ran my hand down my face in absolute annoyance. This whole situation was so much more than just complicated.

“What is it that you want me to say?” Walter questioned after we had been sitting in silence for easily ten minutes. “I’ve told you everything that I know,” he then added.

“Are you sure you’ve never noticed anything strange?” I asked, once again. How was it that Lucinda had kept who she is such a secret? She wasn’t a changed rogue, no, she was born a shifter. “Did you feel drawn to her when you first met?” I then asked carefully. I still wasn’t sure if he was her mate or not.

“Drawn to her, yes, of course, I was drawn to her,” he snapped out and I sighed. “I pursued her,” he said thoughtfully. “In fact, she played a bit hard to get, if you understand my meaning,”

“I suppose,” I said, and I realized that no, he was not her mate. If he had been, he would not have had to pursue anything. “Did she give in willingly?” I then asked, wanting to make sure of myself.

“In a way, yes, but Lucinda didn’t have anyone else, and I still believe that is why she gave in,”

“Would you say she loved you?”

“Yes, I would say that she came to love me. after all, we had Rose,” that confirmed my suspicions. Rose was in fact a half-breed shifter.

“And did you ever pick up anything strange with your daughter?” I continued questioning him and I could see that I was starting to annoy him. “Look, Walter, I am not here to accuse anyone of anything. I am simply doing my job and you have to admit that it is highly suspicious that these unfortunate events have taken place in your kingdom after Lucinda returned,”

“Under any other circumstance, I may be entitled to agree with your suspicions, however,” he stood up then, pushing himself away from his desk to stand over me. I did not like his actions, silently showing me dominance, but I forced myself to remain seated. “The murders happened before Lucinda had returned,”

“Oh, but I beg to differ,” I said lazily. “You see, Lucinda has been staying at a motel not far from your kingdom. In fact, she has been hanging around here for the past month,” it was clear that this was news to him, and he slumped back down onto his chair, completely taken by surprise.

“How do you know?” he asked curiously once he had gotten over the initial shock.

“I’m an investigator, Walter, it is what I do,” I lied. I had done a bit of digging but it was Philip that had come across the motel manager at the bar last night. The drunken man had been boasting about how the queen had been staying in his motel for the last month.

“Can you not address me correctly?” he suddenly asked, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “I do wish you would show some respect,” he whispered, and I stopped laughing and stared at him closely.

“Walter, you are the king and I have the utmost respect for you and your position,” I said slowly. “However, your name is Walter, and you are not my king,” he seemed to consider that before he nodded. “Now, let me ask you again, did you ever pick up anything strange with Rose and Lucinda and I mean anything that you can recall…” I sat back and watched as Walter thought about my question. I knew that he would be working through his memories, trying to find anything that may be strange.

“Rose was about two or three years of age,” he started, and I leaned in, desperately wanting to know what he was going to tell me. “Lucinda had been acting rather odd that day if I recall correctly,”

“What do you mean by odd?” I asked.

“Normally she would join me in the dining room for breakfast and then in the sunroom for tea, but on this day, she avoided breakfast and when she came into the sunroom with Rose, she declared that she was taking our little girl into the kingdom,”

“And this struck you as odd?”

“Because until that point, we had done everything together, yes,” he explained. “I had stood up, I suppose I had assumed that I would simply join them, but she had insisted that I stay home,” I nodded slowly, this was rather odd, but I didn’t dare say anything as I waited for him to finish. “I remember feeling uneasy throughout the day as I worked. If you could call it working, I was trying to distract myself as I waited for their return,” Walter glanced down at his hands before he continued. “When lunchtime came around, I had started to feel anxious, uneasy. I am not sure how else to explain it, but it bothered me that they had not returned,”

“What kind of thoughts had been running through your mind?” I asked.

“I was worried about them, after all, she was the queen, and she had our baby with her. A number of horrendous thoughts went through my mind, but I tried to remain calm. After lunch I came back here, forcing myself to work. I did help as I was quite distracted until Adam came in to tell me that dinner was ready, and I realized that I had not heard from Lucinda. I asked him if they had returned and he said no,”

“Did you panic then?”

“In a way, I suppose I did. I immediately sent Adam out to the kingdom, however as he was getting ready to leave the castle, the carriage returned and Lucinda apologized for not being home earlier,” he paused then and I waited, as much as I wanted to push him to continue, I was already making up my mind about what she had done that day. “She told me that she’d gone shopping and then out to lunch and…” his voice trailed off as he frowned. “And…there was something else, something I just can’t seem to remember…” I raised my brow at this as I, too, frowned. Walter pressed his fingers against his temples, and I tilted my head to the side.

“Do you have a headache?” I asked him.

“Hmm, it would seem that trying to remember has brought it on,” he said as he shook his head and leaned back in his chair. “Whatever it was, I don’t remember, but that was by far the strangest thing that I can remember. Other than that, I’m afraid, there is nothing else for me to tell you,” Walter looked skeptical as to if I was going to question him further but he had given me enough information and so I stood up and smiled over at him.

“King Walter, thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to have this lovely little chat with me,” I held my hand out and he stood up and took my hand in a firm handshake.

“I hope I was somewhat helpful,” he said with an edge of disbelief in his voice. He thought this had been a waste of time, but I was more than happy with the results.

“You were, thank you,” I said as I let go of his hand and turned around.

“Oh, Henry, before you run off…” Walter said, making me stop and turn to face him. “Whatever intentions you have with my daughter, I want you to know that I will be watching you,” his ideal threat washed over me like rain, but I nodded and continued out of his office. I did not want to bump into Rose as I hurried down the hallway until I got to Lucinda’s room. I knocked one and then again before the door opened. Lucinda’s eyes went wide before she pulled me into the room and closed the door behind her.

“Are you insane?” she questioned as she stared at me in disgust. “Anyone could have seen you,”

“Oh, relax Lucy, no one saw me,” I said, using her famous nickname. She huffed out for a moment before she moved past me and went over to her bed.

“What do you want?” she then asked, and I growled low in my throat. She immediately put her guard up and gave me a warning look. “Surely you haven’t come here to disarm me?” she remarked, and I snarled in anger.

“I’m no fool,” I spat out.

“Aren’t you? I would have to disagree with you Henry,” she said with a smug smile. “You’ve been chasing me for years!”

“Indeed, but right now you are stuck right here, aren’t you?” I commented as I stood back and smiled. “Unless of course, you haven’t had a chance to do what you originally came here to do,” Lucinda’s eyes went wide, and I knew I had hit the nail on the head. “You see, Lucy, I am not a fool and I know why you’ve come back here, and it has got nothing to do with this little reunion,”

“Shut up!” she yelled, and I quickly pressed my index finger against my lips to show her to be quiet. “Shut up you mongrel!” she hissed out, her tone of voice dripping with hatred, and I shrugged before I went over to the door.

“Careful Lucy, your facade is fading…” I said before I opened the door and slipped out. I quickly checked the hallway and once I was sure no one was around, I breathed out a sigh of relief before I hurriedly left the castle.

“Is that even possible?” Philip questioned later that day after I had returned from my visit to the castle.

“I am not completely sure, but it will not take me very long to get any confirmation,” I said lazily as I laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Lucinda has been using some form of magic,” I then added.

“On both of them?” he asked.

“Ai, it would seem that she has,” I said sadly. “Walter got a blinding headache just from trying to remember something important,”

“She is taking a lot of risks coming back here,” he pointed out and I sat up and stared at him.

“And that is exactly why we will be able to put an end to her reign of terror,” I confirmed with a promise. “I will take Lucinda down if it the last thing I do,”

“And what of Rose?” he dared to ask, and I shrugged.

“Rose…well…I haven’t quite decided what I am going to do about my mate,” I said slowly. “Right now, I have to stay focused on Lucinda. If I venture off that path, we could stand a chance of her getting away and I will not let that happen,”

“Yes, Alpha Henry,” Philip said in agreement.