Lord Derek
The following day, Derek and Curtis set off to execute their plans however before they could decide on what to do, they were approached by the Lady Amanda. Her approaching them didn't sound like anything good, she hardly approached anyone unless if they had done something wrong. He was not worried about Lady Clarence one bit, he and Curtis had decided that they would follow her orders to keep her thinking she was in control until they pinned everything on the Prince. If they were then asked why Curtis burned the Library, a simple answer was that the Prince made him do it.
"Lord Derek, a word?" Lady Amanda asked him as she stopped in front of him.
Derek looked around as she asked the question before his eyes met that of the Princess who looked at him with knowing eyes, it was almost as if she knew what he was thinking; to pin everything on them but the shocking thing was that she had no fear. Not even a little bit.
"Sure." He replied as he parted ways with Curtis and followed Lady Amanda to an elevator that led to her office.
"Now, help me explain why I found your ring on the floor beside the dead Edward?" She said as she led him into her office and took a seat while indicating that he did the same.
"What ring?" He asked as he tried everything within his power to not show any sign of fear or nervousness.
"This one." She said as she revealed the ring he had been looking for since the night they had retrieved the knife.
Derek stared at the ring for a while and realized that now was he golden moment, now was his chance to expose the Royal Twins as the killers and get away with this. He and his sister with Curtis would all get away with this, the case would be closed and Lady Clarence would not be able to do a single thing to any of them. Their hell would be over and they would graduate from the Tower and become adults ready to take charge of certain positions in the Kingdom of Syera, from being a Judge to being a Minister, there was a myriad of jobs that would be available for them.
He might not marry the Princes and become King, but he would be a top Minister in the Tower or even an Inquisitor. His sister could be anything she wanted to be, from being an Inquisitor to being a Judge or even an official, anything her mind fancied and then there was Curtis who could be a judge or a commissioner. All of them could get to have a real chance in life, a real chance to be somebody, but at the cost of the Prince's life.
Could he do it, could he end the life of the Prince, a boy who had lived his entire life in agony, did he have the strength and conviction to end his chance of being something other than the nation's punching bag? Was that really who he was? Was this what he stood for, doing something that people like Edward would do just because? He could understand Curtis wanting this, after all he was afraid, it was either the Prince's head or the life of the boy's family and village, still Derek was not comfortable with this. He could not do this.
"Yes, it is mine, but it hasn't been mine for an entire year. I gave that to Edward on his birthday last year to remind him that I would always be on his side, helping him to be a better person." He said, telling an outright lie to the Chief Inquisitor of the nation.
"Is that right?" She asked as she raised her eyes.
As the Prince had taught them, the best lies always had a grain of truth in them in order to sound as convincing as possible; it also helped one remember their lies. Using that technique, he had been able to tell her a lie that had a hint of truth in them in order to thwart the efforts of the lie detecting spell.
"If that will be all." He said to her, eager to get back to Curtis and tell him that their plan to destroy the Royal Twins was over. The plan now was to find Lady Clarence and give his evidence to them so that they could decide on what to do as one.
After all blood was not the only thing that made five people family, murder also made five people family.
Once Lady Amanda let him go, he went to meet up with his crew with a fool proof plan which would help them find not only Lady Clarence but would also convince the Prince and Princess that they were not the enemy. As he arrived at the exam hall, Derek couldn't help but look towards the Twins who seemed okay at the moment, as if last night hadn't happened. The Princess was her usual self despite the nasty gossip about her being dumb enough to allow her brother to ravage her on a constant basis, many of them even believed that she must have loved it otherwise she would have reported her brother to the king.
However to be honest, not many spited the Princess or were disgusted by her, the majority simply felt sorry for her, mainly believing that she was a prisoner of her brother and not a willing partner. Derek looked away as the exams begun and decided to do justice to his paper, temporarily ignoring the fact that in a matter of hours, Curtis would have to burn the Library or risk the truth coming out and the knife being found.
After the exam, he submitted his papers and moved towards the princess as fast as he could through the swarms of body and was finally able to get close enough to speak to her. She didn't look angry with him despite the fact that he grabbed unto her hand in a a bid to get her attention, which simultaneously got her brother's.
"Please could I have a word with your highness?" He asked as he avoided the piercing glare of the prince who suffice to say, was not his biggest fan at the moment.
"Listen Derek, if you really want us to believe you, you have to prove yourself to us. Until then, my brother and I remain firm in our decision to got at this alone." She said and left the room with get brother to the very Library that every Saint was headed to.
Taking a deep breath in and releasing it, he turned to Curtis and Elswyth who were both waiting to hear from him, to know what was going to happen next. Looking at his sister and then her boyfriend he decided to just blurt it all out. "We are not doing anything to harm the Twins, we might not be together right now, but it would be wrong to do this to them regardless of what they want to do."
"But we could be dead by week's end, is that what you want?" Curtis asked as he panicked.
"No it isn't, but I don't want to be alive with the guilt on my mind."
"But at least we'll be alive."
"What's the point of living when you can't live with yourself?" He asked before he looked at his sister that looked so proud of him. "Now, Elswyth you will ask around the female Saints if there is anyone that somehow loved the prick that Edward was, while I will help Curtis prepare for his task."
Looking at the very nervous Curtis, Derek have out a sigh. The dude was shit scared, but he had to do this, if they didn't do this their crimes would be exposed and their lives would be over. He knew the kind of risk he was taking by trusting the Royal Twins to not turn them in due to their little misunderstanding; but he would rather risk this than becoming a vile person. He didn't blame Curtis for having the thought, how could he when the guy was talking from a position of fear?
"I understanding your fear Curtis but I assure you that we will be alright in the end, just obey Lady Clarence and we will do our best to fish her out. Once all of this is over, the Princess will save us okay?" He asked as he placed both hands on the shoulder of Curtis.
Curtis looked him dead in the eyes as he said that and had to take a moment or two to steady himself and get prepared, mentally and physically to burn the Library in its entirety. He would need a lot of magical power to achieve that feat, since fire magic was one of the most difficult forms of magic which only the Princess could effortlessly perform; her ability to do that may be one of the reasons why her father loved her so much despite her obvious rebellious acts over the years.
Derek accompanied Curtis to the elevator that led to the Library, around them were students eager to get some reading or to share in some gossip due to the arrival of the King. Many were hypothesizing what the King would do to the Prince upon arrival, some said that the Prince would be drawn and quartered, a ghastly horrifying way to die, while other believed he could be burned to ashes at the stake.
Rumour like that was one of the reasons why he had decided not to turn on the Prince. He had enough on his plate and could survive kissing his sister if his sister played it right, but if he had been found guilty of killing Edward, there was no way he could survive that capital punishment.
"I have to do this next part alone." Curtis said as the elevator opened and got emptied of everyone but them.
Derek turned to look at his sister's boyfriend who despite looking shit scared was willing to do this. Maybe he had finally been able to see things the way Derek was now, who knew, once Lady Clarence was gone they could live their lives to the fullest. Derek gave him a nod and parted ways with him in favour of going to his sister who he hoped had been able to find any female that seemed oddly sad or bitter over Edward's death.
Taking his sit beside his sister in the silent Library, he placed a hand of comfort over her trembling legs as she kept looking towards the front door of the Library where Curtis would stay in order to burn the Library.
"Any information?" He asked his sister who kept alternating between watching the door and staring at the book in her hands.
"No, all the girls seemed unruffled by his death. As I am sure you are aware, Edward was not that popular among the female Saints." Elswyth whispered in reply.
Derek released a sigh of frustration before he turned to look at the Princess who was having a heated whispering conversation with her brother who kept making his case in whispers that barely carried to his table. Squinting his eyes in puzzlement, he wondered why on earth they would be arguing. After all they were quite popular for never getting into an argument with each other in public. The snapping look the Prince gave him had him look away instantly in panic, but before he could wonder what would happen next, Curtis walked towards the front door and turned to face the Library with a nervous breaths taken in and out of his lungs.
"Forgive me." He said to no one in particular before he stretched both hands forward. "Eflemino attada!" He shouted at the top of his lungs and unleashed a furious flame that burst into every shelf in the Library setting it ablaze.
It was no secret that the only reason Curtis got a scholarship to the Tower was because he was more powerful than many noble Saints in the Land, if one were to place his power level among other, he could be in the top twenty most powerful Saints with the Princess at one and the King at two. The evidence of his great power became very clear as the unending streams of fire kept pouring into the room, burning every book in it with Saints raising shields to protect themselves from the heat, fire and smoke while trying to escape.
Through the screams and hurried escape of the Saints, Derek and his sister were able to leave the Library alive to watch the Library burn and let out smoke. Alarms went blazing as guard arrived in droves to put out the fire which just went wilder the more they tried until the arrival of Lady Amanda who cast a strange spell into the Library which quenched the fire.
"Tell me who started the fire." Lady Amanda asked as smoke went out the Library and was directed through a window courtesy of the guards.
As one, the students pointed at Curtis who looked broken. Derek looked to the Royal Twins and saw them looking saddened at the peasant's fate which would be decided once the king arrived in the next three days. Dominic looked straight at him once more and kept his eyes focused on him for a long time, only looking elsewhere the moment Lady Amanda ordered the guards to seize Curtis.
Feeling paper in his hands, he looked down and opened the letter that was blank at first before words began to bleed into it.
'YOUR TURN OH RIGHTEOUS ONE,
STEAL THE ANSWERS TO TOMORROW'S EXAM TONIGHT AND BLATANTLY USE IN THE THE EXAM.
ALSO DON'T FORGET THAT BEING CAUGHT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.
YOURS EVER
LADY CLARENCE.'
Looking up, he saw the Prince and Princess look at him in worry as his hands shook. Cheating in an exam was common practice by the students in the Tower, everyone did it except for a very select few and he was among the select few. If he did this not only would his reputation be ruined, but his stay at the Tower would be over. He would be rusticated and regarded for his entire life as a failure, a cheat and a liar. He would go from being poster boy of righteousness to being one of the worst scum to ever walk the earth.
Turning to his left he saw Curtis look back at him with a look of worry as his sister laid a comforting hand on his shaking hands. It was his turn now and they were no closer to finding out who Lady Clarence was and with the Prince no longer helping them, he could clearly see a life of being under he thumb of their blackmailer or a near future of his head on an executioner's block courtesy of the Prince.
With neither scenario looking particularly pleasing, Derek had a panic attack.