Chapter Seven: Suspect

''Your Majesty...'', A beautiful woman in her early forties approached the king who was standing next to a large mirror, busy dressing himself in casual clothes. He, however, didn't acknowledge her presence at all as he finished buttoning up his shirt...

''It is late, Your Majesty, it is not a good idea to leave now as the sun...''

''And whose fault is that? That I have to go out this late and risk being attacked by the night creatures?'' The king didn't turn to face his wife as he interrupted her sharply, ''Weren't you the one who refused to live with her under the same roof?''

''Edard, I can't...'', The redheaded queen's voice quivered as she looked at him with teary eyes that didn't fail to reflect her wounded heart. The pain of his betrayal was still vivid even after all the years. Not even when she knew that her rival was long dead...

''Then don't tell me how to deal with things...'', The king never imagined in his life that he would be addressing his wife with much sharpness. He didn't love her, not the way she loved him at least, but he did admire and respect her dearly. He always made sure to treat her with utter gentleness and delicacy. However, since the latest attempts on his daughter's life, he couldn't spare her any courtesy. Not when all the accusing fingers pointed at her.

Finishing the last touches on his outfit, The king covered it all up with a plain cloak, satisfied with the low-key appearance, he walked toward the door where a back pack was waiting, picking it up, turned the golden knob ready to step out, but a sting of guilt stopped him...

''Sleep well, Katherina...'', The king's regards were faint and dry. But still the best he could offer for the moment, not with all the doubts eating him up inside, closing the door behind him, he sighed at the sound of the muffled sobs. However, It wasn't in his intention to go back inside and ease the woman's pain, Not with the closing sunset nor the raging doubts....

King Edard had a rough time believing his wife had anything to do with the attempts on Sara's life, but no one else had a motive as no one but himself knew about his daughter's true identity, therefore, no one really had a reason to kill her. Only a handful of people knew about her existence and her ties with him to begin with. She wasn't given any birth rights, she didn't have a title, she had no properties in her name, no fortunes, no inheritance and no claims to the throne even if the rest of his children died and she was the last to carry on the Yoren bloodline. For anyone who didn't know what her mother was, Sara was considered a nobody, her life and death didn't affect anything and anyone but him. Her father who loved her so much...

Thinking back about the first attempt on Sara in the holy tower, King Edard clenched his fists angrily, he was frustrated at the fact that he couldn't find any lead, not a letter, not a note, not an eye witness, Nothing, the bastard died and his secrets died with him. He had his doubts about the holy council, he knew the ascetic priests were not the purest creatures to walk the ground, it wasn't out of the question for them to kill an innocent girl, but beside the fact that they didn't have a motive, he doubted they might be stupid enough to try and kill her in the tower while she was under their protection, it took wits and slyness to survive in the holy council and killing the king's illegitimate daughter while she was under their wing wasn’t something a smart person would do.

The other ones with the most conspicuous motive were his family members, his three legitimate children might have felt threatened by the existence of another child. The king rejected this possibility as it was the least plausible one, his eldest, Henry, was named the crown prince eighteen years ago when he was merely three years old, and since then he had been training to become the next heir to the thrones, his twin siblings, Nara and Nicholas who were two years younger than him, never disapproved of that decision nor shown any interest in the throne. His kids didn't battle among themselves and therefore didn't have any reason to kill their half-sister who had no claims on anything. With them out of the way, the king was left him with only one suspect... His wife.

His wife was easily considered as the second mightiest person in their kingdom, not only because she was the queen, but also the heiress to the Don Carso Duchy, the wealthiest family in his kingdom after the Yorens and the fallen Salvatores, she wasn't just a beautiful face but a mastermind in economy and diplomacy, she was also the people's sweetheart, her popularity exceeded his by stages as he wasn't too fond of public appearances, leaving them all for Katherina to take care of  while he focused on his Sara...

With such authority and support. The queen was more than capable to order the priest to kill his daughter, King Edard still vividly remembered the day she walked on him in his study and saw the dead body of the midwife and the baby in his arms. The look she gave him said it all, and told him that the pain he caused her wasn't going to subside, not in their life time at least.

The king shook his head while stepping out of one of the castle's back doors, two of his most trusted riders were waiting for him in clothes identical to his, each standing next to a horse while the third waited for him. Patting the brown animal's neck, he mounted on it swiftly and took off, followed closely by the two riders until they were outside the capital borders where each went on a different direction.

Staring at the horizon, King Edard shook the reins, urging the brown horse to run faster as it was almost sunset, the horse picked up it speed and ran faster, and right before dark, he reached his destination...

Edard stared at the shack where his beloved spent her last days, it was not the fanciest place. Yet the word shack didn't give it right, especially when not compared to a mansion or a castle, the Wooden walls were only a paneling as the shack was built out of stones. In order to give it a warmer and cozier appearance, the stony surface was covered in the finest oak planks, the roof was covered with reddish pantiles and green moss while the perimeter of the shack was turned into a small garden with many vegetables and flowers growing, a small jasmine tree even as he knew it was his daughter's favorite, it was a decent place, But above all, safe, and to him, safety preceded luxury.

King Edard stared carefully at the forest, Noticing the shadows creeping between the trees, he knew those shadows didn't belong to wild animals but to something much more frightening, He held his breath, waiting for the shadow -which probably caught his scent- to move away, he knew they couldn't see him while he was in the perimeter of the shack, this place was protected by Historia herself, a safe place she created for her daughter, to hide her from the harmful clutches of darkness.

Once the shadow moved away, the king carefully knocked on the shack's door, two knocks, then he halted for a second before knocking for three times followed by the sound of the thin metal rings he carried. A secret knock he used for his daughter to know it was him at the door, and as expected, the door was opened slightly, enough for him to slide inside the shack where his daughter was waiting for him.

........

........

''When will I see you again, Father?'', Sara asked while helping her father put on his cloak, unlike the clothes he used to wear when visiting her in the tower, the ones he was putting on lately were rather humble, slightly worn out and always of dull colors, grey, black and brown. She didn't mind what he wore though as long as he visited, something he didn't do often.

''Soon, My dear, is there anything you would want me to get you for next time?'', At his question, Sara shook her head, not daring to ask him what for what she really wanted, not after being refused many, many times before.

''Just your safe return, Father'', At her sad smile, the king sighed tiredly. The sun was already up and he had to return to the castle, but how could he while his beloved baby stared at him trying to hide her pout...

''This is only temporarily, Baby girl, please bear with it for a while. Once your Brother is ready, I will pass the throne to him, and I will come and live you permanently in any place you choose. You would even start begging me to leave you alone for some time.'', Unable to give her father anything but a thankful smile and a nod, Sara allowed herself to be engulfed in the bear hug.