The Heir of Red and White

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Greyson

Despite the chill, a faint slimmer of sunlight filtered through the window beside my cot, and I leaned toward it, wishing I could somehow grasp it with my hands.

Although I spent most nights sleeping in the guest room, there had been a few times when I was unable to change disguises and was forced to sleep in the servants' quarters. And while it was practically a coffin in comparison to my private chambers, the makeshift bedroom in the guard tower was far more luxurious than the ones we had been allotted in the basement.

The room was tall and circular, with cement walls and genuine, wooden floors. I was only forced to share the room with two other men, as opposed to five like before, and because of my size, I had been given a single bed near the window. With the rare couple of minutes, I had been granted to rest for the day, I felt almost at peace in the small space.

At least until Mike and my other roommate clambered through the door.

"Did you hear about the prisoner?" The boy whose name I could never recall was about Mike's age, but unlike Mike, who had a humble and quiet presence, he was loud and ostentatious.

"No, I'm not sure I have," Mike responded politely before nodding at me. I smiled at his acknowledgment before nodding back.

Mike had been avoiding me ever since I had seen him leaving Duchess Azure's bedroom. Anytime we were in the same vicinity he would glance at me, but never formed more than a few words, almost as if he were embarrassed. Which I thought was completely ridiculous, but any attempt I made to console him would only remind him of what had happened. What was likely still happening? And the last thing I wanted was to cause him more suffering.

"They've caught the queen's murderer. She also killed Duchess Marigold and the doctor. She was a normal woman. Someone from the village nearby," the other boy said, oblivious to Mike's shift in mood.

I glanced sideways at him, wondering how accurate his information was. After Duchess Marigold was murdered, I had assumed the culprit was a Moderate or Elite, not a vermin woman from the village. I had briefly considered Patrick as a suspect, but my gut told me my initial suspicions were true. And I wasn't usually wrong about such things.

I considered ignoring the boy, but a small bout of uneasiness settled in the pit of my stomach, and the more I tried to ignore it, the larger it grew.

"Do you know who she is?" I asked as I turned myself toward them. Mike looked away, and the other boy simply blinked, probably shocked by my sudden interest in their conversation.

"Uh, I think they said her name was Leanne."

I froze. "Leanne? Leanne Smith?"

The boy nodded and again, the world crumpled around me. It seemed like anytime I was afforded a reprieve, the rug was pulled from under my feet.

Leanne was one of the sweetest, most nurturing women in the queendom. She had tended to Alexa and me as children while George worked in the mines, and she was the only woman who dared to help abandoned children in the villages, despite their colored hair or gender. I knew with certainty that she was not responsible for the queen's death.

Which meant she was being framed, and considering what she was being accused of, it had to be by someone with immense power.

Mike, noticing my anguish, squirmed on his cot, but the other boy just stared at me with a confused expression. "Did you know her?"

I clenched my teeth together and nodded. "There's no way she did what she's accused of."

The boy shrugged "I don't know..."

I shot up from my bed so quickly that my vision blurred. The boy inched away from me, almost as if he were afraid. Mike just watched me, a familiar sadness in his eyes.

"She didn't do it," I said with certainty, but I could already tell my words had fallen on deaf ears. I was nothing more than a vermin man with insignificant opinions, and nothing I said would change her fate. But, like Patrick had pointed out, there were things only I could do.

I moved away from my bed and headed toward the door, but Mike grabbed my arm, stopping me in my maddening descent. I stared at his hand, surprised he had even touched me before meeting his steady gaze.

"Don't do anything stupid," was all he said before he released me. I opened my mouth to respond but he shook his head and returned to his position on the bunk bed he shared with the other boy. A part of me wanted to laugh at him for trying to stop me when he had no idea what I was capable of. But I appreciated his concern, especially since I was going to do something stupid. And although I understood the weight of his warning, I couldn't just lay back and do nothing.

"I won't," I lied before exiting the room

Leanne had always been kind to me, more so than my parents. She held my hand when I was lonely and told me tales when I was bored. With the little power I wielded, I vowed then that I would save her from the nobles.

And damn anyone who got in my way.