The Lady Knight

Chapter XXXII: Hands and Hesitations

The Lady Knight

I stared at it, eerily calm. Mayhap it was because I had been waiting for him for quite some time now. Mayhap it was because I had always known he would find a way to announce the fact that he was always there, watching, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Now he had sent me a severed hand. As a present. As a reminder.

How very thoughtful of him.

"Well done, Diego," I murmured, surprised to find my voice steady.

"D-Diego?" Lisa huddled close to my side, "who is he, Jules? A Vantaugian?"

"Aye, the name sounds rather Spanish," Kat's lips barely moved.

"Nay, he is a Monriquan," I took a deep breath, "a traitorous Monriquan assuming the identity of a Vantaugian to do all his dirty work." I had never been so certain.

At that, Lisa went rigid. "He should be hanged," she hissed, her soft voice filled with unusual venom, "I myself will tighten his noose if it comes to that - "

"Poppet," Kat still remained slightly crouched, staring hard at the hand, "do you see that?"

I crouched down beside her, taking the lantern from her hands to see the hand better. At once, I realised what she meant. A simple, gold ring shone on its ring finger.

A ring that looked vaguely familiar.

I squinted, squatting down, attempting to discern the crest on the ring. Two blood-red dragons facing each other, bordered in pure, untarnished gold.

I reached out to touch it. The cool surface. The indents of the dragons.

My blood ran ice-cold. I swiftly drew my hand back, flinching.

Nay. It could not be.

Kat sucked in a sharp breath. "Poppet - "

I was no longer listening to her. Without a second thought, I picked up my skirts and fled back inside the ballroom, heedless of those in my way. I vaguely heard Kat run after me, as my eyes desperately sought the dais for a certain Duke above all the dancers.

However, he was not there. Only Lady Rosanna was perched upon her high chair, sipping her blood red wine, her usual artificial smile playing upon her lips as she surveyed the guests below. The seat beside her was painfully empty.

I felt my insides constrict and twist into knots in speechless fear.

Kat skidded to a stop beside me, panting. "I tasked Lisa to guard that hand," she winced, "poppet - "

"Help me find one of the Captains on duty, and relief Lisa of that task at once. She must not be left alone, under the circumstances," the words left my lips in a rush, "I need to – "

"All right, I will. But you need to calm down, poppet. You are starting to attract attention," she managed a shaky, warning whisper, "the last thing we need is for the men to find us. Especially the Crown Prince -" Her eyes nervously darted about, catching the stares of curiosity and bewilderment at our appearance thrown our way.

"I care not a whit," my heart was beating hard and fast against my chest, "that devil could have done anything to Oncle Tom by now - "

"What about Papa?" a sharp voice demanded just then.

Tess.

I turned around to trace the sound of her voice. She was engaged in a waltz with one of the noblemen on the dance floor, mere steps away from us. Her countenance had grown pale, and her ocean blue eyes were narrowed, as they bore holes into my person.