The Unsung Heir

Chapter 14

Ch. 14

Several hours crawled past and there was no sign of a person seeking employment. There was no Sebastian with the news of a girl with blonde hair and tattoos. All there was the sound of rain and the clapping of thunder. It was getting late. Growing frustrated, Jane sprang up out of her chair, startling Velvet. "Was Collin lying to me? It is practically midnight and there is no sign of anyone." Jane began pacing back and forth with her arms fold in front of her chest. She walked to the window and stared at the raging storm outside.

"Jane, calm done and be patient. Collin was not lying. He could have been mistaken, but that anxious look in his eyes guaranteed his honesty." replied Velvet. "Go read a book. It will take your mind off the time."

"Fine, I'll go to my room and get my book." Jane sighed, getting up and straightening her skirt. Jane made her way down the silent hall towards her room. "It was true." she thought. "Collin did seem really worried about the spy. He couldn't be lying. Maybe he just heard wrong." As she turned around the corner, she saw a maid coming out of her room." That's unusual." she thought. "No one cleans at this hour. All the maids should be back at their dormitories."

"Excuse me Miss, but at this hour all the maids should be back in their quarters." stated Jane with a questioning look. Startled by Jane, the maid turn around and flipped her blonde hair to show a small ink marking on her neck. "Oh, Lady Jane, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I'm new here." smiled the maid nervously.

"Don't let it happen again." replied Jane, as the maid curtsied and left. Jane just shook her head. "New maids need to learn their agendas." Jane walked quickly into her room and checked for any sign of someone rummaging through her belongings. Finding no sign of anything unusual, Jane grabbed her book from one of the large, oak shelves and walked out. Jane closed and locked the door behind her and walked back to her studies. All the way back, she constantly thought about the maid. The markings she had, were they tattoos? Jane decided to simply dismiss the thought.

The next morning, Jane was extremely tired. She and Velvet had stayed up all night waiting, but there was no sign of the spy. Jane knew it was well past breakfast, so she decided to go down for just coffee. After Jane slipped on a lime green dress and brushed her long, silky, black hair, she heard the door open and close.

"I wonder if it is velvet?" whispered Jane to herself. She peered through the curtains separating her bedroom from her dressing room. Instead of seeing Velvet, her eyes caught the white maid apron and navy dress. "Why is she cleaning? Maids do not clean the rooms at this time. They only clean around noon, the rest of the time they're supposed to be stations in the gardens or kitchen. I must discuss this with Sebastian." Jane slowly walked out to the maid only to see it was the same one as the night before. "Excuse me, but you only clean rooms during noon." stated Jane partly annoyed. The maid turned around startled.

"Oh, Milady, I'm sorry. I am still unfamiliar with the agenda here." smiled the maid innocently.

"I will pardon it once again because you're new here. What's your name? I always get acquainted to the members of my staff." smiled Jane, hiding her suspicion.

"My name is Agnes, Milady." smiled the maid. "I best be going now. I promise to learn the schedule. This won't happen again."

"Fine, it was a pleasure meeting you, Agnes." smiled Jane reaching her hand out for a handshake. Jane watched as the maid hesitated at first, but then reached out her own hand to take Jane's. All along her arm were black tattoos, or vines and a large black scorpion. Suddenly all of Jane's suspicions were confirmed. This was the spy. Why hadn't she noticed before? Jane looked up into the maid's eyes. "So did you start working here yesterday?"

"No, I started a week ago, but I came only in the evening to help cook. I just started working fully."

"Oh is that so? Well I believe it is time for you to go now." said Jane and the maid immediately left.

At the royal palace, Collin stared out the window and into bright sunny skies. He was worried. It had been a week since he warned Jane about the spy. Him not being able to check on her, made him even more anxious. He remained staring out the window as Lance leaned against the wall of the dining room with his eyes close. Aaron was just sitting at a small table reading a book.

"Collin, stop worrying so much. I'm sure she's fine." said Aaron, looking up from his book. Frowning, he put his book down. "I can't believe Mother would go to this extent. After all those years of raising Jane, she should feel sine sort of attachment to her."

"She already killed her whole family. Hasn't Mother and Father done enough?" asked Collin.

"Look, there's no point in worrying or caring about Jane's wellbeing. The facts are that she's a vampire and it is a battle between her and our parents, not us. Whatever happens to her is none of our concern." stated Lance. "Besides, we should not interfere because if she did kill the duchess, the spy will find out. It will be doing justice to her crime."

"How can you possibly say that? You, who was once in love with her! Since she broke the engagement, you became cold and arrogant. All you do is bury all your compassion for others in your work." yelled Collin, grabbing the collar of Lance's shirt,

Lance opened his eyes and shoved his brother off him. "You keep your mouth shut. What do you know about how I feel? What I do is none of your concern. Focus on your own duties for once in your life instead of mine. As a matter of fact, I think you're jealous that she chose me instead of you all those years ago!"

"Yeah, the only reason she chose you was because it was your duty to get married first. If it wasn't for you, she would have chosen me! At the end, after she found out about her lineage, she turned you down and never looked back. Even today, if I were to ask he if she regretted her decision, she would say no."

"Lance, Collin, stop fighting. This is unnecessary. Nothing will be solved with the two of you arguing." stated Aaron, pulling the other two princes off each other. Instead, Lance took his hands off Collin only to punch him square in the jaw with enough force to knock Collin to the ground.

"Bastard" Lance walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Aaron pulled Collin up and helped him regain his balance.

"Collin, let it go." said Aaron. "He didn't mean any of it."

"What do you mean? He clearly is just worried about his position and his reputation in court. He thinks that being a great king requires only status and popularity amongst nobles. Doe he not notice Jane, a childhood friend, in danger?" demanded Collin, wiping blood from his mouth. "That arrogant...."

"Be quiet! Collin, do you not see it? Lance is worried. Do you not notice the look in his eyes? They were frantic and fearful. He only tries to hide it for your sake."

"Why for my sake and not for his sake?"

"For both, he's protecting his name, our family name. He still loves Jane very much, but out of consideration for your feelings for Jane, he hides it. You need to wake up Collin, and start paying attention to what's going on around you. Lance was right, you need to start pulling yourself together. Wake up and smell the roses, Collin." With that, Aaron left the room, leaving Collin with a confused look on his face.

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