In the Shadows~zayn au~Completed ✅EDITING

~Chapter 8: Beginnings of Justice~

"What have you called me back for, milady?" Delia asked. The three of them were in the Princess's room that evening, Kalysta, Delia, and the new maid, Emily

"I have a new protégée for you to train, Delia," Kalysta answered, gesturing toward the young girl. "I would have you train her in the ways to best serve me. She is in your care."

"Is this why you've been giving me days off?" Delia asked, with only a little true concern. "You're going to replace me, hmm?"

"Of course not," Kalysta scoffed. "I would sooner give the Crown up than replace you without your consent."

"Then why on earth am I being given this waif to train?"

Kalysta saw the girl's back stiffen for a moment at the word "waif", but a second later she shrunk back into herself without voicing a word. It was interesting to Kalysta. The girl obviously had some sense of fighting spirit left after her ordeal. They would just need to encourage it.

"She's not a waif and you have no choice in the matter," Kalysta ordered.

"Have you ever been a maid or servant for anyone, girl?" Delia asked Emily sharply.

Here it was, the test as to whether or not the girl would let herself be ordered about and walked on by Delia.

The girl's head rose and her eyes flashed before she answered.

"My name is Emily, ma'am, not girl, or waif. And although I haven't served before I am a quick learner and I will not disappoint. Give me a chance and I will prove myself."

"Just swell, milady," Delia muttered. "Well, Emily-who-is-not-to-be-addressed-as-girl-or-waif, you will work long hours in service to the Royal Family, but it will be worth it if you dedicate yourself."

"Anything to repay the Princess," Emily said solemnly.

. . . . . . . . .

Her father had been right about the men in the common room. Without the ambassador present, the men had turned into rowdy, drunken fools, spouting whatever came to their minds.

Kalysta had arrived and they were already in full swing. To her surprise, they hadn't tried anything on the serving women so far that evening. She had thought the ambassador to be their only deterrent, but he had apparently warned them well. And although they weren't trying anything, they were definitely suggesting it, yelling loud, vulgar comments when the girls would refill their glasses. But it was several hours before anything of note happened.

The man who had attempted to hurt her the night before, Hayden, was obviously the ringleader when the ambassador was absent. He was the loudest and most free-tongued.

"I don't know what it is!" he called to Kalysta when she walked by their table. "Something about you blonde tarts make me feel twice the man! On the coast, inland, I'd like to sample all that Elysium has to offer! Whadya say? Will you be as stuck-up as those dock girls? Remember the one we had, James? She had that prude look about her too, just like this one!... lips all pinched. Gods, but she was a tasty piece, wasn't she?"

Kalysta pretended like she hadn't heard, simply walking past them and going to where William stood behind the bar, keeping a close eye over his establishment. On the inside, Kalysta was practically shaking with the fury that consumed her. She hadn't expected to find the perpetrators of Emily's attack so quickly, but fortune smiled down on her. Those men were going to pay. And they'd just made it easier too, having confessed their foul deeds in front of so many people.

"Is there something I can help you with, Lyra?" William asked as she approached.

"Yes," Kalysta breathed. "Tell the man Hayden that I wish to provide him private entertainment in a room, but when you bring him back, hold him. I have questions that need answering."

"As you command," William answered solemnly.

"I'll be in the first room down the left hall," she said.

"I'll bring him. Should I have another man come with me?"

"Yes, because I'll have him bring in the man James after I question Hayden. Tell him to wait for about ten minutes though. I will question Hayden first with no one else present but you."

"As you wish."

She left the common room and went to the side room to wait. William didn't take long, and Hayden was apparently very gullible.

"Not so much the prude then, eh?" he bellowed, swaggering into the room.

"William?" Kalysta said expectantly.

The innkeeper did not seem a formidable man at first glance, but Kalysta had seen him in action before and knew him to possess a strength and skill that few knew of. He stepped up behind Hayden and pulled the man's arms behind his back, bringing his knee up to collide with Hayden's side in the process.

Hayden doubled over, gasping in pain, and knelt on the floor. William grasped a handful of the Mullingan man's hair and wrenched him back to his feet.

"Bloody hell! What's this? Do ya not be knowin' who I am?" Hayden sputtered.

"I know perfectly well who you are, filth," Kalysta answered, stepping forward. "You're the man who raped a woman in Westtown a week ago. I'll be questioning you with William as my witness."

"I won't be answerin' anything, dumb bítch!" the vile man hissed, struggling to get away from his captor.

William used his hold in the man's hair to bring him around, swinging his knee up again, knocking the wind from Hayden and rendering him speechless. Hayden knelt once more, gasping for air.

Kalysta pulled the wig from her head and stood straighter.

"I am the Princess and you will answer my questions," she hissed. She walked forward and crouched to meet his gaze. "You will stand a fair trial, but until then, I need to know who else participated in the attack. Did the ambassador or any men besides James take part?"

Hayden took a moment trying to catch his breath. When he did, what he voiced wasn't a helpful addition. "Fück you, bítch!"

"William?" Kalysta sighed, stepping back.

The innkeeper pulled Hayden up again, this time locking one surprisingly strong arm around the man's neck and tightening it. Hayden, already winded, became purple quickly. He struggled, but it was futile; William was very obviously taller and stronger.

Hayden tapped the William's arm urgently and when released he sank to the ground, coughing and choking. William grasped the man's hair tightly once more, pulling back so that he faced up toward Kalysta.

"I don't like repeating myself," Kalysta murmured once he'd caught his breath. "Answer the question."

"No one," he gasped a second later. "No one, but me and James. The ambassador ain't like that."

"I'm glad to hear he has at least one scrupulous bone in his body," Kalysta muttered. "Maybe that's one I won't have to break for him."

She looked down at the man before her.

"If I were to find out you were lying to me..."

"Bloody hell, I'm not lying," Hayden wheezed.

"Good," she said quietly. To William she said, "Take him outside and send someone for the Captain of the guard. I want him in the dungeons as he awaits his trial. Send in James next."

A/N: Alright! I'm not going to call this a filler chapter because it's important to what's coming up! Keep tuned because there are going to be some serious twists in the next few chapters! :)) Thank you guys so much for reading!

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