Shatter Like Midnight

Part Three-Ashlin

     "Is there anything you need to tell me, Ashlin?" Edris demanded. Ashlin swallowed.

     "I broke your favorite tea cup," she offered timidly. Edris scowled.

     "You went that that ball, didn't you?"

      "I did," Ash confessed, "but I didn't kill the prince. I wouldn't—couldn't."

     Her stepmother looked over her. "How am I supposed to believe you? You have always been a wretch of a girl."

     Ash didn't say anything. Edris was wrong; Ash had done everything she ordered. Except, of course, not to go to the ball.

     Edris continued, "Your mother's ring was found at the scene of the murder, and you were always jealous of Hazel. Everything points to you."

     "I am not jealous of Hazel," Ash insisted. "Yes, I was there, but I didn't kill him. Captain Peder—"

     The captain stepped into the hallway.

     "Is something the matter?" he asked. Then he noticed Ash. His eyes widened. Ash swallowed. There went her hope he wouldn't recognize her.

    "You are that girl," he realized. "The girl from the ball."

Edris took this as evidence.

     "It was my maid, Captain," she told him.

     "Your maid?"

     Before Ash could cut in, her stepmother went on, "This girl has been nothing but trouble since the moment she arrived here."

     "Why, then, did you not simply fire her? After all, buying a slave would be much more efficient."

     For this, Edris has no reply. Ash took this as her chance.

     "Because I'm not a maid, Captain, I'm her stepdaughter."

     "I know."

     Edris blinked. "You know?"

     "Ashlin here is Azurian. It did not take much work to find the only high ranking family who has moved here from Azure."

Edris stares at him, as though she couldn't believe what he had said.

Regaining her composure, she said, "This changes nothing. Ashlin, here, is the one you are looking for. You said so yourself."

"No, I said that I saw her at the ball. I saw you there as well, madam. Your daughters as well."

Ash's stepmother blanched. "You aren't . . . you seriously cannot be suggesting my daughters or I had something to do with this."

The captain's face was unreadable as he replied, "I did not see the murder, madam." He paused, then said, "Though, I do believe your stepdaughter did."

All eyes fell on Ash. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The captain had been there. He had killed he prince! Not her, not Edris, not Hazel or Piper either! What was he doing? What could she do? Accusing the captain of the guard—not to mention a royal—was hardly wise. He could make all of them disappear before anyone outside the manor caught wind of what she had seen. She could not lie, though. Not even to protect herself.

Ash swallowed. "I don't know what I saw."

Edris' face contorted. "Captain, surely you do not think that we are guilty. Ash, yes, maybe, but us?"

"You forced your stepdaughter into slavery, an act which borders on illegal. Furthermore, I have reason to suspect yours and your late husband's fortune was gained through spice trades I know to be illegal. Is murder too big a leap?"

Edris looked shattered. Ash's mouth gaped. She had never seen anyone leave her stepmother so speechless. The sight was so shocking.

     "What are you doing?" Ash asked quietly. Peder glanced at her, an unfathomable expression on his face.

     "I am trying to discern if your stepmother is worthy of prison, Miss Ashlin," he said. Ash blinked. No one had ever called her miss before. In fact, since her father's death, no one had treated her with that much respect.

     "Do you think she deserves this?" Peder asked.

     Somehow, she knew what he was really asking: would she go along with him—or at least not contradict him—if he pinned the murder on Edris. Her stepmother was certainly wicked. Ash feared her more than anyone else. Her punishment had Peder not come in frightened her too much to think about. Now, she had the chance to get rid of Edris. With her gone, Ash stood to inherit what remained of her father's fortune. The life her mother wanted for her was still a possibility.

But getting what she wanted meant letting Edris face punishment for a crime she hadn't committed.

She knew what was right, and she knew what she wanted to do. Unfortunately, those were two different things.

     "I . . . I don't know," Ash said quietly.

     Peder's face was a mask of concern. "Someone has to answer for this, Ashlin, and I suspect your stepmother has done you no favors."

     Face contorting, Edris snarled, "Ashlin, stay silent you wretched girl! I didn't do this, and you know it."

     "And the other charges?" Ash asked, fists clenching. "My father never did anything illegal. This business with the spice trades, that was you! You sullied his name and forced me into servitude! You made me a slave!"

     "Be glad I never sold you like one," Edris spat. "Or whipped you like one. You were always so like your mother. She was a wicked rick, too."

     Ash's mind was made up in an instant. She whirled towards Peder. Her fingernails dug into her palms as she said, "Do what you want with her."