A Brazen Duty (#2 BRAZEN series-part of the GOLDEN universe) ✔

•S I X•

♪ The world's a little blurry
Or maybe it's my eyes ♪
{Billie Eilish—ilomilo}

Dawn was Harriet's only friend. It never misspoke of her, never doubted her, and always showed up as promised. It woke her with its long, loving fingers, squeezing through the slit in the curtains, basking over her and whispering at her to rise.

So rise, she did. She stretched, dreading the work-load ahead, the tasks to come. With each passing day she had to further slip into a role she never expected to have, never wanted to have. With a groan, she slid on a robe, combed her hair, and wandered down to the Study. Her dreams had reminded her that she had to locate potential proof that the advisors were still aligned with Eugene, still operating for him. And for her plans of revealing their secrets and handing them over to the King to succeed, she needed to have them all grouped in one place. They were to arrive that day, meaning time was of the essence.

Ignoring the stacks of unfinished business, she hauled the drawers open. She extracted paper after paper, some scrunched, some blotched, some cut into pieces or tucked into secret compartments. A few were lodged between pages of obscure books, and she found a handful in the bookkeeping tomes still scattered across the desk. She didn't read them at first, only gathered them, her stomach gurgling in anticipation. Would any of these have her answers? Would Eugene ever write anything to incriminate his practices and his partners?

She went to the bookshelves and opened every book. And once all were out of the way, she pried through cabinets and patted their bottoms, in search of more concealed compartments. She crouched in the sitting area, seeking under the sofa and the tea-table. And even dug into the dirt of a potted plant and discerned a small locket with a waded parchment inside.

After an hour of turning the entire office upside down, she had a lot to read through. The first batch of notes—those from the drawers—had nothing particularly incriminating for the advisors. But they did reveal more reports of her father's business—trafficked weapons counts, messages from goldsmiths about extra taxes, coins stolen from coffers in the city. A few bribes from weapon-smiths, some overpriced silk receipts, responses to gambling debts, discounts given on wine for information from court.

"Well, well, well," Harriet snickered as she blew out a breath, "I shall send these to the King. Is this not what everyone wanted before Father was arrested? The traces of his sordid dealings?"

She put those notes on the tea-table and shrugged her hands through her hair. Her arms shook, and she realized she needed food. So she stuck her head out of the office and snapped at a nearby servant, requesting breakfast and caffeine.

My work is far from done.

Next was the information she'd unearthed from between pages and in special compartments of the desk. And these were... spectacular. Notes between Eugene and four other men—the Vassals. Harriet was well acquainted with them, having grown up with a clear awareness that she'd likely marry one of their sons. And to see their names there, their signatures, their seals... she couldn't help but smile. The words exchanged were about delivery of stolen goods, smuggled armor from England, Spain, Italy. Not to mention overwhelming interest on loans and additional income on outstanding taxes. All things King Antoine would be grateful to discover about one of his former council members.