Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“Riviana, what is going on?” He asked me in a hushed whisper that I knew Aunt Glory couldn’t hear. Still, I didn’t want to be overheard so I threw up a sound blocking shield and spoke to him in a normal voice.
“Do you know that woman, Athair m貌r?”
“Yes, that is Hibiscus. She was Glory’s best friend when we were young.”
For a Fae to say ‘when we were young’ it meant that it happened a long, long time ago. I had an image in my mind of Valerian, Sorrel, and Glory as children playing with their new magical friends.
“So, it is safe to say that Aunt Glory is very worried about her.” I was looking at Hibiscus as she walked in front of me.
“Yes, she is most likely heartbroken to know that it was Hibiscus that discovered the body.”
“Is Hibiscus a good person? Is she someone that we have to worry about?”
The pure shock that was in his eyes told me that he and Glory never once suspected her. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Should I be the only one that is suspicious of her, or should I follow their lead and coddle the woman?
No, I wasn’t going to let her go without at least getting to the bottom of this first. She didn’t seem right to me. I don’t know what it was, but I just didn’t trust that she was there that close to when the murder took place and didn’t see a thing.
Now all I had to do was make it so that Aunt Glory understood what it was that I was thinking and feeling about this. I needed her to understand that in a situation like this you need to set aside your personal feelings and relationships.
That might be hard for her to do, but it was what was best for her people, and it was something she needed to do.
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Riviana
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We entered Aunt Glory’s private study then. I hadn’t said anything after I had asked if Athair m貌r or Aunt Glory had ever suspected Hibiscus. I didn’t want either of the two of them to be angered by my questions just yet.
I just knew that once I actually started to interrogate the woman, Aunt Glory was going to be angry with me. I needed to pull her aside and talk to her first and tell her what it was that was on my mind.
When we were in the room, Aunt Glory forbade all knights and guards from coming in. I thought to myself at that moment that there was something wrong with that declaration. There was something going on that I simply didn’t understand yet.
Joaquin and I still followed them all into the room, that part didn’t change, but the guards and knights that were following us were forbidden from entering.. I saw a fearful look in Vincent’s eyes as I looked back at him. He wasn’t happy about this either.
“Sit here, Bissy.” Aunt Glory guided the woman to a chair near the fireplace. Almost as soon as she was seated though, Aunt Glory had conjured up a cup of tea. That was a new one, I have never tried to create food and drink from magic like that. And I don’t think that I will either. I will stick with what I am used to, for now.
“Drink this, it will make you feel better.” Aunt Glory handed over the cup. “It will all be OK, Bissy, I promise it will.”
“I can’t believe that I had to see something like that. What did Frida ever do to the killer?” She was shaking, she was sobbing, she was doing everything right, but there was just something in her eyes that made me think that it was all fake.
“I don’t know, Bissy, but I will find out who did this. I will find them, and I will make them pay.”
Aunt Glory’s words weren’t empty. I could feel the power in those words that proved to me, and all of us in the room, that she was telling the truth. She fully intended to punish the person who committed these crimes against her people.
“Queen Gloriana, may I speak with you for a moment.” I beckoned her over to where I was standing, on the opposite side of the room.
“Of course, Riviana dear.” It appears that now that we were back in her private quarters she was speaking familiarly again.
Aunt Glory rose to her feet and started to walk to my side, however, I saw that her eyes were tense, and she was far from the calm and collected person she was pretending to be. I could see the control and sanity in her eyes wavering like they were just thin veils hiding the true chaos that she was feeling.
“Riviana, my dear, what is it that I can do for you?” She gave me a small smile that definitely wasn’t real. I could tell what it was that she was truly asking me- ‘What do you want? Can’t you see that I need to take care of my friend here?’
Yeah, she was definitely pissed off at me. This was likely to turn into a major incident between us. I knew that this was what I needed to do, it was the proper course of action, but could I get her to understand that as well? That was the big question now, wasn’t it?
“Aunt Glory,” I paused and tried to give her a friendly smile, letting her know that I was indeed worthy of her respect, and that I was just being polite for her sake, “I think that we need to be a little more careful. We do not know what happened earlier this evening. So until we get some more details, we need to be a little more cautious and reserved.”
“Are you telling me that you suspect Hibiscus?” I saw incredulous anger start to fill her face before she had it hidden again.
“I think it is too soon to rule it out.” I confirmed for her.
“Riviana, I will have you know that Hibiscus is the first friend I ever made. Back when she ascended from being nothing more than just the magical essence of the flowers themselves. I know that she is not capable of something like this.”
“Have you ever interviewed her before?” I leveled a firm look her way. “Have you ever talked to her about what has been going on around here? Or did you exclude her because she is a close and personal friend of yours?”
I see that she was instantly defensive about that question.
“Of course, I didn’t question her. She is not that type of person. She is a sweet, kind, and honest woman that-.”
“And by your own admission, you could tell that everyone that you did interview was telling you the truth and had committed no crimes, or that you could tell anyway. So, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the people you didn’t interview because of their closeness or assumed innocence are the likely culprits?”
I could tell that she was understanding and even agreeing with me, however, she didn’t seem all that happy about it. I just stood there though, watching her as she did her best to process the words that I had spoken.
She didn’t want to suspect her friends, and I could understand and relate to that. This wasn’t a time that afforded us this type of leeway though. No one was beyond suspicion when there were people being murdered.
