Page 30 of Framed in Florals (The Emerald Realm 3)

Kalina Aristi

I folded the letter gently, then sealed it into its envelope. With a cautious eye, I tucked my note into its chosen spot beneath the flowers. None of the lingering guards or nobles seemed to notice me make the placement, so I allowed myself to relax slightly.

Returning to Pumpkin, I mounted the mare and clicked her into a trot. That was it. I had done all I could with Jasper. Now it was up to him whether or not he deemed me worth trusting.My chest tightened, but I tried to ignore it. I had something else to focus on now. Pumpkin and I wandered through town for another few minutes until my eyes fell upon the half-rotted tavern.

The Godmother’s Brew

I dismounted Pumpkin, then started for the door. If there was a chance that the prince wouldn’t believe me, then I would just have to track down the real culprits.

chapter nineteen

The tavern was even emptier than it had been on my first visit. It might have had something to do with the “closed” sign on the door, but I didn’t have the patience to deal with the technicality. As I burst through the door, the sole person in the dingy space shot her eyes to me. The barmaid’s face instantly grew alarmed as I quickly closed the distance between us. I was only a few feet from her when she shook off her startle and pulled a kitchen knife from her pocket.

“Stay back!” Camille commanded fiercely.

I froze, raising my hands in surrender. I hadn’t expected her to be armed.

“Camille,” I began, my tone much softer than I had originally intended, “I’m not going to hurt you. I only want to talk.”

Her eyes narrowed and she lowered the knife. “I ain’t got time to talk,” she hissed, turning her attention to a half-packed bag on the counter. “I gotta get out of ‘ere.” She stuffed some miscellaneous items into the bag, then turned to the kitchen to collect more.

I followed behind her. “You’re running?” I questioned, peering at the loaded bag.This is unexpected…I had assumed she was involved with the plot against the king. Why would she be trying to flee?

“As fast as I can,” she confirmed while stuffing food rations into a burlap pouch. “Ya should, too. I never knew what I was getting myself into, and I’m sorry I dragged ya into this... but I ain’t sticking around to die.”

Die?

She rushed back to the dining space to add to her pack, but I stood in front of the door, blocking the exit.

“Move!” she demanded, her voice quivering a little nervously. “I need to leave. Now!”

“Not until you tell me what’s going on.” I stared her down boldly, trying to convince her I wouldn’t be easily moved. “Who were those men? How did you get that dress? And what did you neglect to tell me the night we met? You’re not the only one who’s in trouble, Camille.”

We both held each other’s glares in a silent stand off for a moment, before Camille finally cracked.

“Alright! I’ll tell ya, but ya gotta let me pack while I talk.” I nodded, then stepped aside. She instantly rushed out the door, rattling off the story as she worked. “It happened a little over a week ago. This man, an enchanter, with brown and silver hair, came into the tavern and asked how business was going. Well, it wasn’t going well, so I was honest. I’m in a lot of debt after Pa left us, so I was hopeful that this guy would want to offer me a job, and he did.” She stuffed the rations into her bag, then hurried back behind the counter.

“What kind of job?”

“The easy, well-paying kind.” She shrugged. “All I had to do was show up at the ball in a fancy dress and dance with the prince. If I did that and stayed in the ballroom, then he would give me enough money to pay off my debts and more.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “I was skeptical, of course; it seemed too good to be true, and it definitely was. The man said he couldn’t get me an invitation, and I would have to sneak into the ball on my own. I wasn’t willing to go to prison, so I refused the offer, but then he sweetened the deal. He told me that the dress could conceal my identity, so if I was spotted, nobody would know it was me. I would still have to sneak in, but he claimed he knew a guard who would turn a blind eye at the eastern servant’s entrance. I knew it was risky…”

She paused, picking up a heavy pouch that was hidden beneath the counter. She looked inside of the bag and sighed again, then showed me the contents. I gasped. It was stuffed full of gold coins—it had to be enough money to buy a small property at least.

“He paid half up-front.” She cinched the bag closed, then walked it over to her luggage.

“That’s only half!?” I said in a baffled voice. Not even Sapphira had that kind of money handy.

“Like I said, they paid well.” Camille shrugged, adding the pouch. “So anyway, I agreed. There weren’t many other options for me other than go bankrupt. I saw an opportunity to make things better for me and my ma, but I didn’t think about the consequences…” She lowered her head.

“So, they paid you to wear the enchanted dress to the ball?” I summarized. “If that was all you had to do, then why did you give the dress to me?”

Her face twisted into a guilty expression. “I didn’t know what was gonna happen.” She turned her face from me, unable to look me in the eye. “I was nervous about breaking into the castle—even with the enchanted dress, there was still a chance I could get caught. So when ya came around with an invitation and a motive to attend… I don’t know, it just seemed like the safer option.

A touch of anger trickled through my veins. “So you’re telling me… that you accepted a sleazy deal with a stranger, who handed you a suspicious amount of coinage, then pawned off the dangerous part of the job to an unsuspecting girl while you collected the money?!” I ranted off the accusations, feeling far less sympathy than she wanted me to.

“Hey, ya better watch yourself! I was still doing ya a favor!” She pointed an accusing finger at me. “Ya still got to go to the ball, right? And ya got to go in without yer family knowing ya were there. If I hadn’t given ya that dress, ya never would have even gone!”

“If I hadn’t gone, then I wouldn’t be accused of murder right now!” I shouted, my anger bubbling over. “Camille, the king isdead. That dress you gave me was part of a set-up. The fabric that was torn off the bottom was found in the king’s office. They wanted you to take the fall for their crime, but now it’s landed on me!”

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