Page 37 of Framed in Florals (The Emerald Realm 3)

“You said it was enchanted, correct?” I asked the group.

Yvette nodded. “Yes, Your Highness. She said she received it from a tavern maid in the capital. Once the dress was on her, none of us could recall her name or previous appearance.” She looked over the dress with her own suspicious glare. “She didn’t tell us what this evidence of hers was, so I can’t be certain of what you’re looking for.”

I kneeled on the mossy ground, inspecting the stitched on blooms. “Was there anything about the dress that she mentioned to be significant? A secret message in the flowers or a hidden pocket perhaps?” I tried to mentally translate the meanings of the specific flowers she had attached, but it was such a wide variety that I couldn’t see how a message would be intertwined.

“There is a pocket on the underside of the skirt,” Beatrice noted. “We added it so she could carry her letter without it being seen.”

I ran my hands along the edge of the skirt until my fingers felt the fold of the pocket. When I rummaged my hand through the opening, I found it was completely empty.

“No luck,” I said dismally while laying the skirt back on the ground.

As I placed the satin back against the dirt, something caught my eye at the base of the dress. There was a small patch of fabric that was slightly off color. I stood from the ground and grabbed the top of the dress, flipping it around in the air so the back now faced upward. When I kneeled back along the hem, I could barely see where a different piece of fabric had been stitched into the skirt as a patch. A beautiful arrangement of now wilted flowers almost perfectly covered up what must have been a tear.

A quiet gasp escaped my lips as I rummaged through my pockets, grasping onto the strip of lavender silk I had stashed away. I laid the scrap against the hidden stitch, lining it up with the healed patch.

It was a perfect match.

My heart swelled with excitement as I stared at the evidence before me. “It matches! She’s innocent!” I announced, my joy spilling over.

The members of my guard began to share intrigued murmurs with each other until Captain Orion stepped forward. “Your Highness,” he said starkly. “I don’t mean to spoil your relief, but I fear that if the fabric matches, then it only confirms that Miss Kalina was the one who broke into your father’s office.” The guard all seemed to agree with this sentiment as they looked upon me with pitied eyes.

“Quite the contrary, captain!” I laughed as I waved him to come closer and he followed. “Look here, the tear was already patched. How could Kalina have ripped her dress in the office if the fabric that tore was already missing? Not only that, but we can prove that the dress was mended before the ball. The flowers are all decayed at the same rate, meaning they were placed at the same time.” I pointed at the seam that was barely visible beneath the wilted blooms. “By covering the seam with her flowers, Kalina essentially time-stamped the repair. If she had fixed the tear after the ball, then the flowers that now cover it wouldn’t be wilted like the rest.”

I watched with glee as the captain’s furrowed brows raised into surprise. “Then this is clear evidence that the girl was framed. The dress scrap must have been intentionally removed beforehand in order to stash it in the king’s office during the ball.” The captain’s face twisted into a disturbed expression. “This raises a new problem. If Kalina was framed, then where is she now? And where is the real group that planned the assassination?”

My joy shattered instantly at the captain’s statement. WherewasKalina? According to the gardeners, she had gone to leave me a letter and to confront the tavern maid. That had to have been hours ago. She said in the letter that she would turn herself in, but that clearly hasn’t happened yet. It was possible that she had decided to lay low due to the charges she was wanted for, but what if something had happened to her…

“Order all available troops to begin a hunt for Kalina Aristi,” I commanded. “As long as my father’s assailants remain unfound, she is in severe danger. I want every man we can spare searching for her until she is safely by my side.” I stared at the captain with the severity of a king.

He bowed. “Right away,” he began to turn away then paused, redirecting his gaze on me, “Your Majesty.” I felt a mixture of pride and sting as the captain made use of the kingly title. I was king now, and there was a very special citizen who needed my protection.

Just hold on Kalina, we’ll find you.

chapter twenty-three

“This is the place! Drag her out!” a rugged voice shouted from outside the caravan.

We had been traveling for two days, and the sun had begun to set. The wagon had abruptly pulled to a stop just before the man called out, and soon, I was being thrusted out of the wagon. My legs and wrists were stiff and numb from being bound for the last few days. We never stopped after we left Camille at the village. For two nights we had been traveling straight through, only stopping to gather water, relieve ourselves, and switch horses. The men ate occasionally in the back of the wagon, but I had only received one piece of stale bread per day and a cup of water. My bound limbs ached terribly from the awkward sleeping positions I had been forced to endure and my cheek still stung from the cut that was now healing over.

I had been expecting the prince to pull us over and at least ask me for the rest of my name, but he never did. Not once did any of the men seem interested in asking me any further questions. It was as if they already knew everything they needed to… I feared that his messenger had already figured out who I was and called my bluff, or that my step-family was easily found and already dealt with. A wave of nervous nausea rushed over me as I stumbled awkwardly out of the wagon. Once I was forced onto solid ground, I noticed that we were completely isolated.

The last day or so of the journey had been particularly bumpy, and now I could see that it was likely due to the fact that we hadn’t been traveling on a proper road. We were completely surrounded by forest. It wasn’t a particularly dense wood, since we had been able to fit a rather large caravan between the trees, but it certainly was desolate. If I had to guess, we were far enough away from any villages that crying for help wouldn’t be an option. I looked up at the displeased prince.

His face was only half-lit by the setting sun, and it shadowed his eyes nefariously. “Good evening, Miss Aristi, I do hope your trip was pleasant.” A twisted smile spanned his face, and I shivered. My last name… He must have figured it out…

“How did you discover my name?” I asked boldly, trying to minimize the fear in my voice.

A low laugh resounded in his throat. “Why, you’re famous, my dear!” he said smoothly. “It would seem that the prince truly does care for you, after all. He sent out word for a kingdom-wide search for a Kalina Aristi. I suppose I under-estimated our little Daisy. Apparently, he has found some sort of proof of your innocence. So now, poor Kalina is known by the kingdom as the helpless victim.” He pouted pitifully.

So Jasper found the dress after all? He had actually read my letter and sought out my innocence?A rush of relief and heartache ripped through me as I recognized the meaning of the dark prince’s words. Jasper had believed me, and now he had the entire kingdom looking for me… He wants to bring me home safe, but I fear that isn’t going to be possible…

“What do you want with me?” I asked, my heart heavy at the mention of Jasper. “You have had plenty of time to kill me, and now your plans to frame me have failed. What use could you possibly have for me now that the prince knows I’m innocent?”

The prince’s eyes glinted with amusement. “I haven’t quite made up my mind on that part yet… so I thought it might be fun to put it to a vote.” He turned back to his men, who all smiled with humored nods. “You see, Miss Aristi, I now hold a very important piece in this game.” He turned back to me and placed a cold finger under my chin. “You, the prince’s beloved little flower girl.”

I pulled my face away from his hand as quick as a viper. “So your plan is to hold me hostage? What in the realms for? You have already disposed of our king, what else could you possibly want from Jasper?”

“Well… That’s where I have options.” The prince smiled slyly. “You see, Kalina, if you end up surviving this messy little operation, then I’m faced with the issue of you knowing I’m from Ashbourne.” He tilted his head coyly and I rolled my eyes. “However, if the prince cares for you even half as much as he claims, I suppose I could barter your life for a peace treaty between our kingdoms.” His men snickered in agreement.

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