Royal Blood - By Rhys Bowen Page 0,108
“It is a shortcut from my room to the main floor.”
“Then, Your Highness, would you like to try them out for us?” I asked.
“Of course.” She walked confidently to the staircase and ascended the first couple of steps.
“You see?” She turned and smiled. “There is nothing here but an ordinary passageway.”
“There must be a knob or a lever or something that triggers the mechanism,” I said. “Look on the walls. Princess Maria was ahead of me, and—”
Matty looked up sharply. “One minute. You don’t think that I sent you into this dungeon? That I brought you here to trick you?”
“I’m afraid that’s exactly what I think,” I said. “I’m sorry, Matty, but you didn’t really want to introduce me to Vlad, did you? You wanted him to stay hidden.”
“What?” Matty’s father roared. “Vladimir? That boy is here, in the castle? When I forbade you to see him again?”
“No, Father. Of course not,” Matty said. “Here’s not here. I don’t know what Georgiana is talking about.”
“Come down here, young woman,” the king commanded. “Come out into the light where I can see your face. I always know if you are lying to me.”
“Father, please, not in front of these people.” Matty came back down the stairs. Patrascue’s men, who had crammed themselves into the narrow hallway, stepped aside for her. There was a lot of jostling and moving and as she stepped down from the bottom step the floor suddenly tilted beneath her. Matty screamed as she started to fall. Hands reached out to grab her and she was dragged back to safety. We stood staring at the black cavity below us.
“Now do you believe me?” I asked. “Queenie?” I shouted. “Can you hear me?”
“Is that you, miss?” a voice echoed up, sounding distant and hollow. “I’m still here.”
“We’ll have you out in a jiffy,” I shouted back.
“Your Majesty, what is happening?” Count Dragomir appeared behind us. “Is there really an oubliette? After all these years! I thought it was just a legend.”
“My maid is still down there,” I said.
“I apologize, Lady Georgiana. We will have her brought out instantly.”
The king turned to him. “And I ask you, Dragomir—did you know that Vlad was in the castle?”
“I did not, Majesty,” Dragomir said angrily. “I made it clear to him that he should stay away.”
“I want the castle searched in case he is hiding out,” the king said. “You will set every available man to this task, is that clear?”
“Yes, Majesty,” Dragomir said in a flat voice, “but Vlad gave me his word and—”
“He’s not here, Father,” Matty shouted.
“Every available man!” the king thundered. “And as for you, madam”—he turned to glare at his daughter—“I want to know the truth from you. Return to my study this instant. We can’t have matters like this shouted up and down the halls for everyone to hear.”
He marched his daughter back to the study. The rest of us followed. When the door was shut behind us the king spoke coldly.
“The truth, Maria. Is that boy in the castle? Have you dared to see him again?”
“No, Father,” Matty said. “Georgiana misunderstood.”
“I saw him,” I said. “I’m sorry, Matty, if it weren’t a question of murder I wouldn’t have betrayed your secret, but it is. And your bridegroom has a right to know that you tried to kill him.”
“What?” Matty shrieked. “No, that’s quite wrong. I told you Vlad is sweet. He’d never kill anyone.”
“And what about you?” I said. “You dropped enough hints that you didn’t want to marry Nicholas, that you were being forced into it when you loved someone else.”
“You think that I put poison in Nicholas’s glass?”
“One moment, if you please.” Patrascue stepped between us. “I do not understand. It was a Bulgarian field marshal who was poisoned. This I was told. Is it not true?”
“The poison was intended for me,” Nicholas said. He was staring at Matty with horror and disbelief on his face. “Pirin was a peasant. He had no table manners. He grabbed the nearest full glass and it was mine.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe this of you, Maria. If the idea of marrying me was so abhorrent to you, why didn’t you tell me? I would never have expected you to subject yourself to a life of unhappiness.”
“No, Nicholas.” She went over to him and put her hand gently on his arm. “You are not abhorrent to me. You are a kind, decent person and I should not object to spending my life with you. I