The Prince's Wedding

6. A Favour.

The kitchen staff, the servants and the maidens stand uniformly in front of me, quiet and yet, scared.
I can see it in their eyes.
In the way most of them fidget with their clothes and fingers.
Fear....

Still, among them is a killer. A killer after Melissa.
The question is....who?
After leaving the physician's place, we'd checked Halley's room and sure enough, her platter of fruits and food was there, untouched. She had eaten Melissa's food...so she was definitely not the target.
It was Melissa.

Beside me, Felipe stands to my right and Caspian to my left, and everyone remains quiet as I observe the crowd.
My father never had to deal with this.
No poisoning conspiracy, no killing attempts...
So why now?
Why me?
And more importantly....why Melissa?

She had remained with the physician and her sister, refusing to come and frankly, I don't blame her.
She'd spent more time with these people than I ever did or intend to in my entire life...and still, one or more of them wanted to get rid of her.

"Dominic, step out." I say, referring to the head of the kitchen staff and he steps out, then bows.

"Victoria, out." The head of the maidens, a short, middle-aged chubby woman, steps out and curtsies.

"Edward. Out." Head of the servants, a tall and lanky young man walks out and bows.

I stay quiet for a while, observing their faces, waiting to see a reaction or a slip up. But they look just as frightened as everyone else and I can't tell if it's because they're naturally scared of me or they know what's happened.

"You're all summoned here because in one way or the other, you all play a part in making the food, organizing it and distributing it in this castle."
I observe their faces.
Nothing.

"And somehow, in doing that, someone here compromised the food and because of that treacherous act, the young Lady Halley is currently lying unconscious in the physician's place."

Then the murmurs rise.
The exchange of glances.
The shock.
But still I don't find what I'm looking for....
Guilt.
Anger.

"I'm about to ask a question and I will only ask it once. After which the three of you," I look at the three representatives I've called out,
"Will tell me the truth about what you know of this. And if the perpetrator or perpetrators refuse to confess after I count to three, you will all permanently lose your jobs and be sent to the dungeon."

Their gasps fill the room and the murmurs rise even louder.

"Silence!" Felipe says and the room becomes quiet again.

I observe them one more time, then I let the words out.
"Whom amongst you, attempted to poison Lady Melissa by putting spider venom in her food?"

I watch them gasp, looking at each other and murmuring,
"Spider venom?"

"Poison?"

I watch their faces patiently, waiting.
Then Dominic steps forward.

"Your Majesty, I can assure you I monitored the entire cooking process in the kitchen today. I was present from the beginning to the end and I inspected every dish myself before it left the kitchen. None of my kitchen staff had a hand in this." Then he bows and moves backwards.
He looks scared but his words sound sincere and firm.

Victoria steps up next.
"Your Majesty, I can't say that I was in charge of every maiden at that moment, neither can I say I knew of all their actions. But I will say honestly that I had no part in this and I hope they didn't either." She says, sounding sure and honest.

Then I turn to Edward and I catch it.
The look. Fear.
And not the innocent type, the guilty type.

"Edward?" I call out to him and he looks up, as though realizing where he is.