by Eric Vall
“Brute sympathizers don’t deserve proper burials,” The Duchess snapped. “Both of you know what happens to them, don’t you? They’re taken to the mortuary, cremated, and then tossed into a mass grave.”
“B-Brute sympathizer?” the brunette stammered. “What in the world are you talking about? Ortensia wasn’t a harlot! She was the Chief Constable! Why are you saying such things, Edony? We need to get her to the--”
“You will do no such thing,” Edony boomed, turned on her heels, and then thrust all of the letters in the constable’s direction. “The proof is right here, if you want to see it. She didn’t take her life because she was depressed or unhappy, she took her life because someone in this town found out her secret, and was going to go to me about it. She took the coward’s way out, that’s what she did. If she had been a real woman, she would’ve faced me herself… not killed herself, but that’s not what’s important right now. Our Chief Constable, the one that worked extremely close with me, was a brute sympathizer, and we all know, you know, and I know, that is not acceptable in this world. From these other letters, it seems that others in this town feel the very same way, and I will find each and every one of them. When I do, they will suffer the same fate as the Chief Constable, I’ll string all of them up in the courtyard outside of my duchy for all of Edenhart to see.”
“I-I don’t believe it,” Zinnia disputed. “There’s no way that can be true, we lived with her, we spoke with her, we knew her better than anyone else in this world, and it’s just not possible. She never felt any respect or caring for men.”
“It doesn’t matter if you lived with her, you insolent fools,” Edony spat. “Do you think she would share such horrible, disgusting ideologies with those around her? Especially since she lived in the constable dormitory? Are both of you stupid? I swear, your ranks get more unintelligent every year, of course, she would hide all of this from you! Everyone in this goddamn city knows what will happen to a harlot! They’ll be executed, or they’ll be sent away to an asylum! If I’d only known, I would’ve turned her in immediately, we absolutely cannot have people like that running around, spewing that garbage in this town!”
“So…” Zinnia hiccupped. “What do we do?”
“We have no other choice,” Edony sighed. “We send for the mortician, they’ll pick up her body, cremate it, and then dispose of it. There’s nothing else we can do, I’ll make an announcement, and let everyone in the city know what has happened. Hopefully, once the public finds out that the Chief Constable was a harlot, those who share the same sentiments will panic and reveal themselves. I have a few suspicions on who they might be, but I can’t say for sure, but I want the two of you to keep an eye out.”
“Keep an eye out for what?” Afton wept. “We just lost a dear friend, how can we keep on working as if nothing has happened? Ortensia is dead, Edony! She killed herself! We… we… can’t keep working at a time like this! We need to mourn her properly with a burial and memorial!”
“We don’t mourn those who turn against us,” Edony roared. “She was a traitor to our sex! She believed that men are equal or are higher than us! Those of us who believe such things deserve to be cut down! I almost wish she would’ve stayed alive so I could’ve been the one to take her out of this world. In fact, I believe that women who believe such things are worse than brutes, they know that we are stronger and more intelligent than the beasts, and yet, they lower themselves to the animals’ level. To think what kind of damage she could’ve done to Edenhart if she was spewing this filth around right under my nose! It disgusts me, and it should revolt you, too! She wasn’t your friend or colleague, she was your enemy without any of you even knowing! She doesn’t deserve a burial or even a cremation, we should throw her corpse into a ditch to rot.”
“She… she…” Afton babbled through tears, but Edony cut her off with a snarl, inclined her head, and glared down her nose at the two constables.
I shouldn’t have been surprised that it worked, and yet, I still was. The letters my monster-girls had written were perfect, and they’d fooled both of the constables, though I could tell from Edony’s expression, she wasn’t entirely convinced.
I was so proud of them, both Daisy for masterfully writing the letters, Rian hanging Ortensia up, and Valerie sneaking all of us into here. They all were brilliant in their own way, and even though I couldn’t speak right now, I wanted to tell them so.
“Enough,” the Duchess barked. “She’s dead, you had your moment to ‘mourn’ her, and now, we must move on from it. As I said before, I want the two of you to keep a close eye on the masses, if any of the aristocrats responds to the news suspiciously, I want to be the first to hear of it, do you understand? Anything you hear or see, it comes to me first.”
“What about the Chief Constable’s position?” Zinnia blubbered. “What are we going to do without Ortensia? She was our leader! We have no one else now! We have to have someone to instruct us!”
“How long did you survive without her?” Edony growled. “You act as if the lot of you are helpless babies! I was the one who led you before Ortensia came! You will report to me as it was and should be. Now that Ortensia is gone, it really shows that all of you need a strong, iron-willed leader, and that has been me all along. You’ve known that, and I have, too, now that the Chief Constable has shown her true colors, you will report directly to me.”
“W-What do we do about the Queen?” Afton asked. “Will she send us a new Chief Constable now that Ortensia is gone? Edony, we have so many unanswered questions, we need to take a little time off to explain all of these things.”
“Absolutely not,” the blonde grunted. “The town would destroy itself from the rumors. I need you, all of you, to be stronger than ever right now, not only that, but I see right through you, Afton. You want to take time to mourn your loss, but you need to listen to me, if I find out that one of you has mourned Ortensia, I will personally execute you in the streets, no questions asked. During this trying time, I will not be trifled with. I don’t need a reason to kill you, do you understand? No judge, no jury, only executioner. If you give me even the slightest indication that you are a brute sympathizer, I will not hesitate to end your life.”
“I understand,” Zinnia sniffled, rose from the floor, wiped her red eyes with her sleeve, and then stood tall. “I will be your right hand, I will not betray you as Ortensia did. I will stand with you, Edony, and make this city better than it has ever been before.”
“But what about the Queen?” Afton echoed. “What will we tell her? Ortensia must have had some type of correspondence with her, reports, or something? Shouldn’t we alert her to the Chief Constable’s suicide?”
Edony’s nostrils flared, her violet eyes widened, she took a step forward, gripped her cane tightly in one hand, and moved as if to strike out at the smaller woman, but the Duchess surprisingly held back.
“The Queen will learn nothing of this, do you understand?” Edony asked. “I know for a fact that she sent Ortensia here to be a spy, but I managed to win the Chief Constable over. They do not have active correspondence except for a few letters every three or four months, other than that, the Queen isn’t concerned with what Ortensia did. If a letter such as that arrives here, you will send it directly to me. The Queen will continue to believe that Ortensia is happy and healthy here in Edenhart, and if she finds out the manner of the Chief Constable’s death, I will know that it was one of you.”
“We’re going to keep this a secret?” Afton gasped. “From our Queen? The one who rules over all of us? Are… are you sure about this, Edony?”
“Of course, I’m sure about this,” the blonde snarked. “I’ve been the goddamn Duchess of this town since I was sixteen years old after my mother passed away. Do you really want to question my authority? Do you think I can’t protect you? What is it, Afton? Are you afraid that I can’t take care of you or the people of Edenhart? Have I not protected you for the last seven years? Have I not done that?”
Edon
y was hissing under her breath now, so not to wake up the other constables, her cheeks flamed red with rage, and the air around us was crackling with electricity. The blonde slammed out her left hand, her pointer finger straight toward us, and a blast of yellow light zapped straight toward us. I felt the burning heat, clenched my hands around Daisy’s and Rian’s forearms, and forced them down with me. The lightning bolt hit the wall with an ear-splitting crackle, exploded with bright blue flames, caught fire for a second, and then puffed with smoke as the light died out. My heart pounded in my chest, sweat dripped down my temples, and I slowly raised my head to peak up at the Duchess.
Edony rounded on the small constable, Afton cowered on the floor, kept her eyes down, and slumped her shoulders as the Duchess bared down on her. It felt as if we were seconds away from watching this constable lose her life to Edony, but just as suddenly as it started, the Duchess pulled away with a snarl.
“Stand up,” the blonde commanded. “Do as your fucking told, or do I need to beat some sense into you? I am the goddamn Duchess, take the body to the crematorium this instant. I gave you a direct order, Constable Afton, now do it!”
Edony’s right hand slammed out, this time curled into a tight fist, and showers of sparks rained down on the mousey-haired constable. The fiery flickers burned black holes into the floorboards around Afton, the brunette squeaked out of fear, scrambled toward Ortensia’s body, and grabbed onto her pale, limp arm.
Afton’s reply was nothing more than a whisper in the room as I turned to where my three women should be.
“We need to get out of here,” I murmured. “Do you think you can stay quiet until we get out of the room?”
All of them replied in hushed voices, and I was the first to move toward the door. I kept my gaze glued onto Edony, stepped toward the open door, and listened to the last remaining scraps of their conversation.
“Afton, you will take Ortensia’s corpse with you,” the blonde instructed. “Then you will report to me at the duchy, do you understand?”
“By myself?” Afton asked. “I have to carry her there by myself?”
“Is there an issue?” Edony barked. “You’re a strong girl. You can do it. You wouldn’t have been chosen to be a constable if you weren’t.”
“Y-Yes.” The downed woman whispered, grabbed the corpse under the arm, and slowly lifted it from the floor.
Even though I couldn’t see her, I grabbed Valerie by the waist, and halted all of our movements, Afton struggled to stand, held Ortensia’s body to her side, and slowly dragged her toward the door. All of us held our breaths as the smaller woman passed, sighed heavily, and then stomped down the hall slowly with the corpse. I whipped my head in the Duchess’ direction right as Zinnia moved to leave, and the blonde grabbed her by the shoulder. Edony didn’t look Zinnia in the eye, but kept her gaze trained toward the darkened hallway.
“Keep an eye on her,” the Duchess ordered. “You understand what I mean, don’t you, Zinnia?”
“Yes, Duchess,” the redhead nodded. “She… she can’t be trusted, especially after what she said about Ortensia and the Queen.”
“She may be your partner,” Edony breathed. “But your allegiance is to me, you know that, right? The Queen isn’t the one who provides for you every day, I am. I keep you and your family safe, hell, I graciously gave you this job, so, therefore, everything you have, I gave to you.”
“Yes,” Zinnia nodded. “You did, I thank you every day for giving me this life.”
“Now that Afton is gone,” The Duchess murmured. “I will admit that I don’t believe that Ortensia killed herself…”
“What?” the redhead gasped. “What do you mean? She hung herself… we all saw it. How could you think such a thing?”
“I don’t know how to explain it,” Edony sighed. “But it all seems very suspect to me… a little too fishy… a little too… too… I don’t know. Perfect? It doesn’t seem like something she would do.”
“Do you think it had to do with the threatening letter?” the redheaded constable asked. “Maybe the person who wrote it killed her and then made it look like it was a suicide?”
Edony’s tongue stuck in the corner of her cheek, she clicked her tongue, narrowed her eyes toward the wall, and then grunted deep in the back of her throat. The blonde seemed to be thinking long and hard about something, and despite our best efforts to make it look like a suicide, she still wasn’t convinced.
“Hm, maybe,” the Duchess muttered. “But I can’t shake this strange feeling I have in my bones… that Charles Rayburn has something to do with this…”
“Charles?” the redheaded constable repeated. “Charles Rayburn? The quack alchemist? The one who used to sell elixirs on the side of the road? What does this have to do with him?”
“Yes, that’s the one,” Edony stated. “I always get funny feelings like this about him… I’ve never been right, but… I can’t stop myself from feeling this way. It’s as if Charles came into this room without my knowledge and rubbed his grubby alchemist hands over everything in sight. It’s always him. He should have stayed with me.”
Zinnia glanced at the Duchess out of the corner of her eye like she thought the blonde was crazy. The constable didn’t say it, but it was clear to her that this suicide had absolutely no connection to me.
“I-I… I doubt that Charles Rayburn has been in this room, Duchess,” the redhead stammered. “Not only that, but the constable dormitory is one of the highest patrolled areas in the city, I doubt he would’ve been able to sneak in, even with help.”
“Maybe you’re right, Zinnia,” Edony grumbled. “But I can’t shake this feeling that he’s somehow involved… like he’s somehow watching me, even right now, I feel his beady little vermin eyes on my back.”
“Maybe it’s just your past experiences with him?” The redhead offered. “I’ve heard that traumatic events can cause feelings like that.”
“I could be paranoid,” the Duchess sighed. “But I feel it… almost everywhere I go. It’s almost as if I can’t get rid of him… such an annoying little pest.”
“Would you like me to look into him?” Zinnia offered. “I could go to his manor and question him.”
“There’s no need for that,” Edony exhaled. “Even if we did question him, I doubt he has anything to do with this, he never does… it’s probably just me…”
“If it really bothers you that much,” the constable continued. “I can look into it, I can be subtle.”
“No, I won’t ask you to do such a thing,” Edony smiled. “Not only that, if I have a hunch about something, I prefer to pursue it myself.”
“That’s entirely understandable,” the constable bowed her head. “I will only do as you ask, and if you want me to stay back, I will.”
“Yes,” Edony smiled. “Now, make sure that Afton reports to me after she drops off the carcass. I want to know that she didn’t come back here, and mourn the loss of such vermin-loving trash as Ortensia.”
“Yes, Duchess,” Zinnia nodded. “I’ll go now, and wait for her. If she heads back in this direction, I’ll take her immediately to the duchy.”
“Don’t intervene if she goes straight to the duchy,” the blonde instructed. “I don’t want her to think we’re keeping tabs on her just yet.”
“Of course, as you wish.” The redhead grinned, saluted the Duchess, turned on her heels, and then raced out of the room.
All four of us were inches away from the door, but I kept my eyes focused on Edony’s back. She was our biggest threat, she was the most dangerous woman in the entire town, and here we were, invisible and vulnerable in a room with her. I already knew that there was no way that she could notice us since, somehow, Valerie had obscured all of us out of sight, but my heart still hammered in my chest. Sweat beaded on my forehead, I pressed my lips into a firm line, and I pulled all three of my women a little closer to my body.
Edony turned on her heels, thought for a moment, glanced over her shoulder, and stared at the woo
den beam where Ortensia had hung. The torn rope hung limply from the shaft, the Duchess’ violet eyes moved over it, dropped to the chair, and then the floor where the letter had rested. In one swift movement, Edony stomped across the room, snatched up all of the letters, slammed the roll-top desk closed, glanced at the beam once more, and then headed toward the door.
The blonde woman brushed past us, and I could faintly smell her sweet, orchid perfume. I hated the fact that I found her attractive, she’d done so many terrible things to me, and yet, my body still yearned to reach out and touch her. Her skin was so pale, almost like a perfect, untouched blanket of snow, and I inwardly wondered what it would feel like under my fingertips. Would it be smooth and buttery like Valerie’s? Or would it be rough and thicker like Rian’s? I had no way of knowing, and I doubted I would ever find out.
“I swear,” Edony whispered, paused at the door, and turned. “There has to be something… why do I feel this way? Why do I feel him here?”
The blonde eyes sliced through the air like daggers, slammed into me, and cut into my flesh. It felt as if she was looking directly at me, as if I wasn’t invisible at all, and I had to wonder, why did she feel that way? Did she have some type of sixth sense when it came to my presence, or was it merely a gut feeling?
Edony’s colorless brows knit together, her plump lips pursed, and she looked sad for a fraction of a second. I’d never seen such emotion pass over her features… except for that time when I was a boy, and I saw her riding through the parade. It suddenly occurred to me that Edony was human, too, she felt emotions and feelings just as I did, but it was so foreign to me. She’d always seemed like a stone statue with an emotionless expression frozen on her stoic face, but here she was, looking almost on the verge of tears.
Then, just as suddenly, the emotion disappeared from her face, Edony blinked, cleared her throat, shifted her shoulders, and then hurried off down the hall toward the stairs.
