The Husband Poisoning Society, Chapter 29

“What do we do?” Vincent looked at me as he spoke.

“I turn myself in.” I said. 

“No.” Fiona said. “They will execute you.”

“But I’ll be enough. They can use me as their scapegoat. They won’t be as concerned with the rest of you if they have the She-wolf of Ys.”

“Nobody here is going to let you do that, are we?” Amy asked. 

They shook their heads. I sighed. “Then what do we do?”

Lynn set her shoulders. “We turn me in. Nobody else is going to die for me. Hide the rings. That way Monique can’t be remarried.”

“No. We aren’t doing that.” I said. “First, we aren’t abandoning you. I abandoned my mother. I won’t abandon you. Second, without a duke for clan Wulfling, Hyperborea will still declare war on Ys. And that means that you wouldn’t be enough. We’d need the ducal signet ring as well.”

“What do you mean you abandoned your mother?” Fiona asked. “She abandoned you.”

I flinched. I had meant my mother back on Earth. “Not from my perspective,” I deflected.

“But there is no male heir left alive. What will they do?” Amy asked.

“They’ll find an heir. They’ll elevate somebody if need be.” I said. 

“And then Monique will be bound to marry that person.” Lynn said. “No. There must be another way.”

“What other way?” Fiona asked. “We are trapped in enemy territory. We are wanted for murder. And all paths lead to defeat.”

I glanced at Fiona. Her tone was off. I noticed Amy looking at her as well. She had caught the change as well. Fiona was worried. Scared. That didn’t fill me with confidence. Vincent put a hand on her shoulder. We three could tell. I doubted Lynn or Laila could tell. 

Fiona’s pronouncement had silenced the group. We stood mute. Nobody offered anything.

Then somebody knocked at Lynn’s door. 

“Baroness Octavian?” It was Duke Xander. “Do you have a moment?”

“Hide.” Lynn whispered.

Amy and Laila clamored into the wardrobe. Vincent pointed under the massive bed. And Vincent, Fiona and myself scrambled beneath the bed as Lynn opened the door. Duke Xander loomed in the doorway. He peered down at Lynn. Then he nodded to her.

“I expect that you heard. You can’t have missed the conversation between myself and your fiance. But I feel I must tell you. Your fiance has agreed to be held in prison in place of his seer. And if we cannot find her, he will be executed in her place.”

Lynn blanched. “I heard. Thank you for telling me yourself.”

“I feel obligated. I do not like this. But I am bound by my loyalty to Hyperborea to carry out his majesty’s will. The trial will be tomorrow. If the tall one is not found, your fiance will be tried in her place. They will find him guilty. And they will execute him.” 

I suppressed a gasp. Xander looked towards the bed. I looked around, and then pushed Quincy forward, so that his head popped out from under the bed.

Xander chuckled. It sounded hollow. “The little dog. He belongs to the tall one, yes?”

“Yes. I’ve been looking after him since you arrested Ren.”

“It is sad that he will never see her alive again. This is all sad. So much loss of life.”