Making monster girls 4 f.., p.14
Making Monster Girls 4: For Science!, page 14
I wasn’t sure what the cat-girl had found at Kelara’s house, but she seemed to be very excited about it.
Chapter Nine
I had to talk to Valerie immediately, but I certainly couldn’t get up and leave in the middle of tea unless it was an emergency. Edony would understand what I was doing if I came up with something on the spot, but I had no idea how Kelara would react. Would she find it suspicious? There was no way to tell, but with Valerie outside, I had to act soon.
I reached for my steaming teacup, took a sip, and looked pointedly toward Edony. The Duchess glanced at me out of the corner of her eye and smiled sweetly but didn’t seem to catch my drift. I cleared my throat, and all heads turned to me instantly.
“Edony?” I asked. “May I speak to you privately for a second?”
“I’m sure you could say whatever you need to in front of me,” Kelara grinned slyly. “As you’ve heard, there are no secrets between us.”
“Yes, there are,” I grunted. “I need to speak to Edony privately. The tea seemed to give me quite a few ideas for our… work, if you’d like to meet me out in the hall.”
“Oh?” the blonde aristocrat echoed. “But of course. I’d love to hear your ideas.”
Kelara’s hateful scarlet eyes followed us as we stood up from our chairs and exited the room. Edony turned to me as soon as we passed through the doorway, and her expression hardened immediately. For a passing second, she looked exactly as she did when I worked for her the first time. She’d often glared down at me with disdain and hatred, but even after her stunning confession, her harsh facial expressions still jolted me.
“What is it?” Edony whispered. “What’s the matter? You don’t have new ideas, do you?”
“No,” I shook my head. “I needed to get you away from Kelara for a moment. Valerie’s outside. I saw her through the window. I’m honestly surprised that Kelara didn’t see her, but thankfully, I don’t think she did.”
“She’s outside?” the Duchess gasped. “I thought we were meeting back at your manor after the luncheon was over?”
“That’s what I thought, too,” I uttered. “I am guessing Valerie found something she needed to show us immediately.”
“So,” Edony mouthed. “We have to get rid of Kelara.”
“Exactly,” I nodded. “And fast, before she figures out something else is going on.”
“Do you think she noticed or she’s suspicious?” the gorgeous blonde asked and glanced back toward the open door.
“Definitely,” I muttered. “I think she’s been on high alert since she stepped out of the carriage. She certainly didn’t expect me or Josephine and Daisy to be here. I think she thought this was a casual meeting where she’d lure information out of you.”
“So, you think she’s the spy?” Edony asked. “I have a feeling, but I want to hear what you think first, Charles.”
“We don’t have a lot of proof,” I sighed. “But I think she is… Going off the person we met in the black market, she matched the height and build.”
“And the bandages,” the Duchess offered. “She wore them at the masquerade. She’s not wearing them now, but I’m sure that they were the same fabric.”
“Exactly,” I breathed. “But we should wait until we talk with Valerie and see what she’s found… From the face she made outside of the window, I don’t think it was anything good, and our suspicions are true.”
“How are we going to get rid of her…” Edony hissed, cupped her chin, and glanced toward the open door again. “What about the Quarry Mile…”
“What?” I asked. “What’s the Quarry Mile?”
“You know how I told you about the aqueducts?” the Duchess probed. “How my mother demolished a few of them to make space for housing?”
“Yes?” I replied, furrowed my eyebrows, and took a step forward. “What about them?”
“There’s a place,” Edony murmured. “Just outside of town with an enormous aqueduct that I’ve meant to have demolished. It’s dangerous because many ex-consorts have set up tents underneath it, and the rock is starting to crumble. Not that I care if a few dirty, useless brutes lose their lives, but it could be an emergency to get us out of this…”
“Wait…” I grunted. “You’re not actually going to demolish it… right now, are you?”
“Of course not, Charles,” Edony giggled. “I’ll just do it at a later date.”
Edony turned her head toward the opposite side of the hall, spied a passing manservant, and lifted her right hand languidly into the air. Before I could say anything, a sizzle of static lifted into the air, and the smallest lightning bolt I’d ever seen slashed through the air toward the man. It made no sound as it passed right in front of him, and the manservant scurried backward with a soft yelp.
He turned, glanced down the hall, and breathed a soft sigh when he spied the Duchess and I. The manservant thumped down the hall, and Edony lifted a single finger to her lips for him to be silent.
“Be quiet,” the blonde aristocrat hissed through her teeth.
“Your Highness?” the manservant whispered. “What can I do for you?”
“I need you to do something for me,” Edony stated.
“Anything, Duchess,” the bald servant bowed his head. “I would willingly walk through a storm of your lightning bolts to get you whatever you wan--”
“That’s not necessary,” Edony interrupted. “You see, there’s quite an unpleasant guest that I invited over for tea. I’d like to get rid of her immediately so that I can be free of her wretched presence.”
“Ah, yes,” the manservant nodded. “What would you like me to do?”
“I need you to address me as if there is an emergency,” Edony explained. “Mention something about ‘Quarry Mile.’ You know what that is, correct?”
“Yes, I do, your Highness,” the servant grinned. “Shall I do it here or go back to the mouth of the hall and shout to you?”
“The latter,” Edony chuckled. “Charles Rayburn and I are supposed to be out here, having a private conversation, and you interrupt us.”
“Yes, Duchess,” the manservant grinned, whipped around, and raced back down the hall.
“Good heavens,” Edony grumbled. “Does he have to be so loud? I swear you can never find good help… Even if you do, they either quit or sign their lives away to some other aristocrats…”
The manservant stopped when he got to the end of the hall, turned on his heels, and cupped his hands around his mouth.
“Duchess!” he screamed. “My lady, Duchess! There’s been an accident!”
“What?” Edony shouted back. “Excuse me for a moment, Charles. What’s happened?”
“The big… rock… structure… thingie,” the manservant struggled out.
“The aqueduct?” the Duchess asked.
“Yes, that thing!” the manservant cried. “It’s crumbled!”
“What?” the blonde gasped. “How? Were there any casualties?”
“Yes!” the manservant screamed. “Fifteen men died, and a passing aristocrat was injured! And… and… there was an explosion!”
Edony’s eyebrows shot up at that last added bit, and her lips pressed into a firm line, but there was nothing she could do about it now.
“An explosion?” Edony cried. “What… what happened?”
“All of the stones crumbled and created a crater!” the manservant shrieked. “And it must have hit a pocket of… of natural gas! It exploded the entire aqueduct complex!”
“Gordan, send for my carriage!” the Duchess shouted. “I need to get out there as soon as possible and assess the damages. Have all of the injured been cleared out?”
“Yes, Mistress,” the bald man bowed. “The dead brutes have been cleared away and hastily buried in a mass grave.”
“And the injured aristocrat?” the blonde probed.
“She’s been taken to a hospital in Dervington,” the manservant explained. “Her injuries were minimal, but they’re keeping her under observation just in case.”
“Then that’s good,” the Duchess sighed. “I’m glad that we won’t suffer the loss of another aristocrat in the city of Edenhart.”
“I’ll call for your carriage right now, your Highness,” the manservant threw himself forward into a bow and hurried off around the corner.
Edony grabbed me by the hand and led me back into the drawing-room. As we reached the doorway, she dropped it and stepped through with a pained expression. The Duchess held her clasped hands to her chest, and for a second, I could’ve sworn I saw a single tear drip down her alabaster cheek. The blonde aristocrat hastily wiped it away with the back of her hand and turned to the three shocked women sitting at the table.
“I’m very sorry about this,” Edony coughed. “But I believe we’ll have to cut our luncheon short. It seems that the aqueduct I meant to have demolished has crumbled. I need to get out there and access the damages before I call for a clean-up crew.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Daisy bleated. “We didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but we heard everything. Is the aristocrat alright?”
“As my manservant said,” Edony uttered. “They took her to a hospital for observation, but her injuries were minimal.”
“That’s good, then,” Josephine whispered. “It would’ve been horrible if an aristocrat were killed so suddenly. We all know how the death of Delphine and Ortensia shook you.”
“Yes,” the Duchess nodded. “The loss of those two powerful aristocrats has changed Edenhart forever, and they will be missed for all of eternity. Now, as I said before, I must leave and assess the damages at the site.”
“Of course,” Daisy soothed, stood up from her chair, and crossed the room. “We’ll leave you be for the rest of the day.”
“Kelara, your carriage is already here,” Edony stated. “Charles, Josephine, and Daisy, I’ll call for another carriage to take you home.”
“Edony,” the turban-wearing woman smiled. “Why don’t you allow me to come with you? I’d love to be of service to you.”
“No,” Edony boomed. “It’s my duty as the Duchess of this city to take care of these things, but thank you for your offer… it is very kind of you to think of me in this trying time.”
“Please,” Kelara pleaded. “Let me come with you. I’d love to help you in this trying time.”
Edony physically struggled not to snap back at the tattooed woman and instead plastered a fake smile over her features. The blonde aristocrat shook her head, crossed her arms over her chest, and cupped her elbows in the palms of her hands.
“As I said,” the Duchess repeated. “Thank you, but no. I need to do this myself as the Duchess of Edenhart. I need to be vigilant and continually prove to the people of this city that I am the right person for this position.”
“Understood, my moon queen,” Kelara declared. “Goddess of the sun! My love! My heart burns with the heat of a thousand blazing fires! I’ll return home and wait for my next invitation to the duchy. Maybe next time we’ll be able to be… alone. I’m sure if that were to happen, we’d be able to get to know each other a bit more intimately.”
Edony’s violet eyes hardened on the tattooed woman, and the Duchess’ lips hardened into a thin line, but she suppressed the sigh that I knew was fighting its way up her throat. The Duchess forced out a smile, stepped aside, and gestured toward the hallway behind the door. Kelara swiftly stood up from her chair, flounced across the room, and then gripped Edony’s wrist in her own.
“I hope to hear from you soon,” the tattooed woman whispered. “Until then, I will wait patiently for you in the spirit realm.”
Edony snatched her hand away, and for a split second, the corners of her lips turned down in a grimace. Before Kelara could notice, the expression was gone, and the Duchess smiled down at the turban-wearing woman pleasantly. The tattooed woman dropped into a low bow, rose to her full height, and sauntered out of the room.
Josephine and Daisy stood up from their chairs and hurried to where the Duchess and I stood. We watched silently from around the corner as Kelara tramped down the hall, glanced to the left, and paused for a moment as if she were thinking. Whatever the turban-wearing woman was plotting, she decided against it, moved right, and exited out the front door.
All four of us breathed a collective sigh of relief, and I hurriedly walked to the balcony door. I watched for a moment as Kelara hopped down the steps one by one, peeked over her shoulder at the duchy, and then climbed into the open door of her carriage. We waited with bated breath until the coach pulled away from the front of the house and trundled down the long drive.
I rested my hands against the golden handles of the doors and then ripped them open before stepping out onto the balcony. I whipped my head around in search of Valerie, but she was nowhere in sight.
“Val?” I called. “Valerie? Are you still out there?”
The bushes rustled below my feet, and within seconds, Valerie flipped up onto the railing and balanced there with her tail whipping out behind her.
“Here!” the feline-woman sang. “I missed you guys so, so much!”
The ash-blonde climbed down off the railing, glanced toward the drive where Kelara had disappeared, and then hurried into the drawing-room with us. Edony turned, moved to the door, and shut it with a soft click. The Duchess leaned against it for a second and took a deep breath.
“I’m so glad she’s gone,” the blonde aristocrat whispered. “That was exhausting…”
“Can you believe all of the things she said?” Daisy asked. “Do you… Do you think that she’s involved with the dark arts?”
“Edony,” I urged. “You’ve dealt in the world of black magic more than we have. Were her tattoos runes and symbols?”
“Most of them were,” the Duchess nodded. “Or at least those that I could recognize from my little experience. She got pretty close to confessing a few things to us… I’m sure if I got her alone and probed her a bit more, I’d be able to get all of the information out of her.”
“No,” I uttered. “You shouldn’t do that.”
“Excuse me, Charles?” Edony gasped. “Did you just tell me no? I’m the Duchess of Edenhart, and I can do whatever I see fit.”
“I’m not preventing you from doing it, Edony,” I stated. “We don’t know what kind of power that Kelara has, but not only that, we don’t know if she’s the spy.”
“Oh, she is,” Valerie nodded. “She’s definitely the spy. She’s out to kill Edony and you, too, Charles.”
“Uhm…” I grunted. “What?”
“She wants to kill… Charles?” the Duchess gasped. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I just said,” the feline-woman explained. “She wants to kill you and Charles. The Queen prefers if it happens at the same time though, so she may try to get you together and do it.”
“Wait a second,” Edony repeated. “The Queen knows about Charles? How?”
“Why don’t we sit down?” the brunette offered. “We can finish our tea, and Valerie can tell us everything that she learned while at Kelara’s.”
The feline-woman nodded, skipped over to the table, and settled herself down into one of the chairs. The ash-blonde glanced over the spread, poured herself a cup of tea, and glanced over the macaroons.
“Oooo, what are these?” Valerie asked. “They look delicious.”
“They’re mac--” Josephine opened her mouth to reply, but Edony cut her off.
“That’s not important right now,” the Duchess barked, slipped into a chair, and then leaned her elbows against the tabletop. “Tell us everything you found.”
I sat down beside Valerie, and Josephine and Daisy followed suit. We all turned our chairs toward the feline-woman and then waited for her to begin.
“So, I snuck over to Kelara’s,” Valerie garbled through a mouthful of half-chewed macaroons. “Your directions were really helpful, Edony. Thanks for that. Before I knew it was the Queen who sent her here, I thought to myself, ‘hey, this is a swanky place.’ It looked kind of like a hotel, but it was all one house! Except for the fact that it’s in the middle of a pretty shady area, but I guess spies can’t be choosy about their hideouts. I managed to pick the lock on the front door and sneak in--”
“Wait,” I uttered. “You picked the lock? How did you know to do that?”
“I just knew,” the ash-blonde giggled. “I used this! I found it lying in the gutter outside an abandoned building and thought it was pretty, but hey, it was useful!”
Valerie reached into her locks for a second and then pulled out a long, thin silver rod with a small jeweled flower dangling from the end. I stared at it for a few seconds, still completely confused, and Edony threw her head back in a loud cackle of laughter.
“What is that?” I asked. “Some sort of weapon?”
“No, Charles,” Edony giggled madly. “It’s a hat-pin! Women use them to secure their enormous hats to their hair on windy days, so they don’t come flying off.”
“Oh,” I chuckled. “I’ve never seen one before in my life.”
“As I was saying,” Valerie went on. “I picked the lock with this. It was pretty easy, and the door just swung open on its own. Most of the house was empty except for two or three rooms; the bathroom, kitchen, and Kelara’s bedroom. I searched through everything inside the kitchen and bathroom just in case she’d hidden something in a coffee tin or behind the milk in the fridge, but there was nothing in there besides a bunch of vegetables.”
“Goddamnit, Valerie,” Edony cried. “We don’t care about what was in her fridge! What did you find?”
“There’s no need to be snippy,” the feline-woman grumbled. “The bathroom was also empty except for a toothbrush and a few bars of soap… if you were interested. I found all of the juicy stuff in her bedroom which also doubled as an office. She had all of these strange wooden boxes that wouldn’t open, and it took a long time to figure out they were puzzle boxes. Once I got the hang of them, I got all of them unlocked, and she had hundreds of letters from the Queen, spanning back to even before she arrived in Edenhart.”
