Chapter Fourteen

The next morning has everyone either on edge or gossiping, but the next challenge soon awaits them. And Rose makes a discovery.

The Game 

by omegax45

Chapter Fourteen

The next morning, Rose could barely taste her breakfast of oatmeal with fruit and cinnamon, toast, ham, and scones.  She was still on edge with Tulip, despite the noble girl ignoring her once again.  Whenever someone shows an interest so intense as hers was last night, it could only lead to trouble for the poor girl.  Years of being on the streets and experience had taught her that.  She knew that the rules kept her safe, but only for now.  Later was another story.

Rowen knew Rose was tense, so he kept one had over hers to comfort her.  He was also on edge as to what Tulip told him last night.  Rose reminded her of a relative that died a long time ago?  That would be impossible to determine without Rose recognizing Tulip as her own relative.  However, the poor girl didn’t see Tulip as anything but as a stranger and now a possible threat to her safety.  Also, Rose was abandoned as a child by her relatives, so neither girl would’ve seen one another in years.  And time does change two growing girls.  Perhaps Tulip was mistaken.  Or maybe…

“I day say I was the loveliest girl at the ball,” Emma declared hauntingly, a cup of tea in hand and causing all conversation to stop abruptly.

“You have quite the imagination,” Pearl stated with slight disappointment, “If anyone amazed our guests last night, it was me.”

“You two looked like walking cakes covered in too much frosting,” Golde snapped at them, “I had to remind myself not to try and take a bite out of either of you, as you would taste worse than gypsy medicine.”

“You would compare them to food,” Joan pointed out, “That’s all you think about!  You didn’t even leave your table last night until you licked the last crumb off your many plates!”

“At least I eat what is offered to me,” Golde turned to her with rage in her eyes, “The servants wouldn’t be eating so well if you would finish what is in front of you!”

“Easy dear,” Rowen muttered to Rose as he felt her hand tense under his.

“Now there’s no need to fight ladies,” Catherine raised her hands up, “We all know there is one person we were all more beautiful than, so there is no-“

“Oh stow it,” Helen snapped at Catherine, “We all know we were more beautiful than the wench, so that is besides the point!”

“Indeed,” Dorothy agreed, “No need to beat a dead horse down when there is nothing but bones.  After all, we all know I was the most beautiful.”

“How dare you!”

“Ahem,” everyone turned to see Marin at the double doors, a glare upon her face that had everyone silenced, “If you are done bickering like children, Her Majesty had left me a message.  She apologizes for not being able to meet you all this morning, as she was forced back to the castle on an urgent matter.  However, she had left it to me to announced the winners of last night’s challenge.”

Everyone began speaking amongst themselves in hushed whispers, wondering who was the winner or winners of the challenge.  They also wondered what kind of prize would they receive for it.  Some were hoping for new clothing or jewelry.  Others were hoping for some sort of easy cheat for the next challenge.  Marin coughed again, bringing their attention back to her.

“As such,” the head maid continued, “The girls that picked the miniature statuette are the winners of the challenge.”

This brought about an uproar of shock and gasps from the noble girls, each turning to one another to talk again un upset or surprised tones.

“But why,” Emma complained loudly, “My gift was more personal and had more meaning that some stupid statue!”

“How could I be wrong,” Elanor exclaimed, “In my last life, we gave our most prized jewelry to our husbands!  You must be jesting!”

“I certainly am not jesting,” Marin stated, “Clothing and jewelry can be misplaced, damaged, or stolen easily, especially when the soldiers are tired from a long day of battle or have been imprisoned.  No one has any interest in a statuette, let alone one made in the image of a certain lady that means the world to a strapping soldier marching into hell.  In fact, there is a little shop in town that makes them for a few coins that is frequently visited by the soldiers and their lovers.  For some of you girls with family members in our royal army, this should be common knowledge to you.”

“In think she meant that to you,” Fayette told Octavia.

“Be silent,” Octavia snapped angrily.

“Her Majesty will be back this afternoon to inform you of the next challenge and your prize,” Marin concluded, “Until then, take this time to prepare.  We are nearing the end of the game, after all.  I hope you all are prepared for whatever happens.”

“We all know what will happen,” Dorothy, “Win or lose, we will be going home with a wonderful husband to show off to our families.  Oops, do pardon me street trash.  It must have slipped my mind that you have no home to go to, other than the streets.”

“How cruel,” Catherine exclaimed sarcastically with a dark grin on her face, “I’m certain that poor girl has a box or a log somewhere to crawl into, so she does have a home to go to.”

“She can’t bring it here,” Bridget pointed out, “Though I do hope her husband teaches her some manners once they are wed and she becomes a new maid here.  She practically left early last night without so much as a good evening to us.”

“Do we really needed her there after the challenge was done,” Claire asked, to which some of the other noble girls made noises of agreement.

Rose stopped listening to them talking and went back to her breakfast.  She didn’t care what they say about her anymore.  They did not rule her, so she didn’t had to answer them.  Rowen noticed the change almost instantly and relaxed a bit.  He was glad to see Rose starting to not let what the noble girls say about her not affect her as much.  He hoped soon that she would become stronger from all of this.

Breakfast as soon over and everyone wandered off.  Rose returned to her room and to her book.  She was halfway through the story and Rowen wasn’t giving anymore clues for her to use to solve the mystery.  She still thought he found it amusing to withhold such information and using it to tease her.

‘Let’s see here,’ she thought as she went over her notes after reading a few more chapters, ‘I’m down to two suspects now.  Both have legit reasons for being the culprit… but one of them seemed so… Wait a minute.’

She noticed in her notes a strange pattern, one that was hauntingly familiar.  She went back to the previous chapters, finding her hunch not to be a coincidence.

‘A group of travelers get caught in a storm and find themselves trapped in a castle in the middle of nowhere,’ she thought as she read through the chapters fast, skipping a few paragraphs, ‘They find a butler murdered and the master of the castle accuses them of the crime.  In order to win their freedom and prove their innocence, they must find clues as to who is the real murderer within seven days.  They even begin to question themselves as the evidence piles up, making it hard to know who they could trust, as two more people are murdered.

‘We’re trapped here in the castle and must find out who Dios is.  Each of us are paired off with who we think is Dios and have to go through challenges to find clues and then put them together within a few weeks.  Four people have been disqualified already, and we’re getting more clues with each challenge that comes our way, yet nowhere near close to finding out who Dios is.  

‘It sounds so similar, but has their differences at the same time.  They’re trying to find a murderer while we’re trying to find Dios.  Three people have been murdered so far while four people have been disqualified.  We’re collecting clues, but at the same time finding it hard to find a pattern to them.  Both groups seemed united in the beginning, but are now falling apart the longer they stayed to solve the mystery.  How could both be so-

‘Wait a minute,’ her eyes widened at a thought, ‘Rowen was the one that gave me this book.  He said it was his favorite.  Could it be…. Had he known all along…?  Is he trying to tell-‘

“Miss,” she heard a voice from the other side suddenly, interrupting her thoughts, “Her Majesty is requesting your audience outside.  I am to escort you out there.”

“Just a moment,” Rose replied as she put her notes and the book away.  She would have to figure it out later… and maybe ask Rowen if he was in a telling mood.  The man seemed to like keeping one in the dark.

She slipped on her shoes and opened the door, greeted by a servant she hadn’t met yet.

“Please,” he gestured with his arm, “Right this way.”

Author's Note

A short chapter. I'm going to write up the final chapters and them post both of them up for all your reading pleasure. We're near the end, so please be patient.