Heart Over Sword-Chapter 170: [Bonus - ] Framed

"Prince Conrad, tests have returned revealing that the poison was made from a rare flower, the ’Shira’, which is found only in the northern kingdom." The King’s eyes were hard and emotionless as he stared at the Prince. "Until there is further evidence about the assassination attempt on my mistress and daughter, you will be guarded in your chambers."

"Father! That is outrageous-"

"Enough," King Osian snapped, glaring at his daughter and then back at Conrad.

"You are imprisoning my fiancé. The Prince of Hatherland. You know how this will affect-"

"I said enough, Evanna. Do not engage in matters you have no control of." King Osian interrupted; he did not raise his voice, nor did it tremble, but the tone stopped his daughter from arguing like she usually would. He turned his head back to Conrad. "This is for your own protection."

Conrad stayed seated, his eyes on the King as he regarded his words. He almost scoffed at them, it most certainly was not for his protection, but King Osian was choosing his words wisely so as not to insult him and insult King Horik too much. It was now a very dangerous game to charge another royal for the attempted assassination of Lady Loraven and Princess Evanna. Conrad did not try to kill his future wife and mother-in-law, and he could tell the King was also very doubtful of this.

King Osian was imprisoning him to oblige his council and any who would take this as an opportunity against Hatherland. It was only because of the ’Shira’ flower that he was suspected and most likely framed. The Prince sighed and stood up, his eyes locked with the King’s. If he wanted to, he could kill the King and guards in ten seconds. He could kill all of them really in a blink of an eye and make Evanna Dunhurst’s Queen, but it was not a part of his plan.

For now, he would follow these rules.

Conrad looked at Evanna as the guards came to stand by his side. He could see the fierceness and deviance burning brightly behind those green eyes. The Prince knew Evanna would help him, and he was confident in her abilities as young as she was. She knew how to handle the poisoning incident and asked for the physician to check the blood for the poison; if he didn’t know her better, he would suspect her of framing him. But that would mean his execution and two of the most powerful kingdoms going to war with one another.

Conrad sauntered out of Evanna’s chambers; his heightened senses picked up on Evanna, retorting to her father once everyone else left.

"There would be no point in trying to assassinate us. My mother holds no power, and neither do I. You know already who I suspect, father."

Silence followed her comment, and so the princess continued. "Odel, you still have the blood, yes?" She must have directed her question at the physician. Conrad wanted to use his power to continue spying on them, but he couldn’t do that until he was in his chambers. Any conversation they had following Evanna’s question was lost on him now; he was out of range as the doors to his room were closed quietly behind him.

Conrad stopped just inside the doors; he didn’t need to use his powers now to know the guards were standing outside of his room. Again, he could kill them and leave without feeling an ounce of guilt, but he would rather Dunhurst be Hatherland’s ally than an enemy. Not because he feared the kingdom’s power, but because he didn’t fancy turning Evanna into a trophy of war.

Since the assassination attempt, the palace had been tense and full of hushed whispers in the following days. Information about the Shira flower had not been leaked. Still, servants and nobles alike started to wonder if the Demon Prince’s illness was actual or fabricated to cover up a hidden truth. Conrad knew this because he used his power to follow Evanna around in his ’ghostly’ form.

By using this, he was surprised, though he shouldn’t have been, that the princess was more mischievous than he gave her credit for. Evanna snuck out of the palace and followed a number of back-alley streets. He assumed she knew them quite well from how confident her stride had been. Evanna also knew a secret code in a tavern that led her behind a secret door to get into the ’Red Canaries’ guild, whereby she knew the master and paid extra coins for quick and discreet information. Conrad watched as she handed over the vial of blood and again told the woman of its importance.

Unbeknown to the princess, even with her disguise as a young errand boy working for a master who wanted him to get this information, the master of the guild, Finch, knew better about her patron. Once Evanna left Finch’s study, she ordered a man in the shadows to ensure the princess was safe and followed her until she was behind the palace walls. Conrad knew then that the guild could be trusted with such a task.

A few days later, Conrad was freed from his chambers after Evanna announced her findings to the King and physician about how the Shira flower of the north was similar to the Quenyia plant found nearer Direwood forest. She then explained further in complete confidence the slight differences between the poisonous flowers, but one that stood out among the others was its effects. The Shira flower caused hallucinations while a person froths at the mouth, whereas the Quenyia plant did no such thing and caused a quick but painful death. Once this was confirmed by both Lady Loraven, Evanna and the physician, along with some other witnesses to the accounts of the poison, Prince Conrad was instantly released.

The Prince stayed for a few days further, much to his aide’s disapproval, but he wished to spend more time with Evanna. He was grateful for her help and that he didn’t have to kill anyone, but the whole incident made him more impatient to take her away from Dunhurst.

Unbeknownst to the public, Evanna revealed that it was most likely Princess Isabel’s doing. Though there was not enough evidence to condemn her. She never told her doubts to her father again, and the Prince knew it was because she wanted to make a case against her sister, something solid enough to stop her.

Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce