"Speak," Alvin warned in a low, threatening voice.
That was the difference between him and other people, and one of the similarities he had with Harold. He didn't waste his time with a question-and-answer session. If he wanted an honest answer, he knew how to get it, just like he was doing now with the tip of his sword pointed at the neck of the head of the kitchen after assuring him they were only going to have 'a word' privately.
There was no way he would openly threaten him to tell him about the maid when others who were working for the queen were lurking around. As far as he was concerned, this was the queen's doing.
"I... I d-don't know... I ssswear..." The poor man stammered and put his hand up while his eyes kept moving between Alvin's face and the tip of the sword on his neck.
Alvin made sure to press the tip of the sword against the man's throat so he would feel it as he calmly spoke with a bored expression, "That is not the answer I want to hear. Where is she?"
"I... I have no idea. I swear. The queen had already asked. She disappeared since that night."
"Why was she serving Princess Tyra that night? On whose orders?"
"I have no idea. She has no reason to serve Princess Tyra. I don't know why she went there. She was supposed to join the pack for the servants. I really have no idea. I swear on my name." The man rushed to say.
Alvin could literally hear the man's heartbeat from where he stood. He looked at him closely, trying to see if he was being honest or trying to deceive him.
"Okay," Alvin said and withdrew the sword from his neck, causing the man to gasp in relief and press his palms together to thank Alvin.
Everyone knew that Alvin was the rational one between Harold and him. But when Alvin gets to this point, then no one will be able to stop him. Not even the queen.
"Some biscuits were served to Princess Amber that day. Who made them?"
The man thought about it for only a minute before shaking his head.
"We didn't make any biscuits that day."
"You sound so sure. Are you lying to me?" Alvin asked calmly.
"I am not!" The man swore. "The only snacks made during the period of the banquet were the ones Princess Amber made. We exhausted all the ingredients that day, so we could not make other kinds of snacks or biscuits until the night of the banquet when we made other snacks from the ingredients reserved for the feast." He said confidently.
"Do you swear that this is the truth?" Alvin asked him.
He nodded eagerly. "I swear it. That is the truth."
That just seemed to confirm Alvin's suspicion. But then, he still hadn't gotten the real answer he wanted. Who had sent that maid to Tyra? And where was she?
Now, he only had one option left. And that was leaving the palace to look for her. Could he risk leaving Harold alone for a whole day?
*********
Away from there, Alicia and Paulina had cried so much as they were being tortured that they had both lost their voices.
"I didn't do it. I don't know anything," Alicia cried weakly but breathlessly as some of the guards brought in water and piece of cloth, and they began to untie them.
It seemed like with each passing hour, Beth's father was coming up with more and more torture techniques to prove that he meant what he said when he told her she was going to feel Beth's pain tenfold.
He had started the torture by pouring hot coals on the floor under their feet, and while the coal burned their feet, they were flogged until they both passed out from the pain and exhaustion of crying.
They had regained consciousness by finding themselves hanging upside down until they passed out once again.
Now they were made to lie face up on a wooden platform and tied to it. Alicia had no idea what the next torture was, but she knew that her body couldn't take much more. Her entire body was aching, and the scorching sun was not doing anything to help her injuries or burned feet.
The pain was too much for her, and unless a miracle happened right now, she was going to die.
"I'm sorry you're going through all of this because of me," Alicia told Paulina in a weak and broken voice when she turned to her and saw how the girl was struggling to breathe.
"I'm sorry, milady. I wish I could protect you from this instead of just suffering with you," Paulina cried weakly, and tears rolled down the sides of Alicia's eyes. She wished she could really do something other than repeat to them that she didn't do it. Seeing how Paulina had been dragged into this and made to suffer for something she had no idea about made her cry.
She had asked repeatedly for them to let her go, but it seemed like this was the fate of servants in this era. They were going to suffer the fate of their masters, or even worse.
"Are you still not going to confess to your crimes?" Sir Richard asked with a slight frown as he and Harvey approached them, and the guards who were about to cover Alicia's and Paulina's faces for the next round paused.
"I... didn't do it," Alicia struggled to speak as she turned to him, hoping that someone would believe her. Anyone. That would give her hope to hang in there, especially as she had no idea where Susan was or if she had been abandoned. It was possible that Susan thought she was guilty since she couldn't remember what had happened.
"You likely won't survive the next couple of tortures. Why not put an end to the torture by confessing to your crime?" Sir Richard asked, still frowning slightly.
He had nothing against either Harold or his wife, and he wished things were not happening this way, but there was little or nothing he could do.
The other aristocrats and members of the assembly were beginning to lose patience and become irritated, and he knew without a doubt that they would demand that she be sentenced soon just so that they could return to their homes.
Alicia shook her head weakly, "I'm innocent. Please believe me, and save us," she pleaded, both her throat and lips feeling patched.
Sir Richard sighed as he shook his head, "I can't do anything for you. It would be better for you to confess and tell us whatever you know. Anything at all." Sir Richard suggested before walking away, but Harvey didn't leave with him immediately.
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